Android Book Collection & Inventory

Rogue Warrior: Dictator's Ransom

(3.0 stars)

Just finished this book. Real-life SEAL Richard Marcinko begrudingly undertakes a fictional mission into North Korea, the Hermit Kingdom, where he is the dinner guest of the not-so-dear leader, Kim Jong Il. Between a dubious offer to help the world's cruelest, filthiest dictator and his own government's push to use Marcinko to achieve its own machinations, Marcinko realizes he can only trust himself. And so insert all the requisite action cliches. Victory simply means plausible deniability, and the spoils involve escaping with your life. The action in this book is pretty good without actually going too over-the-top. The narrative suffers in some parts by cheap sarcasm, which adds little to nothing. But overall, taken for what it is and what it is not meant to be, this book isn't a bad romp through a very secret part of the world. You won't find a detailed cultural or social examination of Korean life or of the inner workings of Southeast Asian international relations. But for a quick-reading entertaining thriller that's just right on action and light on fare, this is the ticket. And you also may actually learn a thing or two about secrets lurking in the republic just north of the DMZ -- considered by many the most dangerous place on Earth.

A cautionary note: if foul language offends you, this is NOT a book for you.