Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Lethal People and Lethal Experiment - John Locke

John Locke is an internet sensation, selling tons of Donovan Creed novels for $0.99 on amazon.com. While waiting for the next Elvis Cole novel to show up at my library, I decided to check out the first two Donovan Creed novels. I'm reviewing them together because I read them a day apart while waiting for and riding on airplanes from RDU to MCO via CLT.

First off, Donovan Creed is no Jack Reacher or Elvis Cole replacement. He might be able to beat up Nick Heller, but he lacks some finesse. The first novel starts out with Donovan being tortured by his CIA assassin partner. They are testing out some sort of microwave device that cooks you from the inside out. Yeah, the books are that over the top!

It turns out Donovan Creed works for the CIA in a black ops type role as a government assassin. Since the CIA doesn't really provide that much business, he has a bunch of assassination side jobs for the mob. Interestingly, these are tolerated by the CIA because they want him to keep his skills sharp. The premise of the novel is that he takes a job from a new employer, and everything shortly goes to pot. It turnes out his new employer is a quadriplegic little person with dreadlocks who controls a vast army of little people (as if testing out microwave torture equipment wasn't enough).

The second novel continues the insanity, while keeping the reading light. The titular Lethal Experiment is a social experiment where people in need of cash are offered $100,000 in a briefcase, with the stipulation that they know a criminal will be killed if they take the cash.

Both of these books were quick reads that were perfect for the airport. I didn't have to use too many neurons to keep the story straight, and it easily survived frequent interruptions. If you're bored and don't want to spend too much cash, these books will be great for you, but you'd be much better off spending your time reading some Henning Mankell or Robert Crais!

I'm currently about 25% through Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It's not a crime novel, but it is something I've been wanting to read for a while. I think it is about 900 pages long, so it may be a while before I send out another update!

2 comments:

  1. You really think he could beat up Nick Heller? The Nick Heller? Hmmm... I might have to try one of these books to see if you're right. Great review! I promise to stop by more often. Really.

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