Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller
Approximate word count: 100-105,000 words
Availability
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Author:
“Milt Mays
is a graduate of The Naval Academy, a retired U.S. Navy Captain, and a Cheyenne
Veterans hospital physician, having learned the value and seen the results of
war.”
Description:
“Dan’s War is about the end of world oil
... in two weeks. Abdullah El-Hamain, a high-roller OPEC member, hates Big Oil
for polluting earth and killing his wife. His solution: sink or swim—end global
warming by destroying the entire world’s oil supply in two weeks, using spiders
and nanobacteria. Drawn into his apocalyptic scheme is Dan Trotter, a CIA
computer savant without equal, but with Asperger’s-like syndrome that makes him
a social goof. If Dan can only become a field agent in a real war he will
become a hero like his father, breaking out of his geek job, and gain the
respect from his wayward son and roaming wife.”
Appraisal:
A reader
will often perceive a review like this as lukewarm. Often that’s right.
However, I see this one as hot and cold. There was much about Dan’s War I liked, and liked a lot. But
this was offset with enough that I didn’t. The premise and the overall story
both worked for me. The characters, especially the protagonist Dan, were
distinctive and non-stereotypical. All the elements of a good thriller are here.
The
problems I found were the kinds of things that tend to throw me out of a story.
Some of these were editing and proofing issues, with this book just exceeding
my somewhat intolerant threshold for such issues. Others were lines that had me
saying, “Huh, how does that work?” For example, “odors of dead crawfish, beer,
and swamp mud floated in.” Really? You’re driving through a Louisiana bayou,
crack the window of the vehicle, and the smell of beer from the outside is that
strong? Or talking about the miles per gallon a prototype of an electric car
got? When did we start measuring electricity in gallons? I’ll leave it to you
to figure out what it might mean to say that a boat “maintained a steady,
though rumpled ten knots.” I think I
know what it was trying to say, but it seemed like a strange way to say it.
Despite this, thriller fans who don’t mind occasionally tripping over a word should
find Dan’s War a worthwhile read.
FYI:
Adult
language.
Format/Typo Issues:
A large
number of typos and proofing misses. While these covered the full spectrum
(wrong word, missing words, etc) the most common was choosing incorrectly between your and you’re.
Rating: *** Three stars
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