Ballistic

As a long time action/thriller fan (movies and books) I was looking forward to reading "Ballistic". One reviewer labeled it as "Die Hard in a Missile Silo". That's the ticket I thought! Seeing how "Die Hard" is my all-time favorite movie ever. I have a beat up paperback copy of  Nothing Lasts Forever (The book that inspired the movie Die Hard)  by Roderick Thorp. I plan to get this book in Kindle format as well. With that background behind me and having read the four 5-star reviews posted, I jumped into "Ballistic".To me, it was an "okay" book. I would call it "Die Hard Lite". I am sure the author can write suspenseful novels featuring a former football player as a lawyer, but action just does not seem to be his thing. And certainly NOT military style action. My biggest gripe would be the casual relaxed (good ole boy) attitude that ALL the military characters displayed. Almost as if they were all civilians who dressed up occasionally as soldiers/airmen and just pretended to be in the military. Yes, I understood the story would be a little over the top, but I never sensed the military discipline or dedication in any of the characters. I think a 5-star rating is way too generous and even a 4-star rating would give you the wrong indication of how I feel. I think 3-stars just about sums it up pretty good. This is an average action story that if this was a movie, it would be a low cost "Direct to DVD" type movie.To see where I am coming from, check out my other reviews and see the types of books I enjoy reading and the ratings I have posted.

"Ballistic" is fiction, and you know it's fiction, but the writing is so believable that you'll find yourself turning on the TV news to get updates before you finish the book. Given the political climate in our country today, this story could easily happen in real life -- there are people who are capable of doing a crime like this right now. The most frightening part of this story was the portrayal of the lax attitude of the Airmen who manned the missle base. I sincerely hope that the military personnel who actually man this base are more alert than the guys in this book. But given the isolation of the base, I don't have any confidence in their alert status.I gave this book 4 stars because of the exploits of Jack Jericho. He should have died many times, given all that he went through, but like Timex, he keeps on ticking. Otherwise, the book is a page turner and I highly recommend it.

This one had been in my Kindle for while and finally decided to give it a whirl. At about chapter 4 I thought, 'nope' ain't gonna spend any more time on it. Then On Second Thought ... I gave it a few more to see if it hooked me. OUCH ... it hooked me alright. Didn't stop until I finished it. The military characters were a bit 'un' military, but the action, the plot and the dialogue kept me turning pages. So if you decide to crack this one open, don't let the first few chapters dissuade you from marching on ... you won't be sorry.

I SEE BETTER IN U/C BEFORE SOME GET THEIR SHORTS IN A WAD. JUST FINISHED BALLISTIC AND ONCE AGAIN, NO DISAPPOINTMENT IN READING PAUL LEVINE. SO FAR I'VE READ AT LEAST 6 OF HIS BOOKS AND CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF HIS WRITING. NO NEED TO GO INTO THE STORY AS OTHERS HAVE DONE A GOOD JOB OF THAT, JUST BE ASSURED, YOU SHOULD REALLY ENJOY THE BOOK. SOME WRITERS JUST HAVE IT AND LEVINE HAS IT. USUALLY I ONLY WRITE POSITIVE REVIEWS BUT ON 1 OR 2 OCCASIONS I COULDN'T AND FIND THAT SOME GET QUITE UPSET IF IT'S NEGATIVE, SORRY ABOUT THAT BUT I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE, A REVIEW. ONE INVIVIDUAL, FIRST NAME "L", EVEN REFERRED TO ME AS "CHUMP" SO I LOOKED IT UP, NOT NICE BUT I'LL JUST CONSIDER THE SOURCE.

I read the book from one end to the other and I read the reviews. I noted that Air Force personnel took issue with the story. I spent twenty-three years of my life in the Air Force and I too found some inaccuracies in the book, but I also know it is a work of fiction. An author takes license with the material he or she has to work with. The book was an enjoyable read. If you want accuracy read non-fiction. If you want irreverent humor and suspense read this book.

Good story. Good use of humor. It held my attention to the point that I read the entire book in two days, and with an 8 year old grand-son living with me, that's saying something. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The author had either spent time in the Air Force, as I did, or did a good job at his research, as it it was fairly accurately portrayed.

O.K. but not up to the caliber of other works by Mr. Levine. It was pretty predictable. You knew the E-5 hero from West Virginia would conquer his inner demons in time to save the pretty psychiatrist from the hands of the nut case who had been able to gain control of the missile. You knew the world would be saved from offsetting nuclear attacks.I did like the amount of research that Mr. Levine put into writing the book. He had good depth and details about the working of the missile system and the fail safe systems that protected it.There was a touch of humor but not nearly the amount that made the author's other works so readable.

Good characters that develop nicely during the book. I can't quite put my finger on why, but some writers are just more engaging than others. This story moves along and is engaging but not "over the top" - still worth reading and the author is solid... just seems not as mature as he could be... I will read another of his books in the hope the writing style matures.

BALLISTIC For me this really was An unexpectedly good read.Not my normal genre at all ( If I have one ? )But the one thing the Kindle has taught me, is that you have nothing to lose and plenty to gain in finding new authors.I don't really have any interest in terrorists or nuclear weapons, but when a group of home grown religous fanatics held under the influence of Brother David plan to launch an apocalypse on most of The Middle East, by attacking a US military base, you know its going to be full of action.I really liked the strong characterisation, and the sheer number of atomic weapons the US posess, make this novel perfectly plausible to me, the action never stops, unfortunately neither do the deaths, but all in all an exciting read.It would have been a five star from me, but just that bit too long.Recommended though. BALLISTIC

Ballistic is the story of how a religious sect seek to hijack a nuclear weapon to unleash Armageddon on the world. Only a good-for-nothing sergeant can stop them.....The story is fine, its got comic interludes, pacy action, love interest, etc., but ultimately there is nothing to see here. The fact that it took me months to finish speaks volumes. There's nothing really wrong with it, just not much to celebrate.Its a good action novel, with a highly predictable, formulaic plot and ending. The characters are, for the most part, cliche, however it is well written enough to keep you going until the end.

Dare I suggest an alturnate ending? 'Suddenly the sky over ( spoiler ) became as a white light. The end had begun.'However not to be.A bit of a slow starter but otherwise just another shoot em up, the good guy wins, saves the day and the girl book.This would however make a good movie for Heros like Steve Segal ect Just a fun read for a summer,s day.

This is not as good as the US reviews will lead you to believe. The action is not as fast paced as, say, Matthew Reilly or Jeremy Robinson. This is also certainly not as good as classic Tom Clancy. Also this was not as good by half as Die Hard as referred to in other reviews (perhaps more Under Siege 2)This being said, the book was enjoyable albeit unbelievable.

havent read it yet