Customer Reviews

A Noble Cause

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

There's nothing particularly subtle or intricate about J. Gregory Smith's competent new novel, "A Noble Cause." It's a straightforward modern thriller, unburdened by complexity. With the exception of one secondary character, all of the principals and secondaries who toil in Smith's story are either plainly good, or plainly bad, and none of them are very deep. Smith's settings won't take readers anywhere they've not visited before courtesy of dozens of other novelists in scores of other novels. Still, Smith writes fairly snappy and realistic dialogue, his points of view are consistent, and he paces this novel well enough to keep the pages turning. It's a solid thriller, written with skill sufficient to hold readers' attention and keep them entertained.

In the aftermath of his girlfriend's Antiguan disappearance and the murders of his parents in Pennsylvania, Mark Noble battles to uncover the reasons and people behind the mysterious kidnapping and deaths. The plot rushes along a track centered around clandestine mind control experiments conducted on unwitting subjects via pharmaceutically-enhanced hypnosis. Accordingly, the back-cover copy of Smith's book likens "A Noble Cause" to Richard Condon's famous 1959 novel, "The Manchurian Candidate." In that the latter was as much socio-political Cold War commentary as thriller, while Smith's work has no such grand political or philosophical ambitions, the comparison is at best a stretch. Nonetheless, "A Noble cause" is a rewarding read, and a good way to while away a few hours.

A Noble Cause is my first exposure to J. Gregory Smith. I was pleasantly surprised by the 348-page easy to follow, quick read featuring non-stop action from beginning to end.

Although there was little depth in character development, the storyline was an intriguing one day read for me.

Unlike his famous father, Ian Noble, Mark enrolled in medical school because he did not want to disappoint his father; however, he was not interested in the medical field and dropped out after one year.

A deckhand on his grandmother, Frances's Miami based yacht; he plans his proposal during vacation in the Caribbean Island of Antigua to his girl friend, Vanessa.

While on the Island, at the request from Mark to pick up jewelry for him from Andre Varre's Green Envy Emeralds jewelers, Vanessa is kidnapped by mysterious unknown assailants.

Though he and his father are not close, after apprising his father of the situation, Mark's father told him to immediately leave the Island. Shortly thereafter, Ian and Mrs. Noble are killed in a fire in his home in Pennsylvania where Mark grew up. Only the Doctor's office survived the fire.

In the mean time, Doctor Darrin Culpepper, in spite of his well-known lifelong fear of snakes, in a trance-like state, scales the fence of a cobra pit at a zoo in Miami where he publically agitates the large venomous creature without regard to his safety. Following that incident, Culpeper's' sister, Meg hires former cop and bad private detective, Tucker "Saint" Bernard to find out what happened.

As the two stories connect and converge, they twist and turn and the chase scenes accelerate unraveling the identities of greedy evil perpetrators bent on extracting information from Mark that he does not believe he has, while Mark with the help of friends is on a mission to save the love of his life or die trying.

In spite of its flaws and one dimensional characters, I really enjoyed this story and recommend it to those who like original, fast-paced, enthralling and thrilling murder mysteries that can be easily read in one sitting.

Enjoy!

In quick succession, some odd things happen. A man ventures into a king cobra's pit in Miami, and is fatally bit. Mark Nobel's girlfriend disappears in Antigua. Mark's father and mother die in a fire in Pennsylvania. And some heavy-duty bad guys are after Mark.

Seems improbable that these events could all be related, but they are. And Mark and his allies will be challenged to the max as they put together the plot that is afoot and the villains behind it and then prepare to counterattack.

"A Noble Cause" offers a taut, vivid narrative with plenty of twists and turns that will have you turning the pages to see what happens next. On the other hand, there is nothing particularly profound about the story - it's simply entertaining.

I also read Smith's first effort, "Final Price," which was set in Delaware. There are some similarities, especially a talent for portraying the dark side of human nature, but this book is better crafted and more suspenseful.

The Prolouge to "A Noble Cause" is a doozy. Miami, FL, City Councilman Darrin Culpepper sneaks into the giant cobra cage at Dr. Fang's Venom Vitae Research Center, and very unsuccessfully tries to capture the star attraction. Lots of times, I've wished I hadn't read the blurb on a book jacket, because it gave too much away. And that's what happened here, when "A Noble Cause" is compared to "The Manchurian Candidate". But even with that, the chapter sets the pace for the rest of this thriller.

