Whirlwind : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Outwit. Outlast. Outplay.
Review:

Everybody wants something in Washington. Charlie McKenzie, ex-CIA operative, wants his good name restored; the Director of the NSA wants Charlie to clean up a mess that will affect his future in politics; a mercenary special-ops team wants Charlie out of the picture after he leads them to the source of all their current problems: a young Russian spy who stumbles upon and steals material too valuable to leave the US.

And nobody trusts anyone else, nor should they. McKenzie had years of service and a solid rep as the best in the business, until the Director of the NSA uses him as a cover for an operation gone wrong; to complicate matters, the security team hired by the NSA Director is as bad as they come, especially the leader, the sociopathic Schmidt, who wants the money but wants revenge on McKenzie even more. As for the Russian spy, she's caught in the jaws of fate once McKenzie locates her. In the most impressive intrigue of his long career, McKenzie lays it all on the line, because his good name was sullied for the benefit of others and he plans to even things out a bit.

From Texas to Arizona to California, there is the hunter and the prey, each particularly well-trained to handle the most sophisticated possibilities. Things happen below the surface, just under the radar of local law-enforcement, who never knows violence is occurring until bodies litter the landscape, a bit of collateral damage in a very high stakes game. A combination of greed, pride, revenge and hubris, McKenzie tangles with everyone, from the White House to the mercenaries who kill for the highest bidder. Whirlwind lives up to its title, action-filled to the last page, as one ex-agent determines to have the last word and save his country from some serious evil. Luan Gaines/2004.




Rating:
Summary: LET'S HEAR IT FOR CHARLIE!
Review: Don't you love it when an older guy gets to be the hero? Sit back and listen to the story of a fellow who is not only savvier than his younger colleagues but is also eye candy for a gorgeous young woman.

Charlie McKenzie was forced to retire from the CIA for all the wrong reasons. He's been ousted, disgraced, and jailed - undeservedly so. However, even those who hate him know he's the only man they can turn to when a secret weapon is stolen by a beautiful Russian spy, Irina.

Okay, Charlie'll do the job, but he'll also charge a high price and make doubly certain that there won't be any more betrayals. Of course, for him retrieving the secret weapon is a piece of cake. However, he's a bit unprepared when a cowardly Secretary of State brings in a South African soldier who murders for money and targets Charlie and Irina.

Voice performer Guerin Barry becomes Charlie as this unstoppable veteran struggles to defeat his enemies.

Listen and cheer for the gray haired commando.

- Gail Cooke

Rating:
Summary: Whirlwind
Review: "Whirlwind" written by Joseph R. Garber is a character driven action-adventure spy novel. With the end of the cold war, there haven't been too many of these books on the current market, so it was refreshing to read one like "Whirlwind."

The main character is Charlie McKenzie a once scorned CIA agent that had to eat a lot of crow that wasn't his to eat. All his misfortune was brought about by the National Security advisor Sam. Now, Sam is your typical bureauacrat of the self-serving kind, only out for himself and damn the rest type of guy who has double-crossed the hero in the book. But, Charlie is out to prove that things have a way of evening out and all he had to do was wait and Sam would come knocking on his door to solve another mess that Sam has gotten himself into hip deep in doodo.

Charlie is older now and very much wiser and has Sam pegged for the fall in this novel of fiction. I thouroughly enjoyed reading Charlie's assessment of the situation after "Whirlwind" a top secret U.S. Secret Project has be stolen by Irina Kododenkova and her partner but he is shot and Irina takes over.

"Whirlwind" is full of action-adventure and is a very fast read as the action builds and releases and builds again and again. Tension mounts as Sam hires a South African mercenary Johan Schmidt as pofessional hired gun to get "Whirlwind" and eleminate Irina and Charlie, but things get really going as Charlie has other ideas and is working for a positive resolution to this caper. This is only just one of the double-cross senarios that Sam has cooked up, but Charlie has plans of his own and is not going to be easy to kill.

"Whirlwind" has some violence and can be very graphic in spots but it is only minimal and you'll want to read on and see what happens next in the book. The resolution for the book is quite novel and will be of some surprise to the reader. This was a very fast and enjoyable change of pace book for me to read. As Charlie McKenzie does the CIA's dirty work he does get even in the end.

I rated "Whirlwind" a solid five stars for an engaging and satisfying read, a good change of pace that was well-written with very good character development. I hope that you'll read it and enjoy this book as much as I did.

Rating:
Summary: Whew! A rollercoaster read.
Review: A taut, fast-paced, action-packed spy novel that takes us back to the atmosphere of cold war spy novels, Whirlwind is set in the present. Charlie McKenzie,former CIA agent, has been double-crossed by a supposed friend, National Security Advisor Sam, a nasty piece of work. Fresh out of prison, Charlie is nursing his wounds and the death of his wife when Sam comes calling for Charlie's help again, this time to recover top secret technology codenamed Whirlwind which has fallen into the hands of beautiful Russian spy Irina. Charlie exacts a price for his cooperation, money and a promise of a Presidential pardon. Charlie finds Irina but soon realizes that Sam has hired mercenaries prepared to kill them both. Charlie has taped an admission of guilt for a previous assassination from Sam and hidden it in an Internet "vault" that will be tripped if he is killed.

