At this point in the series (book six) I’ve grown increasingly irritated. So far:
The bad guys always succeed.
The mental problems of the good guys always help the bad guys succeed.
The last two attacks succeeded directly due to the complete mental breakdown of the two characters about to stop those attacks.
Maggie – begins as bad leader and only gets worse under pressure
Reese – begins as unstable and only cracks up even more under pressure
Banks – begins normal then becomes completely self absorbed, and even gets blown up for it
Odell – begins creepy and only gets creepier
These characters also share a severe lack of gratitude.
VP – seems reasonable for most of the series, then comes unglued. Should have seized power from Maggie awhile ago.
Lucy – finds Jesus? Surprising gem in the middle of these losers
Corbin – steady all the way. Another unheralded exception
Turk – also seems to start and end fairly steady. However, he should have thrown Reese down a flight of stairs awhile ago.. Tolerating Reese is just as bad as Reese.
I’m going to continue the series, hoping that these people can pull it together.
Since the antagonists always succeed, and the protagonists not only fail but have mental breakdowns which ensure the success of the antagonists – I’m not sure if the author really hates America or something. Plenty of reasons to, sure, but I’d rather read about people kicking ass and not completely collapsing at every critical moment.
At this point, the good guys are all extremely self absorbed losers who crack up under pressure. No gratitude – no regard for the bigger picture. Very petty and small minded.
Propaganda wise – of course the usual evil Russia stuff. Whatever. Must be a mandatory thing in this genre to get published or something. Along with the number six sprinkled in. Fine. I just want a good story with good guys who actually good. And kick ass. How is writing about losers satisfying to an author?
Despite all this, somehow this guy is still more enjoyable to read than the authors with more technical and geopolitical knowledge. This genre is generally (intentionally) naive to the extreme, but I can’t write the books for these people. They wouldn’t get published likely.
So: Good story. Lots of kicking ass. You’ll never go wrong.
So far team America has horrifically bad leadership, planning and operations. And the mental toughness of small girls. I’m curious to see what changes, cuz I can’t imagine these people literally being able to get worse. I mean, at this point, Russia should just invade. Screw it.
Narrator was mediocre.