Kingdom Come

Rating:
Summary: Just Because You're Paranoid.........
Review: ......Doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. So wrote Mark Twain many years ago and Jack Dunphy, the main character in this book, becomes a believer very quickly. Jim Hougan is half of the husband and wife team which writes under the pen name, John Case, and as such they have written two very good books and one which I have recently reviewed, which is not up to their earlier standards. However, on his own in this effort, Hougan more than carries the day. It is a fast paced mystery-thriller which leaves you wondering how much that is revealed therein, may be more fact than fiction. It will leave you satisfied that you have been told an interesting yarn, however as you scan the newspaper you may see stories that will make you wonder if all that is as it seems. To tell you more would spoil the fun. Read and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: KINGDOM DUMB
Review: Cattle mutilations. The Roswell UFOs. Crop circles. A black Madonna (no, not Whitney Houston). These and more are "explained" in Jim Hougan's overwrought conspiracy thriller, "Kingdom Come." Hougan is half the team using the pseudonymn John Case for his/their other books, and I have to admit, Case's works are far superior to this one. Admittedly, I am not a true fan of the "espionage" thriller, so I may be a bit prejudiced, but as a thriller connosieur, I found this book tedious, redundant and at times very boring. The pacing is incredibly slow, and when the action scenes do arrive, they are crisp and efficient, if not a little bloody. Anyway, Jack Dunphy and cohort Clementine are likeable characters, and you find yourself wanting to cheer them on as they search for the reasons Jack was booted out of the CIA and why his life is in danger. The additional threat from the man Jack "steals" money from only tends to bog down the true plot. At any rate, by the time Jack and Clementine reach the source of their search, the ending is so mystic and enigmatic, that one wonders why the book was even written. Technically, Hougan has some fine touches, but overall, is at best a mediocre read.

Rating:
Summary: KINGDOM DUMB
Review: Cattle mutilations. The Roswell UFOs. Crop circles. A black Madonna (no, not Whitney Houston). These and more are "explained" in Jim Hougan's overwrought conspiracy thriller, "Kingdom Come." Hougan is half the team using the pseudonymn John Case for his/their other books, and I have to admit, Case's works are far superior to this one. Admittedly, I am not a true fan of the "espionage" thriller, so I may be a bit prejudiced, but as a thriller connosieur, I found this book tedious, redundant and at times very boring. The pacing is incredibly slow, and when the action scenes do arrive, they are crisp and efficient, if not a little bloody. Anyway, Jack Dunphy and cohort Clementine are likeable characters, and you find yourself wanting to cheer them on as they search for the reasons Jack was booted out of the CIA and why his life is in danger. The additional threat from the man Jack "steals" money from only tends to bog down the true plot. At any rate, by the time Jack and Clementine reach the source of their search, the ending is so mystic and enigmatic, that one wonders why the book was even written. Technically, Hougan has some fine touches, but overall, is at best a mediocre read.

Rating:
Summary: Hougan gives us a thriller!
Review: Disenfranchised, as it were, from the "Agency," Jack Dunphy has been reassigned to a desk closet, so to speak. His superiors are more than a little concerned over a case that's been bungled while in London (a "number" he's supposedly had underwraps, surveillance-wise, is dead!). Dissatisfied and just more than a little suspicious that his "handlers" are trying to ease him completely out of the picture, Jack begins his own investigation....and from there "Kingdom Come" comes alive. Well, to a point.

Granted, author Jim Hougan is compared (whether it's a complement or not remains to be seen) to Robert Ludlum, Ian Fleming, and Dan Brown, among others. Certainly, Hougan has chosen the "spy thriller" genre and probably there's not an overabundance of new and brilliant and readable ideas there. Still, Hougan gives it a try and does well, everything taken into consideration.

Agent Dunphy has to fight the demons in the closet, so to speak, and he has a partner in Clementine and together they go after the conspirators in the usual do-or-die scenario. Still, Clementine is a nice additive and complements Dunphy admirably.

Still: it's spy-thriller-fiction. That said, Hougan has every right to go for it, literarily. "Kingdom Come" is a very readable thriller, and like Ludlum, Fleming, and Brown, those universal conspiracy cases can only go so far, and like these two, he has to stretch occasionally. Again, it's fiction. It's not a Dan Rather expose or a Bill O'Reilly revelation-it's fiction. And worth the effort. A pleasant read. ([e-mail])


Rating:
Summary: Excellent conspiracy thriller
Review: Jack Dunphy gets thrown out from the CIA after a professor he's watching gets killed. He wants to know why and starts his own investigation. What he finds is a global conspiracy which ties in with every strange event that ever took place. Every step he takes reveals a new secret being tied in to this conspiracy. Great action, characters and overall writting.

Rating:
Summary: Everything but the kitchen sink
Review: Jack Dunphy makes for a good hero in "Kingdom Come" because he, unlike Bond, is flawed. Jack is relatable. He's not the perfect super-spy and not everything he does goes off without a hitch. This is very refreshing in this sort of novel.

