Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter (or possibly multiple chapters for this one) of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Okay, we have 18 chapters to go, and a bunch of them will be read together because they’re really short. A curse of the time stamping used in these books.
Last time we only had the one, as Striker started their plan to halt and board the train, but hopefully nobody gets hurt because we have an alternate solution in the works if the call goes through.
No spoilers in the intro. We have two chapters, totaling maybe five pages, but I’m low on time lately. So let’s get right to it:
Chapter 60: Tuesday, 7:53 AM, Washington, DC
At Op-Center, our group is waiting for word from Orlov. Honda, of the Strikers, calls in to update them on the plan, but no signs yet of a stand down on the Russians. There’s also no way to warn Striker that they have a possible alliance. Orlov then calls to tell them the communication link went dead, which Hood is sure is because of the tree Striker dropped in front of it, but assures him that the train didn’t hit the tree. As Junior calls in, Liz and Paul are both convinced that Orlov is on their side…depending on what happened to Nikita.
Chapter 61: Tuesday, 10:54 PM, Khabarovsk
Yes, we change chapters for location and a minute passing. Even TV wouldn’t bother going back and forth on the clock like this. The link is back up, but because Striker is not aware of the contact made they’re continuing with their plan. Even as Orlov is trying to tell them what they’ve learned from Op-Center, flash grenades and tear gas are tossed into the train car, but no sign of them around (nobody’s looking under the train I guess). So now Nikita is soldier mode, still convinced that Rossky is the real hero hero, and not aware that he’s part of a coup attempt to overthrown the government and restore the Soviet Union and communism. Even when our heroes do something right, they’re doing it wrong.
No unnecessary history padding, no backstories that have no bearing on anything, just a joke about civilians on the train trying to tell the solider that they could strip the wires and reconnect communications faster. Nice to actually see that.
Can our heroes still save the day? We have two chapters again next time to see them try.
BW Media Spotlight 
[…] Last time it looked like our heroes were making a mistake. Unlike the first book, though, it doesn’t give the appearance of incompetence. That was one of my problems with the first novel. The main cast looked like fools, while the guest cast were far more interesting and I would have rather followed them. Somewhere between books, this technically being their third assignment and the first mission was supposedly a disaster according to backstory, our team actually learned to work together and not be morons. I can respect that. If the book wasn’t filled with useless trivia and odd chapter choices based on location and time it might be a better book. Instead, they only solved one problem. […]
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