RED NOTICE is the story of Tom Buckingham, an off-duty SAS soldier, and 400 hostages (including Tom's French fiancée, Delphine) being held deep under the English Channel by terrorist forces on a hijacked Eurostar train. RED NOTICE gives the reader insights into a fictional boardroom at Downing Street, and a sobering view of politicians trading human lives for power.
Our protagonist, Tom Buckingham, at times feels very two-dimensional. He has the traits of an action hero, with none of the additional flair to make him really stand out. Tom's mission is to save Delphine, rescue the hostages, and kill Laszlo, the terrorist who plans to explode the tunnel. Before getting himself into this situation Delphine is preparing to leave Tom because of his unbalanced commitments - he is an SAS boy and finds it hard to drag himself away from the lads to spend time with his fiancée.
24 hours ago, Buckingham was on a mission in another part of England to capture a terrorist cell leader, named Laszlo, with the regiment. 4 hours ago, he was missing dinner with Delphine to participate in a boxing match on a hired children's bouncy castle (yes it's hard to swallow, but it's pretty gruesome at times and reads out exactly like a Die Hard movie). Now, he is boarding a train which Delphine is leaving for France on in an attempt to win her affections once again. Coincidentally, he boards the same one which, the less-than-criminal-mastermind terrorist leader, Laszlo, is boarding in a paradoxically contrived coincidence. Naturally Tom springs into Action Man mode the moment he recognises Laszlo.
McNab tries his hardest to cram in as much military jargon as possible in RED NOTICE. Not a chapter goes by without some finely detailed description of the weapon and the various laser or scope attachments which Tom is holding, or a full scientific breakdown of how the SAS unit set up their radio signal in the Channel Tunnel. Whilst ultimately informative and interesting, it doesn't really add to the story much, and it feels like McNab only does this to boost his word count.
RED NOTICE is clearly the first in a new series, there are so many loose ends which Buckingham must surely return to tie up, but it is a fairly average start. It is certainly readable, and probably worth the investment for the entertainment, but you buy this book knowing full well that it is what it is. Pick it up if you are going on a plane any time soon, because the action will hold your attention for just long enough, but if you are a first time McNab reader, try his Nick Stone series instead for a serious read.
RED NOTICE: 3 STARS
