I LOVE Ted Bell's writing. I immensely enjoyed all the other books in this series - and I recommend reading them in order, although it is not necessary to enjoy them. Mr. Bell's writing is enthralling - his narratives provide a hint of the thought processes and personality behind each character. And his larger-than-life, james-bondish hero, Alex Hawke with his combination of 'little boy' and 'international spy' is a hero you can't help but love. Ok, so he performs miracles and is so rich that he can outspend the military weight of the world, but that is what we like to read, is it not? Who wants the typical hero? Mr. Bell challenges the reader and is obviously knowledgeable about the subjects he includes - or is at least a very good liar! Either way, his books have been a joy to read. This book, Tsar, is not his best. It starts very slow. The real action doesn't begin until the last 1/3 of the book. It was still enjoyable, knowing the characters as I do. The premise, as that of his other books, is terrifying and realistic because the reader can truly see the plot happening in real-life. This book brings back the 'Russia' of old - the one we all feared as children... and looks at the possibility of a renewed Soviet republic with its sights on the Eastern European countries it once possessed... as well as the United States. Alex Hawke, trying to hide from the world and take a break from spying, is pulled into the plot and along with his lovable, but fierce friends, cheats death while trying to save the world from the new Tsar of Russia. Overall a great book, even though it starts a little slow. This book has a little more sexual content than the others.

OK. I know you can't have heart-pumping non-stop action for 486 pages. No need. But...come on, give me less pages, less gratuitous you-know-what and this would be a great read.

I got this for a good summer book by the pool, but it took five tries, over two months, to get past the first 150 pages. People I trust in the national media mentioned the book, so I was eager to jump in. Russia has always fascinated me. But the book didn't until about half-way through. The last 100 pages were riveting.

Could the Cold War come back? It's an interesting story with plenty of CIA bravado, unlikely scenarios with a few pretty good page-turning action scenes. I've read every Tom Clancy novel, plus I love John Grisham's stuff. This is the first Ted Bell novel I've read. Also my last.

I couldn't get past the first couple of cheesily written cookie-cutter spy novel chapters.

I fail to finish very few books, but I couldn't stay awake for more than a page at a time. There was no reason to turn a page and I love the genre.

Maybe it got better later on and if I'm stuck on a desert island with it and a Wheaties box, I'll read it 2nd.

...I have been reading it for over a month now - hoping it will grab my interest, but so far not. Hawke is a 007 wannabe, but he doesn't have the class. He is a gigolo - he has become a cardboard cut out character. Ambrose still rocks. Stokely is cool. Pippa and Conche are jokes. Actually, all the women in the book are bad, poorly written. Sad, I had such hope. Now I don't know if I should sell the book or burn it and spare the world one copy of this atrocity.

Please don't read this if you don't want spoilers.

The book was ok in my opinion but there were certain parts that made absolutely no sense to me at all.

1] In the climatic scene, the hero is attempting to save his beloved from her father (the baddie). He decides to rush a house filled with armed guards with a handgun. His sidekick stays behind with an automatic machine gun. He has a machine that will blow up the bad guy and he has to detonate it before the bad guy can blow up an American city. He can't supply suppressing fire for the hero because it is too dangerous and it is of paramount importance that he stays alive to blow up the bad guy. There is of course no logical reason that he can't at least give the hero the machine gun to give him a chance. The hero gets close to the house before being gunned down and lays motionless on the ground. The sidekick who thought it was too dangerous to provide suppressing fire now thinks it is a good idea to run out in the middle of the field in an attempt to save the hero who's probably dead anyways (screw the city or killing the bad guy). He proceeds to do so, mowing down the opposition like a lawnmower. Apparently the bad guys are terrible shots because the hero survives. If I were the hero and the person I loved was in danger, I think I would have taken the machine gun.

2. The hero's love is free to go anywhere she wants throughout most of the book. She is portrayed as woman who does what she wants where she wants throughout the book. In the end, when it is of paramount importance that she be anywhere that her father isn't, she suddenly is welded to him like glue, powerless to get away. It didn't make alot of sense to me other than it was guaranteed way to make sure she didn't survive. I pretty much knew she was doomed when they fell in love. It would have been difficult writing stories with her hanging around the hero's neck. Romances are exciting, marriages not so much.

3. The hero finds some thugs torturing his friends. He could just waste the thug but sets up a boxing match instead. That just didn't make a lot of sense to me. I can't imagine any professional spy doing something so silly.

4. One of the baddies has an opportunity to whack the only two witnesses to his crime (blowing up a city). This baddie whacked more people in the book than anybody. He decides to let the two witnesses go because he couldn't think of a good reason to kill them. They of course turn right around and their information is used to foil the grand plan of the evil doer. This same bad guy felt it was necessary to kill two children, rape and murder their mother, kill their father, etc... He is supposed to be the "elite" russian killer. For somebody "elite", this idiot isn't half as smart as me. Somewhat laughably, this "elite" killer and two of his cronies are taken out by a common female pop singer. In what world are Russian mobsters wimpier than divas?

There were other incidents like this throughout the book. People doing things that I couldn't imagine actual people doing.

I didn't mind the book, I would have liked more realism on the part of the characters.

After reading the description for this book, I thought for sure it would be one that I'd have a hard time putting it down. Even after receiving it and reading the one-line reviews on the back, I was sure I'd like it. Glen Beck, for instance, said it was like a Tom Clancy with some Robert Ludlum. I like both author's books, but, unfortunately, can't say the same about Tsar. After getting nearly half-way through the book, I still didn't find much that was grabbing me. Maybe its just the fact that I prefer more fast-paced books that keep me wanting to read them all the time. This book, I literally had to just keep reading and hoping something more interesting and grabbing would happen. I'll keep chugging along to see if I'm able to do that, and will update this review accordingly at that time, but, at this point, not too impressed.

TSAR is a book with an interesting premise and some promising characters but overall it simply doesn't hold up. As noted in some of the other reviews, the research done for this novel was somewhere between terrible and nonexistent. I don't want to get into spoilers, but the technical details surrounding one of the main plot points actually made me laugh out loud. There were plenty of other military and political inaccuracies to go along with the badly bent laws of physics. It's too bad, really. The narrative style is decent, and with some more polish the various story arcs would have worked. It really *wants* to be good. As published, though, it's just a slightly below-average spy thriller.

If you like James Bond novels, you'll love "Tsar". In this case the "Bond" character is (Lord) Alexander Hawke, the head of British Intelligence is David Truelove (aka "C"), and the bad guy is genius megalomaniac Russian, Ivan Korsakov, who is plotting the re-institution of the Russian Empire. "Tsar" is the name of Korsakov's high-tech company, his yatch, his zeppelin-like airship, and his ambition. Russian-American (All-Beef) Patti Strelnikoff is Korsakov's "muscle". A new Anglo-American intelligence operation, called "Red Banner", led by Hawke, based in Bermuda, is put together just in time to counter Korsakov.

"Tsar" is more than exceedingly farfetched, it is an "espionage fantasy", in the Bond tradition. However, I found "Tsar" to be better written than the original Bond novels. Even so, the perfect athletic warrior/impeccable moneyed aristocratic gentleman/who can fall seriously in love at the drop of a hat (or skirt), is a bit difficult for mortal male readers to relate to. Hawke is not only a ramrod loyal Brit, he is also a patriotic American (on his mother's side), who weeps at Washington's tomb. