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| Hobby Forum Index » Arts - Books - Reviews » Reviews for "Change of Heart" by Jack Allen |
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| jallen944 |
 Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:43 pm |
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Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 18
Location: Detroit, MI
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In Change of Heart, we meet a Mel Gibsonesque Naval Intelligence officer named Joshua McGowan. Joshua is, on the surface, mild-mannered until he finds himself in a combat situation. The first scene finds Josh on the streets of Baltimore, stubbornly tracking an espionage operation. His own personal code of ethics requires him to follow through on one operation before tackling his overriding orders to escort a former KGB spy who has been sprung from a Russian prison by Josh’s friends in the CIA. New recruit Jerry shows the reader Josh’s amazing character:
“Jerry always took that for a load of crap, until he looked into the eyes of the man sitting next to him. Josh was not just some average field agent working a tedious surveillance job for an intelligence organization. He had been changed. He was a soldier, a hardened warrior. Jerry looked away. He completely underestimated his partner. But then, how could he not? To look at Josh he’d never know what he was made of inside.”
Change of Heart takes the reader for a thrill ride from the very first chapter, as Josh tries to rescue the reluctant and beautiful Valeria Konstantinov, former KGB agent, who is being used by both sides for information and power. We see the streets of Baltimore, take several helicopter rides full of thrills and spills on the way to the waters of Japan, and finally step inside the new Kremlin as the old guard makes a bid to return to power.
Josh McGowan is a hero everyone will love. He is handsome, unaware of his appeal, has a moral code that is beyond most people's ken, and refuses to quit. A great start for Mr. Allen!
Shelley Glodowski, Bookwatch Magazine |
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Jack
Burping Frog Publishing |
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| jallen944 |
| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 1:03 pm |
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Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 18
Location: Detroit, MI
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If you like your books to open up like a blockbuster movie with almost thirty pages of nonstop car chase, boat chase, plane chase, superman fist fights, foot chases, gun fights, etc, then Jack Allen’s “Change of Heart” is for you.
We never learn too much about the protagonist, Josh McGowan, during this relentless activity except that he works for U.S. Intelligence and he is super cool. He is smashed and dashed all over his body, steps into a men’s room “Cleaned himself up and went out.” Out to rescue an attractive Russian KGB spy wanted for interrogation by the evil Colonel Mironov, who really has other plans. This proves to be Josh’s almost love interest, but more shoot-em up will get in the way, as well as a husband.
The other cast of characters enter in a rather expected march but have a certain comfortableness to their presence especially for loyal spy novel readers. The second set of gun battles, confrontations and killings comes at the end and sets up the next books in this energetic new series.
Joan Albarella, author of “Agenda For Murder” and “Called to Kill” from Rising Tide Press |
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Jack
Burping Frog Publishing |
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| jallen944 |
| Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 12:32 pm |
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Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 18
Location: Detroit, MI
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The Return of the American Hero
“Change of Heart” is Jack Allen’s first novel. While I do not usually read spy thrillers, I felt a sense of duty to do so this time, since he is a fellow Michigander. In addition, someone who can call themselves Burping Frog Publishing is worthy of attention, if not respect. The news is good. This is an old fashioned spy thriller with all the appropriate parts - evil master spies, beautiful women, a true hearted hero, and all the epic action and violence that a reader could ever ask for.
Josh McGowan is the hero in question. He is part of Naval Intelligence and has spent most of his career doing the hard and dirty work of a field operative. The opening scene of the book has McGowan busting up an undercover information theft with a chase scene the has him destroy a truck with one car and then bring down a boat with another. All in a days work for Josh, who has just been ordered to Washington for an even more harrowing assignment. As part of a protection deal, KGB Colonel Mironov (the nasty of this story) has provided the prison location of Valeria Konstantinov. She is a spy that US intelligence is anxious to talk to. Valeria knows the location of Dr. Otto Jones, an explosive expert who is aiding the Communist Party in its effort to retake Russia. Valeria has been freed from prison and smuggled off the Siberian coast by the CIA. Josh’s assignment is to bring her back to the States.
