Burn Notice: the Fix

If you watch burn notice, this novel goes with the show perfectly. It should have been an episode. If you've never watched the show, its an easy read to follow. One word of caution though... if you are getting this for your kids there are a few f' bombs in the book. just a heads up.

Tod did this one up well. From the voice overs by Michael to the descriptions of the characters, this book has the feel of Burn Notice down. No spoilers I'll share, but this book has it's fair bit of show tie-in. The mother, the brother, the relationship, and the angst of the burned spy. There are guns, explosions, and sexiness. I really enjoyed the play on Michael's relationships with the women in his life. I felt like I could even hear Sam's voice in this book. I look forward to more work by Tod Goldberg.

My only critique is that Mr. Goldberg needs to get the next one done! This was a page turner.

I love the smart writing and first person narration of "Burn Notice." Having read a great many novelizations of TV shows and movies over the years, I didn't have much in the way of expectations of this one. Usually they are written in the third person point of view, all action. That way the author can through together a story without needing to really understand the characters. This style is easy to use for novelizations but generally ends up as a quick read, just fluff. "The Fix" takes no such lazy outs. Instead, it pulls out all the stops. If you like "Burn Notice," you will LOVE this book. It's written in the same first person narration style from Michael Westin's perspective, with all the intelligence, wit, and humor of the series. Not only does it get us into Michael's head, gives us a richer sense of him as a person, but also adds to our understanding of Sam and Fiona. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and only hope that this author is even now working on another. This is quality stuff!!!!

BURN NOTICE, featuring Jeffrey Donovan in a role that seems made-to-order for him, became my favorite television show during the summer of 2007. With support characters like the incredibly sexy Gabrielle Anwar and Bruce Campbell flanking him, I am constantly in awe and in love with every episode. I've yet to feel slighted with last year's season or this year's. Tod Goldberg, brother to Lee Goldberg who has written the DIAGNOSIS: MURDER and MONK tie-in novels as well as a few episodes of the latter, was chosen to write at least three tie-in novels featuring the BURN NOTICE crew. The first, BURN NOTICE: THE FIX, is set to release on August 5, but I found a copy this week and burned through it during a plane flight. One of the things I enjoy most about the television show is the quirky humor. Another is the first-person narrative in which burned spy Michael Westen talks to the audience and explains spy thinking and the realities of the world. Oh - and the gadgets. LOVE the gadgets. Goldberg's book, thankfully, is chockfull of the humor and the inside knowledge that brims from the television episodes. The book reads like an episode of the television series, only it's played out longer and deeper than any 43-minute episode could equal. There are a lot more players in this one, and Goldberg plays them all well. The blend becomes exciting and intoxicating immediately. I loved the setup of the book that got everything underway. Michael is having lunch with his mother and notices too many people watching him. Since he doesn't recognize any of them, he knows they're not there for him. In a split-second he reasons that they're there after Fiona Glenanne, his ex-lover and present/sometime partner. She used to be an IRA bomber and now supplements her income buy selling illegal weapons in Miami where the US government quarantined Michael. In no time at all, Michael is also involved with another ex-lover/ex-enemy who blackmails him into getting three million dollars for her. She says she's in debt to the people she works for because they think she's been trafficking in illegal goods and keeping it off the books. Then Sam Axe (played by Bruce Campbell) drops by to ask Michael for help on a project that dropped into his lap via his girlfriend Veronica. Since Sam's a retired Navy SEAL, he's biding his time sleeping with rich women that keep him in the lifestyle to which he's become accustomed until his Navy pension kicks in. One of Veronica's women friends, Cricket O'Connor, has been preyed upon by her husband, who turns out to be a real louse. I could feel Michael's frustration on every page as his world comes apart while he deals with his problem and all the problems his family and friends insist on dumping on him. Even more than that, Fiona is jealous enough to kill the woman pressuring Michael, and he's thinking maybe that wouldn't be such a bad deal. Goldberg is spot on with this one. As I read the witty dialogue, snappy patter, and