The Trojan Sea : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: What has happened to the action?
Review: Herman's latest effort is a chore to even get started. I fought my way through 258 pages befor giving up. Some may say that I can't adequately review a book without reading the whole thing. But some famous person said "I don't need to eat the whole apple to see it is rotten."

This is supposed to be an action or suspense genre. However it is lacking in both. From the testosterone charged women to the puling "hero", it gets more and more disjointed as it moves.

Sorry Mr. Herman but I hope you do better next effort. At least he you did not sink to the pornography that Clancy did in his last book.

Rating:
Summary: Women doing everything
Review: I found this one hard going. This is your basic find a lot of oil, oops it's in Cuba, better knock off Castro plot. While character motivation was believable, the characters themselves seemed shapeless. I just could not see a female CEO acting in such a ruthless manner while at same time caring for her employees. AFter a while I just closed my eyes and had a good snooze.

Rating:
Summary: Gets to the heart of the matter
Review: I have read and enjoyed all of Richard Herman's novels. I enjoyed this one the least. Perhaps it is because he is in to writing novels which have sequels. It has gotten to the point that in this one, when he refers to a characters past deeds that he puts a footnotnote to tell you where to go to find out about the history in a prior book. Here the story is labored and contrived to weave a web of interest about oil discovery in Cuba and behind the scenes attempts to over throw the Cuban government. Clearly a new fighter pilot is on the way for further novels (Eric) and I will probably buy the next effort, hoping that the magic of prior years will return. This novel is not worth the price.

Rating:
Summary: A good read!
Review: Lt.Col. Mike Stuart is a desk-jockey tediously toiling in his office until he notices an unusual pattern of oil tanker movements flickering across his monitor.

An ordinary man in his ordinary life, Mike Stuart does what he's told & informs his superiors of his findings. Nothing comes of it until, seemingly randomly, he becomes accident-prone. It's only when his ex-wife & her lover are killed while driving his car that it dawns on him he just might have been the target.

I felt the author really understood the subject & found myself not only enjoying, but wanting to participate in the flying scenes. I like the imperfections of his characters & the growth he allowed his characters to have as the story progressed.

When I finished the The Trojan Sea I shut the cover with a thump & said: "Yeah! A good read!" Will I hunt up a Richard Herman in the future? Absolutely! Good reads with a good pace & a good story are far & few between. This one leaves your satisfaction quotient on high, when all is read & done!

Rating:
Summary: Good plot, good characters add up to a great read!
Review: Lt.Mike Stuart is a very real,and great character. He is faced with a tough boss, and a seemingly inexplicable puzzle which threatens first his career, and later his life. He triumphs by showing his true courage and strength of spirit. His love interest is a very real person, and is not the usual 'perfect woman'. Oil politics, Cuban politics, and Washington politics add up to a really good read.