Nonetheless, Sam sets the mercenaries in pursuit and we are treated to a wild chase across America by car and plane. Charlie and Irina each try to best the other as they race to outwit their pursuers.

This is a very satisfying read, one of the best in a while. Joseph, give us more!

Rating:
Summary: Hopscotch-ish
Review: If you remember the book Hopscotch by Brian Garfield, and the movie based on it that starred Walter Matthau, then you'll have a good idea as to what this book is like.

The plot centers around an older ostracized spy being brought back in to help 'The Government' solve an otherwise unsolvable problem. Of course, as in many of these books, there are grudges being held and old scores to settle. The fun of this book is in watching the older spy run rings around his opponents, and also the way he influences a younger spy to come along to his way of thinking. The book is highly entertaining and made for a good read.

If I were Brian Garfield and I heard about this book, I might decide to see just how many similarities there are between Hopscotch and Whirlwind. Can you say 'lawsuit?'

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Executed Paint-by-Numbers Spy Fiction
Review: Joseph Garber's second novel is a monumental disappointment when compared to his exciting debut, "Vertical Run". Simply put, "Whirlwind" is a stale rehash of every tired trick that's ever been trotted out in spy fiction.

All of the same old typecast characters are here: the crafty old know-it-all protagonist who routinely achieves the impossible and then cracks wise with a wink, the deranged antagonist who derives pleasure only from doling out pain and enjoying refined living, the power-hungry bureaucrat who's pulling the strings behind the scenes for his own political gain, and the beautiful young female Russian agent out to prove that she's capable of her mission. No characters develop at all, even although they do flirt with the idea on occasion. For instance, the ex-CIA agent was once framed and taken down in disgrace for following false orders given to him by the bureaucrat. And while he may occasionally privately question how he can always be so sure of his decisions even though they have cost both him and his family dearly in the past, he will always completely forget all self-doubt and plow ahead with no additional thought whatsoever. On one page, he's recounting how he promised himself that he'd never get his family involved in his work and the on the next, his son is flying his getaway plane (that's right, flying his getaway plane) with all moral uncertainties apparently left behind at baggage claim. The beautiful young Russian spy is almost pathetic. She worked this hard to achieve her rank in order to show up her chauvinistic father only to inexplicably find herself falling for the swaggering American spy who reminds her of him? Have some dignity, comrade! The killing machine antagonist who became such because he was scared and angry as a child and now listens to opera while torturing his opponents is so very been-there-done-that. Just cast Rutger Hauer in your mind and you're 90% of the way there.

The action starts out interestingly enough but then falters miserably, turning into a protracted chase scene where everyone is searching for a pair of stolen defense secrets in order to advance his or her own agenda. The items sought after are symbolic of the problems with this book, i.e. being boring and unoriginal. The first is a "surprise" element that eventually reveals itself to be as exciting as a cinder block; if I told you here, it wouldn't ruin any real surprise in the book. When its true nature is revealed, you almost feel cheated - it's of no immediate threat or benefit to any faction, it doesn't "do" anything, its long-term potential is never even really explained in any depth - in short, you're given no reason to believe that everyone should be so motivated to retrieve this object, and therefore no reason to care who ends up with it in the end. The second object is a computer disk - that's right, espionage fiction's version of the microfilm cartridge circa 10 - 20 years ago. To top it off, it contains what we're led to believe are the nation's most dear defense project secrets in the form of a Powerpoint presentation. I've never worked in a top secret facility, but if this truly is the norm for safeguarding our nation's critical data, I may never go to sleep again. At least they kept it on the world's most indestructible disk - it rides around in people's pockets as they run, climb, get shot, fall down, etc. yet works with no problem in the end.

The only payoff comes at the very end where, if the reader has assumed the this-is-so-bad-it's-good mindset, he or she is really treated to a very special series of events. Outcomes devolve from predictable and trite to outright ridiculous with each page. Some necessary resolutions are explained away in careless one-liners ("he got away now, but I'll get him someday" - please tell me that no editor thought that there was sequel potential in this thing) while others play out to unbelievable happy-ending-at-all-costs finales. During the epilogue, you will roll your eyes so far, you may actually be able to see your own brain - and it will plaintively ask you "why did you do this to me?"