In a series of confrontations with every thing from a destroyer to sharks, Josh barely makes it to Japan with Valeria. Josh wants to head for the U.S. Embassy, but Valeria is intelligent enough to figure out that she does not want to face interrogation. Playing on Josh’s feelings, the beautiful spy manages to escape him and sets up a meeting with her Russian lover. Unbeknownst to everyone, Mironov is planning a double-cross and manages to recapture Valeria, who figures greatly in his plans to resurrect Communist Russia. Josh is caught up in a series of events that will take him to Israel and then back to Russia in his efforts to save Valeria and defeat Mironov’s plan.
This is a pretty wild tale, long on action, with good solid details. Characterization, no surprise, suffers in this kind of novel. But many of the players are painted well, even if a bit sparingly. I wouldn’t hold this against this kind of fiction. Only John Le Carre is prone to pushing the envelope towards making spy fiction great literature. The story is far from boring and will carry the reader right through to the end. My only real complaint is that, while the story reads believably while you are in the middle of it, there are a few places which don’t quite make sense in retrospect. Like McGowan taking the time to erase a disk drive in the middle of a warehouse complex he is shortly going to completely obliterate. These few idiosyncrasies do serve to move the plot along and are easily forgiven. I found the book to be great fun, and hope Jack Allen gets to write many more. Recommended.
Marc Ruby, Amazon.com’s Top 100 Reviewers |
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Jack
Burping Frog Publishing |
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| jallen944 |
| Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:05 am |
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Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 18
Location: Detroit, MI
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Everyone Loves A Hero!
Change of Heart is a first novel by Jack Allen, and it is the first book in a new series of spy thrillers about main character Joshua McGowan, a Navy Intelligence operative. Look out 007!
While in the middle of an assignment, Joshua receives a call from the person in charge and he is told that he has been reassigned to an important, new mission. He’s told that he must leave immediately. So, in the middle of the night, he’s off to Russia to pick up beautiful Valeria Konstantinova, a former KBG spy. The request came from former KBG officer and leader of an underground Communist Party, Colonel Mironov--he wants Valeria set free.
Difficulties and strange occurrences happen on and off during his trip to Russia, but nothing a spy isn’t used to, and when Josh finally arrives in Russia, he finds an old friend, CIA agent, dead, and Valeria. Stuck in the middle of the Sea of Othosk in a tiny dinghy, the two get to know each other a little better. Josh finds himself traveling from one part of the world to another, starting in the United States of America, he then goes to Russia, then off to Japan and next, Iraq. Things get out of hand, when Valeria shows her true colors, he finds that he’s fallen in love with her, Mironov’s men kidnap her in Tokyo, plans go arwry, and if that isn’t enough, there’s a direct order to kill Josh.
The mystery and thrills start from the very first page, and continue until the very last page. Jack Allen’s book Change of Heart is for people who like action-packed, page turning text, full of suspense, hair-raising shootouts, dramatic rescues, and adventurous works of fiction. Mr. Allen’s book is full of vivid, thrilling, and edge-of-your-seat writing. His characters are well defined; the setting is scattered all over the world, giving the reader a taste of everything, and his general story idea is superb. I loved reading every page. This reviewer looks forward to reading more works by Jack Allen, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series featuring Joshua McGowan.
Jennifer LB Leese, ASTORYWEAVER’S Book Reviews www.geocities.com/ladyjiraff/aswbr.html |
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Jack
Burping Frog Publishing |
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| jallen944 |
| Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:08 am |
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Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 18
Location: Detroit, MI
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Josh McGowan: international (and yet patently American) man of intrigue. Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Brave the action, adventure, and breathtaking stunts McGowan executes as he works to rescue a young Russian, a woman of mysteriously high importance to intelligence and military figures of the former Soviet Union. But why is she so important to them? What secrets does she hold? McGowan would like to know, but she’s not talking.
What we’re talking about here is an adventure, a spy/military/political thriller, and first and foremost, an action novel penned with a gift for the mode by author Jack Allen – so much so that this novel might easily translate into one of the action flicks Hollywood is so fond of turning out.
If you are a fan of spy novels or action flicks, take Allen’s “A Change of Heart” out for a spin. But be careful; on Allen’s roadways, the rules tend to disappear.
Jonathan Lyons, author of “Burn”, a Science Fiction Noir
BookSense Pick! | 2000 Frankfurt Awards nominee
Dream Realm Awards nominee | Spectrum Awards Nominee |
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Jack
Burping Frog Publishing |
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