My OperaThe Rogue Gentleman by Brian Drake
Saturday, October 27, 2012 12:12:14 PM
Back in July, Jack Badelaire over at http://postmodernpulps.blogspot.com.au/ reviewed the Rouge Gentlemen books by Brian Drake. I went and bought 1, 2 & 3 straight away. The three parts were really good reads. The third part promised a fourth part. When I visited Brian’s website http://briandrake88.blogspot.com.au/ I was surprised to discover that The Rogue Gentleman was a four part serial novel because each part had a self contained adventure and lead onto the next exploit. When I read that Brian was releasing the complete Rogue Gentleman novel , I had to get a copy (in a very nice gesture Brian gave a free copy to all who had already purchased the three earlier parts) .
I decided to read the whole novel to see how it read as one novel , I was a little concerned that the novel would come across as episodic. I was very pleased that this was not the case. Drake wisely sets up an overarching hunt for the arms dealer known as The Duchess which ties all four parts together into a very satisfying novel.
The Rogue Gentleman is Steve Dane, a former Marine, a former CIA agent, a former Mercenary commander who is now a freelance trouble shooter with his girlfriend Nina Talikova, a former KGB agent. The pair is fun to read, I was reminded of Michael Weston and Fiona Glenane from Burn Notice and Simon Templar and Patricia Holm from the Saint stories.
Nina is quite blood thirsty and frequently complains that she doesn’t get enough action and teases Dane when he looks at other women. In fact she declares the young woman Steve is looking at has barely stopped growing, just before she gets kidnapped and sends the pair on this adventure.
Dane is equally intriguing with a clearly defined history as a Marine, a CIA agent, mercenary commander and now world traveling trouble shooter but there are still mysteries about just why he went freelance and just what connection he has to the President of the United States (who bears some resemblance to the first George Bush).
As an opening novel this really sets up the series to come with hints at mysterious pasts for both Steve and Nina and some intriguing possibilities for future adventures.
Drake’s writing is really enjoyable with a couple of nice tips of the hat to Jerry Ahern. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more adventures of The Rogue Gentleman.
I decided to read the whole novel to see how it read as one novel , I was a little concerned that the novel would come across as episodic. I was very pleased that this was not the case. Drake wisely sets up an overarching hunt for the arms dealer known as The Duchess which ties all four parts together into a very satisfying novel.
The Rogue Gentleman is Steve Dane, a former Marine, a former CIA agent, a former Mercenary commander who is now a freelance trouble shooter with his girlfriend Nina Talikova, a former KGB agent. The pair is fun to read, I was reminded of Michael Weston and Fiona Glenane from Burn Notice and Simon Templar and Patricia Holm from the Saint stories.
Nina is quite blood thirsty and frequently complains that she doesn’t get enough action and teases Dane when he looks at other women. In fact she declares the young woman Steve is looking at has barely stopped growing, just before she gets kidnapped and sends the pair on this adventure.
Dane is equally intriguing with a clearly defined history as a Marine, a CIA agent, mercenary commander and now world traveling trouble shooter but there are still mysteries about just why he went freelance and just what connection he has to the President of the United States (who bears some resemblance to the first George Bush).
As an opening novel this really sets up the series to come with hints at mysterious pasts for both Steve and Nina and some intriguing possibilities for future adventures.
Drake’s writing is really enjoyable with a couple of nice tips of the hat to Jerry Ahern. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more adventures of The Rogue Gentleman.
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