Shift to Azure Cove, Antigua, where Mark Noble is preparing to propose marriage to Veronica. She's left on an errand and unacountably doesn't return. On top of going crazy with worry over her and the police's refusal to take his worry seriously, Mark's estranged father calls to tell him he must leave the island, and then he barely escapes his hotel room with a goon tracking him. Mark spends the rest of the night hiding under a pier. "He wanted to cry but grew too cold to care. Vanessa was out there somewhere, and what should have been a determined manhunt had turned into a Twilight Zone detour."

Back to Culpepper - remember him from the prologue? His sister hires ex-cop turned P.I. Tucker "Saint" Bernard to find out what really happened with her brother. "Saint had been a cop much longer than a bad private detective. He didn't like it when canned reports steered him anywhere. He'd been on the other end of the typewriter too many times not to catch a whiff."

What is the link between these two stories? It's Mark's father, Ian Noble, psychiatrist to the stars, developer of the controversial Noble Effect for supposed miracles in behavioral conditioning.

This is a fast-paced thriller. I thought the writing was above average, though not the very best. I call it a James Bond-like thriller because it is quite improbable, like some of the old James Bond movies. The bad guy is over-the-top and his henchmen, or is it minions, are even more over-the-top. It has cliches like a best friend who happens to be a supertrained Navy SEAL AND can get his hands on illegal weapons, a girlfriend who's model-beautiful, a Grandma who likes her gin, and, especially, pretty normal everyday Mark turning into 007 at the first sign of trouble.

But, that said, it's put together pretty well and I recommend it as a fast-paced thriller that is a bunch of fun to read. And I did like the name "Saint" Bernard! Now THAT is a touch that is totally Bond.

I am reviewing from the Advance Reader's Copy - Uncorrected Proof.

The Noble Cause was an entertaining read, and I enjoyed myself, but I wouldn't call it a "must read."

Just before Mark Noble, med school drop-out, is about to ask his girlfriend to marry him, she vanishes on a routine errand in a tropical paradise. Shaken up, he calls his psychiatrist father, who encourages him to get off the island. That same night, Mark's father is killed in his home in Pennsylvania. How these events are linked and how Mark tries to resolve the mystery drive the story from here on.

Pro: The story is well told and readable, and zips the reader along. The author keeps the reader interested, and the premise behind the story is an interesting one. You won't be bored while reading this.

Con: The characters in the story are for the most part, two-dimensional at best. While Mark relies on family and friends as close as family, the reader doesn't feel connected to anyone other than Mark. You can tell that the author wants readers to know this is a very close band of people, but you never feel it. Also, two of the characters feel like obvious pieces of a standard thriller, the ex-military superman and the cantankerous medic. I understand these characters are commonly used, but the author fails to breathe life into them, and they feel very much like the author realized the average med school drop out can't fight off trained killers, so let's have a former Navy SEAL work as a deck hand on grandma's boat, which is apparently big enough for at least 5 people to live on full-time in Miami harbor. It feels cliché.

Having said that, I found myself wanting read on, and I did enjoy it. I just won't likely read it again or go out of my way to encourage others.

Wow! J. Gregory Smith sets scene then impels the reader through a deadly mystery that becomes a thrilling headlong chase upon the seas south of Florida and north of Puerto Rico. A Noble Cause holds the reader spellbound until its explosive conclusion. Fast paced with believable characters, the story grabs the reader and you can't put the book down. An exciting tale with a little romance thrown in for good measure. This book delivers, perfect reading for a rainy Northwest day.

I previously read and enjoyed Mr. Smith's Final Price, which is why I ordered this book. Anyone who likes a good thriller, especially where the premise is an ordinary person suddenly seemingly finds himself targeted by professional criminals for reasons he doesn't understand, will enjoy this story. While this premise has been done, Smith comes up with original fact situations that pull the reader in. In the first part, a man terrified of snakes climbs into a cobra pit and antagonizes a king cobra until it kills him. It makes no sense unless you keep reading. I would call his style minimalist in that there is very little dialogue or description, mostly nonstop action. A lot of readers look for this and it makes for a very fast read. There is nothing unnecessary in the book, but enough so that key things are not left out. I think Mr. Smith shows promise as a writer, I would get another of his books.

