The Bones Of Odin (Matt Drake Book 1)

Reviewer JDKay is right: Leadbeater's obsession with analogy and such is really grating. Every two or three pages there's a cringe-inducing phrase like, "I used to have a Marine boyfriend who could've tucked that trinket under his foreskin." "These guys are more annoying than an Indian call center" and "...that didn't mean the cop in her just gave it up quicker than a guy surrendered his virtue on his first night in Vegas."And that's just a sample of the dozen that hit you upside the head in the first two chapters. Leadbeater just isn't as funny or as clever as he thinks he is. It's too bad, really, because I like the premise of the story, and I like the characters, but I don't know if I will be able to finish reading this. Every time I fall over one of his "clever" phrases, I have to back up and find the thread of the story again.Leadbeater has real promise, but he needs a ruthless editor. I volunteer, because he has promise. Shoot me an email, dude. Let's chat.

The Bones of OdinBy David LeadbeaterReviewed by R. MurryIf you're a speed reader, you'll have to slow down you're pace to enjoy this fast pace a la Indiana Jones type adventure story. In this action filled novel, there are more action characters than one.Matt Drake is the catalyst that brings them all together to try and uncover The Bones of Odin.Odin was a mythical god. Or was he real? A shield is uncovered, which leads to the coming together of all the pieces, leading to whether the myth is true or false. If true, the world will come to an end when all the pieces are aligned correctly.Not a new theme, but Mr. Leadbeater's version is so well written that you'll come away believing the tale. His participants, including selfless and intelligent Drake, give credibility to the story with their sometimes herculean feats. Reading about this mixed batch of individuals, who overcome their fears, was entertaining.The madness in the world confronts our heroes. They go through hell to get to heaven in traversing two continents in fighting that madness. Each individual, having their baggage, is trying to overcome their adversaries.Drake, with a secret service background, is trying to become a civilian, but can't overcome his engrained traits which are in tack and where needed to foil off the enemy. You'll have to read the book to understand the other characters' challenges.All in all, if you like action, this is a book for you. There is lots of well written high kicking action in the novel. I'll follow Matt Drake on his next adventure. Will you?

"The Bones of Odin" by David Leadbeater (@dleadbeater2011) is an fast-paced thrill-ride of a book where the action starts on page 1 and doesn't let up as hero Matt Drake and his cohorts battle the bad guys throughout locales as exotic as Paris and as dangerous as the inside of a supervolcano. (click here for Mr. Leadbeater's blog).My taste in genres is pretty broad. I like a deep, introspective mystery or epic sci-fi saga as much as the next person, but sometimes as a reader I want to dive into something a bit more straightforward. To grab some popcorn, settle into my seat and get swept away as the bullets fly and bodies fall into bottomless pits. "The Bones of Odin" absolutely delivered and I had a lot of fun reading it.If (when, hopefully) some smart person in Hollywood decides to turn "Bones" into a movie, there is no doubt in my mind it will be a Summer Blockbuster starring the latest stars. There are plenty of big action scenes, starting with the opening set in York, England at -- of all things -- a fashion show attacked by masked terrorists.There is also a mystery here, a riddle revolving around the mythology of Odin, the Norse "Father of all Gods and Men" and the Nine Pieces of Odin, which may spell the end of the world as we know it if put together just right. This mystery propels the action forward, as ex-SAS officer Drake and his team -- including a damaged New York City detective and a naive university student/musician -- race to collect the Pieces before the bad guys.That's bad guys, plural, and they are truly deliciously drawn in their evilness.On the flip side, the good guys are good but not infallible, and one of the things I enjoyed was how Drake came to terms with the fact that he is no longer capable of the same feats as while on active service with the SAS. The dialogue and interplay between the characters sparkles, which means even exposition-heavy scenes as Drake and crew unravel the mystery don't slow the flow of the story.I highly recommend adding "The Bones of Odin" to your eReader of choice for the beach, on a fishing trip, the airplane ride, those lazy summer days and nights -- anywhere, really. It is a fast, fun and exciting read, and I'm pleased to see Mr. Leadbeater has a second Matt Drake book out, which is going on my To-Read List.

