Hong Kong

September 4, 2000
Last year, Coonts had Cuba teetering on the political edge in his megaseller of the same name. Now it's Hong Kong, in another steadfast speculative thriller. The great city/state is falling out of Communist hands, just a few short years after the Chinese takeover. The revolution is being fomented by the cyberintelligentsia, who have managed to rig computer systems throughout Hong Kong and China so that all vital functions--the power grid, airports, oil refineries, telephone systems, etc.--will collapse at the same time. At the helm of the insurrection is Virgil Cole, the American consul general who used his enormous wealth as a former Silicon Valley exec to finagle the overseas appointment; he views the revolution as a kind of extreme sport. He doesn't, however, anticipate the arrival of Jack Grafton, navy admiral and Washington's go-to guy, who starts prowling around a few days before the revolution begins. Just as Grafton is beginning to figure things out, a criminal gang leader working with the rebels kidnaps his wife. Anyone who's seen Grafton in action before knows that he isn't one to take such personal slights lightly. The final third of the book shows Hong Kong under spectacular siege as the rebels rely on sabotage, cunning and half a dozen fighting robots, called Sergeant Yorks, to subdue the Chinese soldiers. Coonts does a remarkable job of capturing the mood of clashing cultures in Hong Kong, creating some noteworthy secondary characters. These include Lin Pe, the aging owner of a fortune cookie factory who finds solace in writing simple fortunes while the world around her crumbles, and Sun Siu Ki, the Beijing-installed governor of Hong Kong, whose peasant mind simply cannot grasp rebellion. For all its stylish accents, however, the story goes from point A to point B with few detours or surprises. Most readers will likewise rush headlong through this seventh Grafton adventure. Major ad/promo.

July 1, 2000
Hong Kong in the immediate future is the scene for Coonts s (Cuba) latest thriller. China is ripe for an anti-Communist revolution, and it explodes while Admiral Jake Grafton is in Hong Kong on a fact-finding assignment. While most previous Grafton novels have revolved around military actions, Hong Kong deals with spies, murder, kidnapping, and treachery. When the revolution erupts, the rebels use cyberwarfare to paralyze the Chinese government s computers and gain access to traditional weapons. A real distraction is the use of Terminator-type combat robots to turn the tide for the rebels. Since these automata don t exist (yet), they should not play a role in a novel that purports to be based on fact, and they spoil what could have been a compelling novel about a people s struggle for freedom. Despite its flaws, this book will be enjoyed by Coonts s many fans. For general collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/00.] Robert Conroy, Warren, WI

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2000
Last year he defended the U.S. against a nuclear attack in "Cuba"; this year Admiral Jake Grafton merely defends one American, his wife, against a Hong Kong gangster. The narrowing of Grafton's focus means he won't be operating his usual panoply of jets and aircraft carriers, but what Coonts reduces in hardware he enhances in intrigue. In Hong Kong to investigate the loyalty of American consul Virgil Cole, Grafton finds a tense city as protests against a failed bank take on anticommunist overtones. Constitutionally indisposed to the circumspect approach, Grafton bluntly confronts Cole with official suspicions that the consul is fomenting the unrest. Almost before the consul can concoct a lie, the aforesaid gangster nabs Grafton's wife, setting up the two agendas that drive Coonts' plot: Grafton's attempt to rescue his spouse, and Cole's sub rosa machinations with Chinese rebels. Grafton's link between the two is the pal he made in "Cuba," CIA lock-picker Tommy Carmellini. When not snooping on the consul and other CIA agents, Carmellini buddies up with Grafton, backing him up with that nick-in-time gunplay so critical to any techno worthy of the name. And the techno part of Coonts' yarn is an over-the-top machine, seemingly recruited from "Terminator 2." This is an entertaining distraction within its genre's conventions, and credit Coonts with risking his fans' loyalty by setting his hero within a planeless plot--they'll stick with Jake, even when he's on foot. ((Reviewed July 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)