The Council of Ten

THE COUNCIL OF TEN is perhaps the prototypical Jon Land novel. The supporting characters were a bit more well-developed than normal, and the main action hero Peter Wayman was not as "omnipotent" as Land's stars usually are, especially Blaine McCracken. Drew the graduate student was perhaps a little too good for someone who had just taken a few training courses, but I can forgive that. Land's requisite monstrous killing machine, in this case a hook-handed assassin named Teeg, is also not as overwhelming as usual. My first gripe comes with Elliana, the rogue Mossad agent. She's too quick to gun down anyone she suspects is an agent of the Council, without any actual proof. This genre of novel being what it is, she is of course always right, but she always relies on gut instinct when that's been known to frequently fail. The final act was far too short, and too much of it concentrated on the battle between Wayman and his nemesis Corbano (the "White Snake"), and not enough on the actual Council. The epilogue was a little vague and confusing about what happened with Drew's girlfriend Pam. Also, we only ever see half of the Council of Ten (plus its leader, the eleventh of ten), and that's not even until the very closing pages. The other half remain unidentified. I felt this was a cheat; if we're promised "the enemies of freedom" joining forces, we should see ALL those enemies, and see them long before the last chapter. Villain team-ups, so to speak, are always fun, but Land really dropped the ball on this part of it.

I've read a fair amount of Jon Land. I'd agree with another reviewer here that this isn't his absolute best work, but The Council of Ten is another solid work of suspense.Land's established, distinct style is amply displayed in this late-Cold War era work. Seeking to uncover why his grandmother was murdered, Drew Jordan discovers that she had been recruited to smuggle cocaine into the United States. But drug smuggling appears to be only the tip of the iceberg as he begins to uncover a conspiracy against the United States. His efforts dovetail with those of an Israeli agent and a retired American agent.Drew Jordan makes a nicely compelling protagonist, as does Elliana Hirsch. Peter Wayman's weariness was well-depicted, but Land could have done more to give us a sense of his history (he does a better job of depicting Jared Kimberlain's backstory in The Eighth Trumpet). Also, more could have been done with the character nicknamed "Jabba". At around 330 pages, this is notably shorter than other Land books, and thus lacks some of the fireworks of its peers.Nonetheless, this is vintage Land. There is an abundance of action - much of it wildly creative. Look for one memorable sequence on a Prague subway car. There are rapid plot twists. And, as always, at the root of the action is a mysterious plot involving a new and terrifying weapon. You got to hand it to Land - he doesn't fall back on the tired old standby of a stolen nuclear weapon. He's always creative enough to invent his own, usually scarier, weapon. One small aside: the nickname of one of the villains in this book is, curiously, "The White Snake" - Land was apparently not familiar with 80s hair bands at time of publication.

"The Council of Ten", Jon Land's sixth novel, is very similar in nature to his other works. They start at a quick pace and the story never drags. However, if you have read a number of Land's novels, the big "shock" at the end of this one can be seen well before it happens.This one tells of Drew Jordan, a guy whose grandmother was recently murdered. She, in addition to three other grandmothers, hid their secret source of income -- they were cocaine smugglers. Jordan's grandmother leaves him a note to contact someone upon her death. Before long, Jordan is caught in the web of lies and deceit that ultimately cost his grandmother her life.Two other characters are also major players in the storyline. Peter Wayman, the Timberwolf, is enlisted by Jordan to help, but Wayman refuses, stating that part of his life will remain in the past. Wayman eventually learns of his error and joins forces with Jordan. Elliana Hirsch, a female agent of the Mossad is also pulled into the fray as she searches for the Council of Ten, the group responsible for the death of her husband.Like his other novels, Land's "The Council of Ten" will keep a reader enthralled as the storyline, while sometimes extremely unbelievable, occurs with non-stop surprises and action. There is no fluff in his novels and great reads for anyone who is a fan of espionage fiction.

Peter Wayman,ex CIA black ops agent,Elliana Hirsch,Mossad operative,Drew Jordan,wide-eyed college man,must face one of the worst horrors mankind can imagine.A horror so bad,a pinheads worth could kill everything breathing in a 27 mile radius.they'll need more than luck this time.