No comments about Vortex Part 2 of 2.

No comments about Red Phoenix, Part 1 of 2.

No comments about Day of Wrath [Audiobook] Unabridged by Larry Bond Books on Tape.

No comments about Red Phoenix Part 1 and 2 (Unabridged Audio Cass).

No comments about Cauldron Part 2 of 2.

5 comments about Vortex CST.

1. Bond is much better than Clancy. I just cannot tear myself from any book that Bond has written. A true author of modern realism in today's world.



2. La extrema derecha toma el poder en Sudafrica y lanza una guerra racial que debasta al pais. Sudafrica invade Namibia, la cual es defendida por las fuerzas cubanas acantonadas en Angola. Con ayuda de la URSS, Cuba contrataca desde varios frentes. Las fuerzas enfrentadas utilizan sus arsenales de destruccion masiva: bombas nucleares y gas nervioso. Una fuerza anfibia anglonorteamericana desembarca en Sudafrica. Boers, anglosajones, cubanos y nativos se enfrentan a lo ancho y largo del pais.

   "Voragina" es una obra de Larry Bond, al estilo de "Fenix Rojo", "Caldera" y "Tormenta Roja".




3. From Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising collaborator and best selling novelist in his own right, in his first novel Red Phoenix, we are treated to Larry Bond's second masterpiece in military/political thriller fiction in Vortex. Larry Bond once again proves his research capability in his studies of all of the cultures of South Africa and their strengths and differences. He has once again, melded his research, his fluent and poignant writing style into a classical work of fiction. In Vortex, he has essentially taken almost every conceivable aspect of a world crisis situation and crafted it into this masterpiece.

   Where Tom Clancy draws all of the accolades and acclaim, Larry Bond continually produces superb military/political thrillers that are of the same caliber and in the case of Vortex, much larger in scope and overall detail.

   If you're a Tom Clancy, Harold Coyle, Dale Brown, Stephen Coonts, or one of the many other fine military/political thriller author's fans, you would do well to pick up on Larry Bond and his superior work.

   The premise:

   Taking into consideration that this novel was written in the late 80's and early 90's, Larry Bond absorbed the headline news of the time to craft a conceivable real world situation where the boiling point of South Africa could've turned into the very Vortex, of the title, and brought the entire worlds attention to its internal struggles. There could've been no more apropos title for this novel than "Vortex." Vortex as defined in the Webster's dictionary (A situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it.)

   Essentially, Vortex is the story of one man's twisted desires to bring total apartheid to its maximum fruition in Karl Vorster. Through chance and his own machinations, he effectively seizes control of the South African government and begins to bring to realization his perverted dreams of total apartheid and the destruction of his opponents or anyone else who gets in his way. Given South Africa's mineral wealth and that strategic importance to both Western and Eastern powers, this quickly draws their collective attentions.

   What follows is a tour de force of flurried action, suspense and outstanding military fiction, which brings many players to the table to include; the United States, Britain, Israel, Russia, Cuba and Libya. Hence the title of "Vortex." Where these many players are all drawn to South Africa and its mineral wealth. {ssintrepid}




4. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the end of the U.S.-Soviet confrontation created both a problem and a challenge to "future war" novelists: how do you create believable scenarios in which America and her allies fight against possible real-world enemies? After all, with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the scaling back of U.S. forces in Europe, a Red Storm Rising-class World War III novel was obsolete. But at the same time, the military-fiction genre was still very viable...as long as writers came up with credible adversaries to cause havoc in the world.

   Vortex, Larry Bond and Patrick Larkin's second collaborative effort, is set in early 1990s South Africa before the white minority relinquished its death-grip on power. It paints a dark scenario of a desperate Boer-dominated government using its military and police to destabilize neighboring "black" African nations and fight a Marxist-leaning African National Congress and its armed guerrillas.

   Vortex starts out, as many techno-thrillers often do, with a seemingly isolated event. In the prologue, a team of South African Army commandos and a black ANC turncoat execute a raid on an ANC safe house/headquarters in Gawamba, Zimbabwe. Led by Capt. Rolf Bekker, the South African commandos wipe out an ANC guerrilla cell and capture a safe full of documents (which they photograph and leave apparently undiscovered), then return to their base without serious loss.

   In Bond's alternate history, years of sanctions and diplomatic isolation have failed to end apartheid and white rule of the Union of South Africa. Instead, the Boers (descendants of South Africa's original Dutch settlers) who dominate the government have become more repressive and paranoid. For their part, the ANC's leaders have grown weary of waiting for the West to press for change by peaceful means, and Marxist hard-liners have come up with a campaign code named Broken Covenant. Its goal: to win by force what years of negotiations and international condemnation have not...the end of white rule and the establishment of a black-dominated government. And by the end of the novel, South Africa's internal strife becomes a conflict pitting Anglo-American forces against various opponents, including Cuban Army units sent by Fidel Castro.

