Deep beneath the English Channel, a small army of vicious terrorists has seized control of the Eurostar to Paris, taken 400 hostages at gunpoint - and declared war on a government that has more than its own fair share of secrets to keep.
One man stands in their way. An off-duty SAS soldier is hiding somewhere inside the train. Alone and injured, he's the only chance the passengers and crew have of getting out alive. Meet Andy McNab's explosive new creation, Sergeant Tom Buckingham, as he unleashes a whirlwind of intrigue and retribution in his attempt to stop the terrorists and save everyone on board - including Delphine, the beautiful woman he loves.
Hurtling us at breakneck speed between the Regiment's crack assault teams, Whitehall's corridors of power and the heart of the Eurotunnel action, RED NOTICE is McNab at his devastatingly authentic, pulse pounding best.
RED NOTICE: You have been warned.
Review
Tom is a member of the SAS. He has been dating Delphine but their relationship has been on strain since she feels like Tom picks his job over her. When he returns home after a failed attempt to capture Laszlo Antonov, a leader of a terrorists group, he is supposed to meat Delphine but when he stands her up again to do fight night with the other SAS members she decides she is done and is leaving home to France. Of course, once Tom shows up hours after he was supposed to meet her. Delphine’s roommate tells him she is gone, and Tom goes after her. This is how Tom and Delphine end up on a train with Laszlo and this of course starts a very action-packed thrilling book.
I really like how the book was set up. It is almost like this book was made to be a movie. It didn’t stay focused on one person for long but switch often between people on limited third person point of view. I really liked this as it gave every perspective of the situation. It also changed at the right time like how in a show or movie the screen changed between who is talking and goes between scenes of people. Well that is exactly how the book is organized. The chapters are pretty short but there are also different sections in each chapter. It is easy to tell when we are changing perspectives which kept is easy to not get confused when it is changing multiple times a chapter.
This book is definitely action packed and fast paced. Most of the book is them on the train trying to escape alive. I also like that everything doesn’t always go right, there is definitely a lot of setbacks and injuries. In the beginning we got to see a little about the history of the terrorists’ group and the beginning of Tom and Delphine’s relationship. Even though the beginning of the book was jaw dropping and sickening, I like that’s how the book started. It got me engaged right away. I like that you know from the very beginning why the bad guys are bad. Some books I have read takes a while for you to understand what is wrong with the opposing side but from the very beginning, I was filled with hatred toward the terrorist’s group. The author did so well of starting the book off strong and clearly showing what kind of people these terrorists are. It got me and I am sure it will for other involved and emotionally tied to the situation right away.
I also really liked the writing style. You can clearly tell the thinking of the people as they speak. Like you can almost hear the bitterness in the terrorist’s words. And the words used to describe the scene is perfect for the type of book and sets the mood and tone of the story.
There is a lot of SAS and military jargon, which half I understood and half I didn’t, but it made the book more realistic because as the SAS people were talking back and forth and as they were planning and executing their operations, you get a glimpse into that world. It was just very realistic and kept me entertained through the whole story.
I will warn there is a lot of horrible graphic violence that ensues with the hijacking of the train by the terrorists group because they will do what ever it takes to complete their secret addenda and make it out alive.