2012;
436 pages. Book 2 (out of 4)
in the “Janson Directive” series. New Author? : Yes. Action-Adventure; Intrigue; Espionage. Overall Rating : 7½*/10.
Paul Janson just landed a job, and a well-paying one
to boot. The Houston-based American
Synergy Corporation (“ASC”), the largest oil company in America,
wants him to “retrieve” one of their trauma doctors, Terry Flannigan, and bring
him home.
This could be quite the challenge, since the doctor
has been taken hostage by rebel forces on the Isle de Foree, a small island
country off the west coast of Africa, close to Nigeria. But Janson is a former black-ops agent, so
he’s well-qualified for the task. With
some careful planning and a world-class sharpshooter for a partner, things
should go swimmingly.
And they do. Oh, there were a
couple of surprises, including a bunch of Russian tanks and a fighter jet of
unknown origin, but a few hiccups along the way were to be expected. The doctor is rescued and it’s time to take
him back home.
Alas, that's when everything goes haywire.
Terry Flannigan insists he’s not an employee of ASC, never has been, is
happy where he is as he nurses the rebel leader back to health, and frankly
thinks Janson’s been sent here to kill him.
And
when the doctor slips away to parts unknown, Paul can feel his “retrieval fee”
slipping away as well.
What’s To Like...
The Janson Command
is the second book in a 4-book series, that appear to be completed, since the
fourth one was published in 2015. Robert
Ludlum penned the first book in the series, Paul Garrison wrote #2 and #3, and
Douglas Corleone authored the last one.
This is the only book in the series I’ve read.
The
action starts immediately, the pacing is fast, and the only time things slow down a tad is when Paul Garrison wants to introduce some intrigue into the
tale. There are a bunch of settings,
most of which are exotic: Nigeria, New York, Cartagena in Spain, Zurich,
Baghdad, Sydney and Canberra in Australia, Corsica and Sardinia, and
Singapore. The last one resonated with
me, as I spent 24 hours there on business one time, and Garrison’s portrayal of
it felt very “real” to me.
I
liked the “Janson Rules” that he plays by, and expects anyone work for him to
abide by as well: 1.) no torture, 2.) no civilian casualties, 3.) no killing anyone who doesn’t try to kill
you. Those are difficult rules to follow
when you’re doing covert espionage missions, and Janson in particular is sorely
tested by them.
You’ll
learn a little bit of French (the fictitious Isle de Foree appears to be a former
French colony), including a French cussword or two; and a smidgen of
Spanish as well. On a more practical
note, you’ll learn how to make a smoke bomb using only items that are available
in a cruise line gift shop. There are 44
chapters plus a prologue, and the book is divided into four parts, each one
signaling the main plot thread is about to become deeper and twistier, which leaves both the reader and Janson wondering just what the heck is really going on.
The ending is suitably exciting, although not particularly twisty. Everything goes according to Janson’s
well-contrived plans, and despite their numerical superiority, the bad guys seem
to be outmatched. Some of the secondary
plot threads, such as who’s really behind all this, remain unresolved,
presumably to be addressed in the next book.
Nonetheless, The Janson Command
is a standalone novel, and I didn’t feel I was missing anything by having not
read the first book.
Excerpts...
“The downside I
see to working with a woman is that in the clutch, when the lead is flying,
it’s only natural that you’d be distracted, worried about her getting
hurt. Particularly if she’s your
protégée. Devoted followers have a habit
of getting killed in our line of work.
I’ve lost them; so have you."
“Jessica is
predator, not prey.” (pg. 40)
“Isle de Foreens
dislike Nigerians. They accuse us of
being overbearing. It is relatively
typical of small nations to dislike big nations. As many nations hate America, so many hate
Nigeria.”
“To have Nigeria
as a neighbor is to sleep with a hippopotamus.”
“My nation and
your island are separated by two hundred miles of open gulf.”
“Hippos can
swim.” (pg. 310)
“What’s our Coast Guard doing six thousand miles from home?” (pg. 78 )
There’s
not a lot to nitpick about in The Janson Command. There’s a fair amount of cussing, but I
didn’t feel it was overdone. There’s one
instance of sex, and one instance of sexual abuse; but both are handled deftly.
A bunch of acronyms crop up in the story, so you might want to keep notes about what things like SR, Cons Ops, ASC, GRA, and FFM stand for.
Judging
from the Amazon reviews, the biggest gripe seems to be the book cover
itself. Glance at the image above. What jumps out at you? Robert Ludlum and Jason Bourne, right? Well, the first one didn’t write this book,
and the second one doesn’t appear in it.
Some readers apparently were duped and irked by this, but honestly a second glance should have told them who the actual author and protagonist were. Further, it should be noted that
utilizing a replacement when a well-known author of a series passes away is
not an uncommon practice. It’s been done
for Tony
Hillerman, Lawrence Sanders, and Robert Jordan, just to name a
couple right off the top of my head.
Yes, it’s a marketing ploy, but I think it’s more savvy than misleading.
In closing, I enjoyed The Janson
Command, mostly from the aspect of being an “airport novel”. Is it as good as the Bourne series? No, but how
many other action-adventure stories are, including ones penned by Ludlum himself? I expected to be
entertained from the first page to the last, and didn't care if the writing wasn't elegant and deep. By those
standards, The Janson Command measured up quite well.
7½ Stars.
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