Manhattan Mortar Attacks

Hello mortar, hello fodder. God help the author if he finds that to be an outrageous pun as he has me trumped. The hero of this actioner is named Sam Adams, while a scientist of debatable loyalties carries the burden of the name Dr. Mossad. Whether or not one enjoys this kind of thing — I haven’t mentioned a certain rear door entrance named Paris Hilton until now — depends on whether one enjoys this kind of thing. Puns are like cigarettes, either a source of satisfaction or the cause of cancer. I leave the choice up to you.

All this hoof to the mouth wordplay aside, Manhattan Mortar Attacks is an entertaining action book. The bad guys have glommed onto a mortar system that can precisely target, whilst the good guys (led by the foamy Sam Adams) seek to wrestle it back. No harm there and there’s fun to be had. The media, of course, are as dumb as cattle in a hail storm, staring upwards and seeing nothing until nothing thwacks them in the head. Once Sam Adams uses his head (don’t try and out-pun me, boy) and suggests manipulating the plodding internet and broadcast media for their own investigative efforts does the plot take off.

If one takes Manhattan Mortar Attacks as a grimly serious Tom Clancy-style novel, well you couldn’t be more doomed. If, on the other hand, one enjoys the whimsicality of Ian Fleming in his James Bond/Pussy Galore days, this might just be the book for you. Strangely, the more you see through the book, the more fun you’ll have.