All in all, the book reads like a worse-than-usual Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Re-read that last statement again very carefully in case you're still considering buying this book. If you are looking for a good paperback read, I can honestly recommend Garber's earlier work "Vertical Run", which was just about everything that this book wasn't.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible and Boring
Review: Just Not Good, February 9, 2005
Reviewer: John B. Hubbard Jr. "John Hubbard" (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed Garber's debut "Vertical Run". Despite it's horrible/inexplicable ending that came out of nowhere, it was an enjoyable suspenseful tale.

The same cannot be said about "Whirwind". This is just an awful book. Stupid dialogue, stupid situations, stupid characters, cliches out the wazoo. There was absolutely nothing unexpected in this book. It's not poorly written or edited...it's just unenjoyable and unoriginal.

That being said, and it isn't often that this is thew case, both Whirlwind and Vetical Run would perhaps make much better movies than they do books. The books have points/scenes/action that may translate better to cinema.

Also, I bought an advanced reader's copy for a high price. It's possible that Mr. Garber edited and changed a few things from between the reader's copy and the finished product. If not, then I highly recommend reading Vertical Run. It's much better.

Overall, after waiting about 10 years for a follow up to Vertical Run, this book just doesn't cut it at all. I was actually angry when I finished it and the whole plot/premise is more comparable to a bad A-Team re-run than an enjoyable novel.



Rating:
Summary: will leave you breathless!
Review: Rebeccasreads recommends WHIRLWIND as a good, old-fashioned spy saga, with likable heroes, determined heroines & everso nasty villains.

Joseph R. Garber tells a fast & furious tale, replete with haggling for massive amounts of money, all sorts of weaponry, races across America, Wild West shoot-outs, double-double-crosses, captures & escapes, wry & dry humor & an arsenal of surprises.

Rating:
Summary: A successful revival of the spy thriller novel
Review: The passing of the Cold War dealt a severe blow to the spy-thriller literary genre, as cloak-and-dagger interplay between "western" and "eastern" intelligence agents became almost overnight an historical anachronism. In *Whirlwind*, however, Joseph Garber manages to revive the spy novel by positing that in some situations, anyway, intrigue between American and Russian agents still might form the basis for a good story. Overall, he succeeds in this endeavor, as *Whirlwind* not only is an engrossing page-turner, but the basic story line posited by the author is almost eerily plausible.

The basic plot that Garber weaves in *Whirlwind* involves the theft of an American top-secret weapon by Russian agents, but there is a lot more involved here, including distant maneuverings by the ever-ambitious Chinese, duplicitous U.S. government officials, for-hire [...] organizations, and on and on. The story is inventive, filled with twists and turns that for the most part are convincing and authentically surprising, and there is even some psychological exploration of the major characters. Overall, Garber's imagination, knowledge of the "spy business," and his literary talents render this a truly good read for anyone who might enjoy this type of novelistic thriller.

The very nature of the "spy thriller" genre imposes limitations on the work as "literature," however. The main characters, while certainly interesting, are almost cartoon-like in their near-omniscience, their almost unlimited powers to cope with any situation, no matter how dire. The female lead, the Russian agent Irina Kolodenkova, is, *of course*, gorgeous, blonde, brilliant, and almost infinitely resourceful. The book's hero, the out-of-retirement CIA operative Charlie McKenzie, while unique in his advanced age, is all-knowing and James Bond-like in his powers, including his powers of recuperation from physical injury.

That these protagonists, and also villainous South African mercenary Johan Schmidt can miraculously and often instantaneously solve any problem and escape any threat becomes the literary device of choice for Garber. While this allows the story to move forward vigorously, it starts to resemble in places the ancient Greek dramatic institution of *deus ex machina*, whereby whenever decisive solutions were needed within a play the gods would descend from on high to resolve all problems. This "geez, these people can do ANYTHING" tendency might cause some readers to roll their eyes after a while.

Another issue that might be a bit off-putting is the preponderance of blood and gore that punctuates the novel throughout. People squeamish about explicit descriptions of violence are hereby warned away.

I confess that *Whirlwind* is not the kind of novel I ordinarily would read, and yet I found it interesting and highly engrossing. The political/moral world-view revealed by Garber here is one that is cynical and hard-boiled, but in light of where trends seem to be taking us in the United States, I found his skepticism about political leaders and nation-states to be uncomfortably plausible. Overall, it's a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Backdoor politics, high tech secrets and espionage!!!
Review: When a former CIA agent, Charlie McKenzie, is called back to work on a desperate recovery operation, he realizes it is a perfect opportunity for revenge on those who double crossed him.
His target is a device that involves top-secret technology that has been stolen by a beautiful young Russian agent, Irina Kolodenkova with a haunting past and an undetermined future.
In this rapid fire novel the double crossing takes you on a wild roller coaster ride of a tale. A mercenary team is called in as a secret back-up plan by a power seeking man who feels he has everything to gain.
Joseph R. Garber gives his story the taste of reality and an untamed sense of pushing all the limits. This is a fantastic, frightening story of backdoor politics, high tech weaponry and espionage colliding head on.