This was an easy to read, relatively fast-paced thriller packed with underwater fighting, explosions, murder, arson, illicit weapons, near-death, an inflatable doll, Hollywood starlets -- just about everything a good adventure novel needs. Yet something was missing. I felt like the underlying premise (of mind control and reprogramming using "zombie powder," no less) was a little out there and contrived, and the "medical" scenes were oversimplified, generally involving starting an IV or giving an injection but little else.

The plot moved right along, but it felt very disjointed -- like we were hopping from place to place, from person to person. The dialogue was stilted and not particularly nuanced. Characters always seemed to be blurting out cliches that seemed out-of-place. Sometimes the dialogue moved along so briskly there wasn't much opportunity to appreciate any suspense. For example, at one point, two boats -- representing the protagonist and the villain -- are communicating with flashing lights. Although you can imagine that such a scene in reality would be incredibly suspenseful -- and the wait for a response and the brief time it took to decode the response would seem eternal -- but in this book, the "dialogue" between the vessels is simply shouted back and forth in capital letters:
"GET REAL -- WHAT DO U WANT?"
"U KNOW" came the instant reply.
"HUMOR US," Lukasz snarled.
"MARK- CO-OP."
What could have been very suspenseful simply wasn't. I felt like there were other opportunities for suspense that the author just missed.

The characters also seemed one-dimensional. The protagonist had a few moral conundrums, but not many. There was the former Navy SEAL, the fallen-from-grace tired but earnest private detective, the ruthless Russian security/bodyguards, the creepy little doctor, the patrician grandma keeping secrets. None of the characters were particularly nuanced, or well-developed, likeable, or real. I also felt like there were a number of superfluous characters -- the movie starlets, for example, who really didn't advance the plot and to the contrary, seemed to muddle it a bit.

LOVED this book... a lot of dots slowly connected to a science fiction "teaching" technique. Our Mr. Smith is a very talented writer. This is one mystery/thriller that I would love to see become a movie! His characters are well drawn and some extremely hatable! Just a fun, fast read. Hard to put down. Once the main character Mark finds his girlfriend snitched in what turns out to be his place things start popping. There are beautiful seaports and magnificent yachts' abounding. Mark's father has found something that is extremely dangerous yet exciting in his medical research. He has found a very wealthy and maybe crazy partner to help support this research, which leads to several deaths covering a wide range of country.
Mark and his love Vanessa have fallen into his father's frightening world . After Vanessa disappears trying to pick up a package for Mark's father on Antigua Island , the plot runs fast and furious.
I would recommend it to anyone who loves a twisty, turning story line. You will not be disappointed. You really begin to wonder how the author is going to get all the characters out in one piece. Plus it almost seems to go faster and faster like your going downhill as it heads for the final showdown.

I have not read J. Gregory Smith's debut "Final price," so I did not know him as an author when I picked up this book. The story starts as Mark Noble is vacationing with his girlfriend Vanessa in Antigua. He is getting ready to propose, when his girlfriend is kidnapped after she visits a jewelry store to pick up a package left for Mark's father--a renowned psychologist to the stars who has perfected a way to rid them of their addictions and other problems.

As Mark tries to figure out what happened to Vanessa, he phones his father who tells him to get off the island as soon as he can. Mark initially doesn't believe him, but after several chases, and ultimately a phone call telling him that both of his parents just lost their lives in a house fire--Mark reluctantly leaves the island and returns to what remains of his parents' home. But as he unlocks his father's safe and finds his father's letter to him along with a journal, he is apprehended by security and forced to flee for his life.

There's a lot of elements to this book--car chases, threats, sketchy characters, kidnappings, homicides, questionable ethics, explosions, etc. At the center of this book is a very scary idea, that creates a lot of tension throughout the story and impacts all the characters involved. Mark quickly realizes that everything happening around him is linked to his father's profession. And that's when the story takes off. This isn't so much a mystery--as many circumstances are quickly explained--as it is an adventure novel.