Buckle up and hang on as The Bones of Odin is a nonstop action adventure. From the opening chapter to the conclusion, the action seldom takes a breather.The characters are drawn out without stopping to dwell on their motivations. The dialog between the three main characters makes this book so much fun to read. It is fresh, original, and smile evoking.There are two reasons I did not give this book a five star rating. I never had a clear understanding why the villains, there are two groups of them, were hunting for the bones of Odin. They go to extreme lengths thwarting the good guys at almost every turn in retrieving them, but if they found them before the good guys, it wasn't explained satisfactorily what they'd do with them. Although how the two villains played against each other made for interesting, and tense reading as it seemed several times the good guy's outcome was questionable.The other reason is there were times the action border on absurd. If the author hadn't gone so over the top with the action sequences, I might've questioned if this wasn't based on actual events and enjoyed the story more.That being said, I look forward to reading the other four books in this series.

After a recomendation from someone who reads the same sort of stuff that I do I took the plunge with the first of the Matt Drake books. It started off Ok , a little bit cliche'd with a ex SAS (yawn) soldier with no other living family struggling after the death of his with etc etc being thrust into an International hunt for relics whilst battling fanatical hired killers. It was bit of Tomb Raider meets DaVinci Code meets Jason Bourne all rolled into one but without the skill of Robert Ludlum. I reminded myself that it was a first novel and so persevered. The research seems to be well executed with lots of things mentioned that followed fokelore and science but it became less and less believable as i got towards the end of the book. The final straw for me, and the reason i will not be reading any more of this author, was the sudden abrupt end without explanation. It is a tried and tested formula of one man battling evil around the world and then gets the girl and sails off into the sunset. If you like this sort of plot then you may enjoy it. I prefer a more believable story.

I'm a big fan of wildly unbelievable and over the top action adventure books. Clive Cussler, Matthew Reilly and, more recently, James Rollins. The maguffin in this one holds up against the rest and I was willing to finish it based on that alone. As it turned out, the maguffin itself really wasn't anything at all but that's not my main problem. Several fairly obvious plot-holes are knocking about, the villains are in no way fleshed out and, well, it simply isn't very well written. Some examples: "There was a roar like the collision of two dinosaurs." There was a later reference in the book to a helicopter engine sounding like a dinosaur. "Colby Taylor looked incredulous for a second, gawping as if Bryan Adams had just jumped out of the woods and launched into Summer of ’69." "They whooped, they fired wildly, they laughed like geeks overdosing on multiple Jager Bombs at spring break." Then there's the hint of an old uncle that you try not to get caught in a Brexit discussion about: "“These guys are more annoying than an Indian call center.” There was also a part where a Swedish person (in Sweden) speaking in halting English (not the national language of Sweden) was bemoaned by the Yorkshire main character who later on states they want some "scran." I've also never read a book where the word "spittle," was used so much. In a ridiculous fight scene, the main character pauses to reflect, "“Wimps aim for the plexus,” before everybody for the remaining 75% of the book gets hit in the "plexus." I know this is the first of the Matt Drake novels and it may just be the author was still finding his voice/honing his craft, but I'm not willing to pay again to find out.

Found this series by mistake and so glad I did. Entertainment and explosive action in every chapter. I recommend you read in order to get an understanding how events interact one word of warning forget about doing anything else when you start to read as you will not be able to put the book down. Now on series 8 which draws closure on Matt and team spears first encounter with mystical stories and personal revenge

OK you've been told before but you must read these in order. With that out the way, I've just gone through a little over a week reading the Odin cycle - all four books. Not because they are lightweight but because they drag you from one page to the next in a relentless charge full of larger than life villains being fought by all too human heroes.The pace is such as to make you skate over any holes in the plot, the mythology behind the story is valid enough and the suppositions that turn the myth into a nightmare are also easy enough to swallow. There is little to jar you off the rails into incredulity, in short. So imagine Indiana Jones as an emotionally fragile ex-SAS exceeder with a disparate ragtag group fighting seemingly endless hordes of evil minions in a quest to save the world. You pretty much have it.It's on sale here for less than a quid. What else can you get for that these days? A bar of chocolate? If you're ready to risk a pound in return for a chance of missed sleep as you are dragged along in the wake of Matt Drake and his friends, shoot for it. I think it's the best 99p you will ever spend!

overall the book wasn't bad, but it didn't blow me away either.The character was the usual Ex-special forces, thrust into adventure. The plot started off interesting, the Shield was a good hook and the various other mythological Norse links through the book made you think a big pay off was coming. This was the real let down, the McGuffin was nothing more than that. Being used to reading James Rollins for this type of book normally and his stories having both a satisfying and thought-provoking takeaways from his McGuffins I was disappointed to see that this the whole chase was just a plot device.The characters were OK if a little cardboard cut out.Overall it was enjoyable especially as it was free as part of my Kindle Unlimited.