Firewall

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Andy McNab

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Pages: 416 (Paperback)

ISBN: 0593046684

Pub: Bantam Press

Pub date: 2000-10-05

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 191910

Editorial Review:

All freelances have problems when work dries up, but Nick Stone, hero of Andy McNab's second adventure thriller Firewall has worse problems than most of us. Expensively trained by the SAS, he now works for British Intelligence as a deniable operative, and he needs a regular income to take care of his responsibilities, which include psychiatric care for a traumatised orphan. He takes a lucrative mercenary job kidnapping a leading Chechen Mafioso; when the job goes sour, his victim is impressed by his grace under pressure and hires him to baby-sit a computer espionage expert on a jaunt into Finland. Not all is as it seems--Nick was engaged in wishful thinking to believe it was--and he finds himself adrift with little money and no weapons in Estonia in the dead of winter with a friend to rescue, the interests of the West to retrieve and, if possible, money to earn... This is an effective thriller because of the clash between its hero's competence and his less than entire brightness--Nick gets himself into messes and then gets out of them because of skills in combat, disguise and survival. This is a book filled with adrenaline-pumping excitement and a sense of bitterly cold places. --Roz Kaveney This review refers to the hardcover edition of this title.

Reader Reviews:

Firewall in the cold (1/1 people found this helpful)

My only previous read of a McNabb novel was one with the same central character but later in his career and set in the heat of the Congo. This one is in Finland and Estonia and will get no prizes from the Estonian Tourist Board. Their country is grimly portrayed as dirty and corrupt. The story is of a British ex-S.A.S man, officially disgraced so prepared to freelance overseas, no questions asked. Kidnap, murder and demolition are all in his repertoire but underneath, a heart of gold. He needs money to privately treat the traumatised child of a former colleague murdered by the Provos. Full of action, twists, turns and great technical detail on arms and surveillance. The language was cleaner that the other volume I read. Not great but good for an escape from one's normal world.

A good summer read on the beach but not more (1/1 people found this helpful)

My first McNab thriller was good enough to engage me to read it all the way through but is far from being a blockbuster thriller.
Nick Stone is a classic,dare I say cardboard,character that seems to do everything wrong and yet somehow bungles his way to the end of the book alive.
The sort of book you can read on a vacation and then leave at the hotel to avoid overweight luggage charges on the way backhome.

mcnab is king (0/1 people found this helpful)

Andy, (Nick)is brilliant in the way he brings us along right with him. reading his books makes me feel like I am with him along for the ride. I started with Bravo Two Zero and became hooked. His fiction is fantastic also. I have read 6 books so far and fully intend on reading the rest of the series. I HAVE PURCHASED ALL OF HIS BOOKS JUST WAITING TO BE READ. I AM A FAN, AND THIS GUY HAS BROUGHT ME back to being an everyday reader, which I did not think was possible.

If only there were 6 stars... (1/2 people found this helpful)

So exciting right from the word go. The good thing with McNab is, he really goes into the characters. And he's developing Stone so well before our eyes. I feel like I know the bloke now.

Again this is another, incredibly gritty, real twisty-turny book. Much faster paced than the last one, Crisis Four. This is one of his best.

Gritty realism on the action front. (1/1 people found this helpful)

This was the first Andy McNab book I had ever read, and I have to say I had pre-judged Andy McNab and wasn't expecting much. I have to say I was more than pleasantly surprised about how good it was.

What I liked about McNab's writing is he brings believable realism to the story, obviously from his experience in the military. He goes in to in depth details about planning operations. In the fights there is no dispatching you enemies here with quick karate chop. It is street fighting of the highest order with head butts eye gouging. His technical knowledge of computing is not as good as his field craft but quite frankly it doesn't really matter it's an excellent read and will have you turning the page.

Our hero is the very falliable Nick Stone who is very much at the bottom of the food chain doing what ever he has to in order earn a living and for his survival. Thinking on his feet and trying to stay a couple of steps in front of the bad guys.

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