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1 of 2 members found this review helpful.Yet another Advertisement for VMI!
“Coyle has written some really engaging books: "Team Yankee", "Sword Point". In this one he gets the next generation of Virginia Military Institute - VMI, referred to by U. Virginia as the Virginia Marching Idiots - grads into his plot. Closing out General Scott Dixon's career - or soon to be done in the next book - he introduces Dixon's son Nathan. Nathan is a newly minted 2nd Lt, VMI grad, who goes into the INfantry so as to not be compared with his illustrious tanker father. Coyle doesn't miss an opportunity to make good comic use of Texas A&M and West Point graduates throughout the military.
An amazon user wrote this on 2006-09-18.
Set against a backdrop of Idaho's militia and written shortly after the Oklahoma City bombing by Tim McVey, this book still resonated today, six years after 9/11. Terrorist can be home grown! In this case, the militia influences the governor to kick the US out of Idaho after unfavorable results in a Federal Court case. Idaho declares war on the rest of the US!
Although there is a lot to work with and some great action, the book really drags in the middle and just seems to coast to an ending. Coyle's always great on his armor engagement descriptions - especially here where you finally realize that the US Army is doing its level best to NOT shoot to kill by to damage the fighting infrastructure while trying to not kill the Idaho National Guardsman and women. Good bead read or to keep you entertained on an airplane flight. But, not his best!” -
coyle returns
“A typical harold coyle novel - introduces new central character and brings back some old favourites - strong action and flowing narrative - current events (at the time) play a big part. Thoroughly enjoyable.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2005-10-16. -
2 of 3 members found this review helpful.
Riveting
“This is one of those "what-if" scenarios that gets you thinking.
An amazon user wrote this on 2005-09-16.
The State of Idaho decides that it is tired of onerous Federal control and events are engineered to create a confrontation between a state's right to determine its affairs and the need to maintain the union.
In many ways the issues raised by the Civil War are re-examined, and the author makes a clear distinction that in this fight the bad guys might be the good guys.
Some people might suggest that it can't happen here, but since the start of the current century we have witnessed an attack on American soil and the destruction of an American City. WHile events might not unfold as Harold Coyle envisions, something like AGAINST ALL ENEMIES is not as far fetched as some might believe.
The book was written in 1996, in the aftermath of the OKC Federal Building bombing.
I think it is his best book to date.” -
1 of 2 members found this review helpful.
A Real Stinker from a Talented Author
“I had previously read Harold Coyle's TEAM YANKEE and BRIGHT STAR back in the '80s, when I was a young troop facing the motherless commie hordes across the Iron Curtain. Both books were well-crafted, with plausible scenarios and compelling scenes and characters.
An amazon user wrote this on 2005-09-13.
"Against All Odds," alas, was a disappointment. The prose is turgid, the characters walking clichés, and the storyline is frankly ludicrous. The book was apparently set against the 1990s backdrop of the OKC bombing and the rise of the much-ballyhooed "militia threat." A disgruntled Gulf War vet stages a terrorist incident, which is the inadvertent catalyst for a showdown between a populist, scheming Idaho governor (backed by rabidly anti-government militiamen) and the Federal government. The Idaho National Guard, depicted as mindless tools, shamble into action to defend their tinhorn governer and his unwholesome coterie against what seems like an eminently reasonable Federal ultimatum. When push comes to shove, the outcome is a foregone conclusion, with plenty of pointless heroics and sacrifice on both sides.
All of the characters, without exception, are formulaic caricatures who lurch automaton-like toward a needless (and to the reader, inexplicable) armed confrontation. If you're looking for dynamic tension arising from moral dilemnas, look elsewhere. I resolved to read the book to the bitter end, since I'd plunked down 25 hard-earned dollars for it. Nonetheless, I found myself hoping for some dues ex machina, like a giant meteorite slamming into the earth, say, on page 43, that would terminate the story and leave me with 373 mercifully blank pages. No such luck. The characters are so contrived, the dialogue so wretched, and the plot so mind-numbingly predictable, that I never was able to muster anything but abject indifference as to whether any of the characters survived or got whatever it was that they desired or deserved.
I would like to believe that Harold Coyle has yet to have his finest hour as a writer, but if this book typifies his future offerings, he'll have to make do with coasting on his past reputation.
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1 of 2 members found this review helpful.
two-thirds thru and can't wait to finish
“"group of "patriots" from Idaho take credit for the bombing" um.. Mr Gandle, did you actually read the book? The militia didn't do or take credit for the bombing, and the army did not initially act against the militia. The Publishers Weekly and Booklist editorial reviews are inaccurate too. Anyway, I'm having great fun reading it, especially since I can look out my office window and see the Gowan Field battleground. I'll be passing this on to some of the NG members who work here. ”
An amazon user wrote this on 2005-05-03.
