Emerald Flash

Great suspense, unextected plot twists, vibrant characters, and beautiful Hawaiian locales. John Caine, is a modern knight righting wrongs and helping those in trouble. An honorable man who as experience so much death and pain that that he is become deeply wounded and seeks to put his life back in order. Unfortunately he meets Margo, and more pain and death are sure to follow.Charles Knief, brings the Hawaiian islands to life in all of their brilliant color and majesty. The settings in this book and his others capture the real Hawaii that few really get to know.OVERALL SCORE: (A)PLOT: (A-), CHARATERS: (A+), DIALOGUE: (B), SETTING: (A+), ACTION/COMBAT: (A-), ANTAGONISTS: (B+), ROMANCE: (A-), SEX:(Adult Content), AGE LEVEL: (R)

True adventure like we have come to expect from John D. MacDonald and Ian Fleming is hard to find in today's writers. Charles Knief is on his way to reviving that type of writing with his John Caine Adventure Series. I've read all three of the books in the Caine series, and think that each gets better as Knief developes his hero's character and personality. Caine is a man for our times and my hat's off to Charles Knief for giving us a hero that we can feel good about.

Another splendid book from Chuck Knief. Like my experience in reading SAND DOLLARS and DIAMOND HEAD, I could not put this book down. It is a gripping, fast-paced thriller. I enjoyed the first third of the book which is set on Oahu, but when we made the virtual run to Kauai, Knief really got cooking. Kauai is the one island (other than Niihau) that I have never been to, but I have now through the magic of EMERALD FLASH. So reading this wonderful book is really a vacation, albeit an exhausting one, in Hawaii. Highly recommended, and I can't wait for the fourth book. Join the fun of reading Chuck Knief's masterful writing in this splendid thriller.

Chuck Knief has a winner again with Emarald Flash. Great suspense, plot twists, believable characters, and beautiful Hawaiian locales. I read an advance copy and couldn't put it down until I finished it. I have been to many of the locations described in Knief's three books and his descriptions made me feel I was right back at the various locations. I can't wait for the next book by Chuck Knief.

Charles Knief's John Caine is back in Emerald Flash, and, if it can be believed, better than ever. There may be no shortage of dignified knights errant on the action-book scene today, but few of them can truly rise above mind candy. Even the better authors -- and there are very good ones out there -- tend to resort to the deus ex machina (although I'm wild about Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels, let's face it: Hawk is a deus ex machina). As an ex-SEAL, Caine can do everything Mr. Knief says he can. Otherwise, he benefits from nothing more than a bit of luck. The plotting of Emerald Flash is very crafty, with side roads and sudden hairpins. Then there are the people: Caine himself, who grows with each book (Emerald Flash is Mr. Knief's third Caine novel); the gangster (for want of a better word) Chawlie, to whom all roads seem to lead; Margo Halliday, who reveals herself to the reader gradually through the book. Mr. Knief's language is exquisite. Never "literary" but always extremely literate (and he avoids making Cain a poor man's Marlowe, tucking into Proust, perhaps, when he's not rescuing damsels). There is also a painstaking clarity to his narration. In many other books of action, for instance, the reader is often forced to gloss over complex descriptions of, say, a physical confrontation. Not so in the Caine books. Mr. Knief puts you in the middle and keeps you there. Finally, Mr. Knief knows how to end a book. There are many accomplished writers of thrillers out there, but there is something unsatisfying about the abrupt endings in some, or, in others, the protagonist's dutiful closing speech neatly tying up loose ends. Not with Emerald Flash, or with either of the other two Caine books. Caine has not just completed a caper; a period in his life has ended, and you feel that closure as you finish. In short, great stuff, beautifully written. Encore!