The Fallen
Mark Terry
Oceanview Publishing, April 2010
ISBN 978-1-93351-575-5
Hardcover
World leaders from twenty countries are gathering for a G8 summit. Their meeting place is a Colorado resort where the preparations include the tightest security imaginable…and more. The secrecy is so deep only a couple men know there’s an extra safeguard in place.
Derek Stillwater is a maintenance man at the resort, with credentials that make him a little over-qualified for the job. But as Richard Coffee, a former government agent now known as The Fallen Angel, sets out to hold the summit attendees hostage, it’s Derek who must eliminate the terrorists one-by-one.
The plot, as explosive as the resort’s doors that are wired to blow at a touch, races along at a frenetic pace. The body count adds up quickly, both good guys and bad guys. Derek, wounded several times, acquires a great sidekick to help him out, a young woman named Maria who is the last of the kitchen staff left alive. They make a great team. Mr. Terry avoids the big info dumps of back story that sometimes plague thrillers, feeding the reader just enough at any one time to help the story focus.
The characterization, which is sometimes lacking in thrillers, is done well in The Fallen. Even minor—meaning short-lived—characters are given a bit of personality, as are the terrorists. As Derek and Maria crawl around in the ceiling ducts avoiding explosives and bad guys out to kill them, there’s a fine sense of claustrophobia and suspense.
Reviewed by Carol Crigger, May 2014.
Author of Three Seconds to Thunder.
Buried Under Books 