Dragonfire (Alexander Hawke #11)

I love Ted Bell and the Alex Hawks series. I was excited the book was released and jumped right in for a new adventure. Unfortunately, I did not care for the two separate story lines, jumping back and forth and never bringing the two together except for the fact that it was dealing with a differ generation of the Tang family. Plus, sentences did not track and seemed out of place and at times redundant. My husband commented as well on the difference in the writing. I can honestly say I was bummed and disappointed.

Who wrote this story? Has Ted Bell gone on a long vacation? I have read all of Hawke\’s books from the very beginning and the last two books are not written by Ted Bell. There were times in this book I did not now what year it was and what was the connection between the two stories. As a matter of fact I did not see the link with one Tang being a good guy and the newer Tangs being despicable. It would be wonderful if I could ask for my money back. China Moon has been killed off and it is time for Alex to retire.

I have read all the Alex Hawke books and I thought the last one was horrible. In fact I doubted Ted Bell had written much, if any of it. I was apprehensive about this novel, but I need not have been concerned. However true Alex Hawke fans may not agree with me as this novel is really 2 books in one with a very limited connection. Alex\’s grandfather is the hero of one part of the book going back to World War II and some time shortly after Pearl Harbor. We meet FDR, Winston Churchill, MI6 operations and a Chinese ambassador to the United States. These adventures take place between chapters of current times and Alex\’s story. Sometimes there are multiple chapters of the time span episodes, sometimes not. It does take some getting used to. I thought Alex\’s grandfather was an interesting character and an entire book could have been written about him during the World Ear II era. I thought the language and references from the WWII part of the story were excellent. As far as the current Alex adventures go, I found it interesting, good character development, and exciting page turning developments. Truthfully, I thought each main character could have stood alone for an entire novel. I would have preferred that scenario. Having said that, I still enjoyed the book, but would have wanted more pages devoted to the current Alex and his usual co-stars.

I read all the prior Hawke books with keen interest until three ago when in that installment I was convinced that the author didn\’t write it, that possibly a few of his students did. I still hold that opinion. So I didn\’t read the next two and watched poor reviews pour in. I really loved the series and characters though so watched with interest as this book was published, ultimately taking the chance. This book is much improved! I now again hope for even more. This is the first dual generation timeline jump narrative I recall from this author and it did not disappoint. Both stories are independently interesting and have a point of parallelism. In many ways I liked the earlier in time story better. Of course I always enjoy a novel featuring the exploits of Commander Fleming, real and imagined. So this is a 5/4 thus 4 overall. Keep them coming.

Dragonfire by Ted Bell doesnt disappoint! Its chock full of action and adventure. Normally with a great book, I tend to read at a slower pace and try to savor it…I found myself whipping through the pages out of excitement for what comes next! Superb villain on this one. Mr Smith is someone you\’ll love to hate! Well done!

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