   Bond's depiction of a war in South Africa now seems a bit of a stretch, but given that he was a former naval intelligence officer (and designer of the Harpoon war game), perhaps his research into apartheid-era South African affairs gave him insights that most of his readers didn't have. At times the depiction of the South African "bad guys" reminds one of Hitler's Third Reich, especially when Bond and Larkin write about the more die-hard racist government ministers; Karl Vorster, a South African Hitler-like figure and Marius van der Heijden, deputy minister of Law and Order, who seems to have studied under Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler, so extreme are his racist views. But as in many World War II novels, there are "good" South Africans who, when push comes to shove, find the courage to rise against the injustices that they have previously defended.

   Of course, it helps to have a little mix of romance, youthful rebellion and a healthy dose of American firepower, and as in Red Phoenix, American weaponry and military units play a huge role in Vortex's plot. In some ways, it's formulaic and the reader knows things will have a rosy ending, but in other ways Vortex is fascinating. Readers will be surprised to know how puritanical the Boer society was (a friend of mine who visited South Africa in the late '70s said Playboy-style magazines were not sold there) and how tense relations used to be between the Dutch- and English-descended whites. The officers with English surnames are often distrusted by their Boer counterparts and are often more critical of apartheid than is healthy for their careers. But just as there are "good Germans" in WWII fact and fiction, there are also "good Boers" who join forces with American and British troops to end the bloody conflict that threatens to end their country's very existence.




5. A competent but dry effort that dragged through the 2nd half. A real lack of intensity and action compared to Bonds Red Phoenix.

5 comments about The ENEMY WITHIN.

1. I would have given this book at least 4 stars but Mr. Bond's inclusion of a unnecessary romance with the female HRT leader brought it down by 2. The romance angle was shallow, unnecesarry and only there to appease the mentally deficient of his readers. Look at his previous 3 books, excellent books with no Harlequin romance crap dropped in for filler.

   I am very disappointed, this book could have been great.




2. AFTER WHAT HAPPEND ON SEPTEMBER I WOULD BET A LOT OF READERS ARE LOOKING FOR A BOOK THAT WOULD BE DESCRIBED ABOUT WHAT COULD HAPPEND NEXT OR JUST LOOKING FOR A TERRIFFIC BOOK TO READ. LOOK NO FURTHER THIS IS THE BOOK TO BUY AND READ! BOND HITS THIS FICTIONAL STORY SO REAL THAT I HAVE TO KEEP ASKING HOW COULD THIS BE FICTION? I JUST DO NOT UNDERSTAND. A TREMENDOUS BOOK.



3. Clancy has his hands full when anything comes out by Bond. The Enemy Within is just a great book to grab, buy and read! Un-down-putable! Its the only way to describe all of his books. If you are a reader and haven't read any books by Larry Bond. DO IT and see why!



4. Tom Clancy is one of my favorite authors. How did I not know about Larry Bond?!! This is the first I have read by him and I literally just finished it a few minutes ago. What a great read!! Chilling, though, and as I said, prophetic. Either that or the warning signs for 9-11 were all too apparent before the attacks. Some of the terrorist attacks described in the book were downright scary (to me). How truly easy it would be to perform some of those acts and then blend into the woodwork! How close we are to an all-out race-related civil war. We exist is some degree of believed safety and yet, how little it would/could take to turn out world around completely. I look forward to his other books (which I hope to get-some-for Christmas. :) )



5. It almost seems as if Larry Bond had a crystal ball to gaze into when he wrote this thriller. The story, written in 1996, deals with a terrorist group, directly sponsored by a Middle Eastern nation, launching a series of attacks on U.S. soil. After the tragic events of 9/11/2001, the plot seems all too realistic.
   
   The story follows the lives of two peolpe, brought together by a series of terrorist attacks. Col. Peter Thorn is a formr Delta Force commander, now an anti-terrorism expert in the Pentagon. Special Agent Helen Grey is head of one of the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Teams. Together, they hunt for answers before terrorists tear our country apart.
   
   Most of Larry Bond's novels deal with large-scale conflicts in places like Korea and souhern Africa. This story, because of a more narrow focus, really draws you into the characters. Because of his excellent ability to make the characters seem real, this is my favorite of Larry Bond's novels. His style has evolved into one distinctly his, although I still rank him right up with Tom Clancy. This book is a real page-turner. I read it in three nights. It's definitely worth adding to your library.

No comments about Cauldron Parts 1 & 2.

5 comments about Day of Wrath Cs.