Secret organizations within secret organizations. CIA cover-ups. Black helicopters. Cattle mutilations. Men in black. Border hopping in the modern age. Nail-gun torture. This novel has everything but the kitchen sink thrown into it. The interesting thing to observe is that somehow it all works. In the hands of another writer this wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining.

My only regret is that the character of Clementine was so one dimensional. She is never totally developed and used to her fullest potential. She's along for the ride with Jack and that's about it. More thought was given to the secondary and tertiary characters than our hero's love interest and that's a shame.

I'll admit that "Kingdom Come" does end somewhat abruptly and cryptically. But that's a minor issue. Overall this was a great read.

As the cover states:Admit nothing. Deny everything. Spare no one....

Add to that.... Read this novel. It's a lot of fun.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Book!
Review: This book was a tad different from your usual spy novel.Our hero Jack Dunphy gets demoted when a subject he has under surveillance is killed. Through his new job he runs upon some deeply hidden secrets that the C.I.A. wants no one to know.This leads into a wild journey for Jack and his girlfriend Clementine. They wind up in Sweden at a secret C.I.A. compound where many stunning secrets are stored. Dunphy ,after his hitch at the compound is forced to go on the run. Every knid of phenomena on

earth has been done by the C.I.A. The existance of a secret society is also brought to light. Buy this book and you will be treated to an interesting read.

Rating:
Summary: hang on for a wild, surreptitious, conspiracy trip!!!
Review: This novel, my first by Jim Hougan gives incredible insight into what goes on behind the scenes at a big ticket, powerhouse agency like the CIA. Jack Dunphy, an agent becomes a hot topic in his own company when a teacher who has been under his surveillance is brutally murdered. Jack is sent back to the states so that they can sort things out, and to get him out of the picture, and hopefully, to force him out of the Agency with a boring job. Instead his burning desire for what happened and why, and who was behind it leads him on an entangled journey of an old conspiracy. Meanwhile the CIA is after him--with a vengeance. They want him, and they want him dead. At their first attempt, they find a discreet, pernicious Dunphy that is very hard to subdue. The turn of events lead up to an atiquated story, twisted, and lurid, all at the same time, with an end that will entice you to keep reading until the last word.

Rating:
Summary: Poorer Man's DaVinci Code
Review: Whether writting under his psuedonym John Case with his wife, or going solo, Jim Hougan has a definite gift for creating likeable characters who get caught up in the unexpected while carrying out seemingly dronelike yet out of the ordinary jobs. Hougan's main man in "Kingdom Come", Jack Dunphy has been relegated to glorified information gopher at Langley after having been pulled off an undercover assignment in London after the death of an Oxford Professor of Jungian psychology whom he had under surveillance. Dunphy's annoyance at being yanked from his cozy nest with British sweetie Clementine enhanced by the frustratingly endless grunt work of public information gathering lead him to buck the system and uncover the relevance of the professor's death. What he discovers is a Gordian knot of intrigue that eventually threatens his life and the lives of anyone with whom he comes into contact.

As Dunphy plows through clues that take him all over Europe, the reader breathlessly turns page after page, liking Dunphy and his cohorts immediately. The facts that he uncovers make for fascinating reading---puzzlers will enjoy being thrown information seemingly straight out of left field. Unfortunately, as the story leads into its ultimate denouement, it becomes choppy, the ending sequences beginning at the estate within the Swiss National Park and the ending voyage at sea seem rushed and not fully thought out, as if the author had run out of steam and simply wanted to finish the story under 400 pages. The last paragraph leads the reader to believe some sort of transference has taken place, but obviously this is certainly not developed and there seems no hint of a part two where the reader can stretch his imagination further.

Kingdom Come utilizes themes that have become familiar territory after the publication of the very popular "DaVinci Code". But in as much as that novel also rushes the reader in and out of intriguing snippets of history replete with secret societies, it does come to a fairly complete, if not predictable, conclusion--not so with "Kingdom Come"---the protoganists accomplish their missions, but the ending seems to grasp at something not quite touched upon in the main body of the work. I would have liked to have read more information regarding the gentleman introduced at the tail end of the novel, perhaps even a concurrent historical story running parallel to the actual action tale. Perhaps then, I would have felt that the ending had some meaning in terms of this gentleman's characterization and overall fit into the overall scheme of things. The focus should have been on him and not the Pound/Dulles affair showcased by the author. As with the "John Case" selections, Hougan again seems to fall into the trap of simply using his book to over-instruct his readers on trivia that while fun has little to do with the overall outcome of the story. Providing a reading guide at the back of the book would definitely be a plus for those readers who want more information and do wish to read further.

Nevertheless Hougan presents a great page-turner for at least 7/8's of the book's journey and I will recommend it with some reluctance to anyone who likes a quick read with some fun historical mysteries thrown in.