1. This is not his best but still worth a read. He holds your attention. The situations are true. great raeding.



2. Bond delivers a story that could be true to today's world. Prince Ibrahim of Saudi Arabia, a millionaire, is the guy behind the terrorism across the world, financially supporting various factions. He also owns a powerful corporation, known as Caraco, and is very influential with the current administration in the White House.

   The story revolves around Thorn and Gray, the Army Colonel, and FBI agent who were featured in Bond's prior novel, Enemy Within.
   A Russian cargo jet crashes in northern Russia with U.S. officials onboard. Gray and Thorn both meet at the scene, and that's when their lives get interesting. Trailing clues to why the plane crashed with the help of a Russian MVD officer, Thorn and Gray pursue Germans into parts of northern Russia, into Norway and Germany. They get into trouble with Russian locals when the MVD officer is killed in an ambush.

   They have a hunch that, jet engines are being used to smuggle nuclear weapons to the U.S. Disobeying orders from their government, Thorn and Gray pursue the leads to the U.S. and get help from General Farrell. With the German and Arabic terrorists after them as well as their own government, Thorn and Gray must elude them and get to the heart of the problem, before Ibrahim can unleash 20 150 Megaton nuclear bombs on the U.S.




3. If you are looking for a military thriller like Bond's "Vortex" or "Red Phoenix", you won't find it here. Not that this is a bad book because it is not. It just was not the type of book I expected.
   
   "Day of Wrath" is a military James Bond-esque type thriller with a large international plot that crosses continents and jurisdictions with lots of action. The odds are heavily against the good guys (of course) but they have pluck!...Anyway, you can see that it is sort of formulaic but it is still good. I think that it has a slow start but once the ball gets rolling it's worth the time to read it.



4. I came away disappointed from reading Day of Wrath. The two intrepid heroes fighting alone against impossible odds and a nuclear countdown are well too outlandish for someone who has written so much better fare. This book has the feel and look of just another royalty check for the author.



5. I almost gave this book 5 stars. The action is there, non stop. Peter Thorn really knows how to keep moving. Helen Gray was so manly that she might as well be just another guy helping Peter out. After all, it seems they don't know what to do with each other. Their "intimate" moments are the only awkward parts of this book.
   
   An interesting part in this book is that an American undersecretary gets blown out to pieces at an Egyptian airport and there is hardly any comment about it. That part wasn't part of the main story I think. It was just there to make us dislike Prince Ibrahim.
   
   I loved the language and the dialogues, especially when Gen. Farrell (ret.) enters the story. I never heard so many "Hells" and "Christs" and "Damns" and "God****" among military men. And I used to work with tough guys form SPAWAR and SPECWAR units. Well, I think they just talk that way out there in the field.*
   
   The book is a good read, very entertaining, but it was written in a different world, so I don't know how many people would enjoy a story such as this today. Stasi mercenaries, incompetent Soviet military, fanatical Arabs, all ugly ghosts from the Reagan era are brought back to life. Loved the chases, the killings, the murders, the non stop action, and all the heroin wasted in this story.
   
   But I agree with some of the other reviewers. It was a good read, but highly impossible
   
   *(OK I admit it. I was just a PMT assigned to shore duty with a bunch of Navy corpsmen, bunch of yeomen and a whole lot Marine I&I's.)

5 comments about Red Phoenix.

1. Good if not a little (well a lot) out of date. But never the less well crafted and well written. Among the best of the late 80s techno/war fiction.



2. The Bookcassette Adapter gives you balance control on your headphones and is so easy to use: Plug it into the stereo jack of your personal tapeplayer and then plug your headphones into the other side. The Bookcassette Adapter Works ONLY on Stereo Tapeplayers.
   
   If you plan on listening to Bookcassette audio books on a stereo system where you can adjust the sound between the left and right speakers separately, such as a rack system with separate left and right speaker controls or a car stereo with a left and right balance dial, you will be able to listen to Bookcassette audio books without a problem. If you plan on listening to these audio books on a portable cassette player that does not have this capability, such as a Walkman with headphones, you will require an adapter.
   
   As I said, it would be cheaper to buy it on the Internet, especially on eBay, instead of directly from the company (Brilliance Corporation) at 1-800-697-6797



3. Our government has a nasty habit of always leaving us one more to fight. This could become history, and it would be our fault. Excellent book. One of Bond's best.



4. This is a war fiction classic that I rate even with Tom Clancy's "Hunt for Red October" and "Red Storm Rising." Larry Bond brings to life a real war scenario. We know from the Gulf War he was a visionary when he wrote "Red Phoenix."



5. This is by far Larry Bond's best work, barring his collaboration with Clancy on Red Storm Rising. The two should be featured together in a 'better together' offer. The only delimna would be deciding which to read first.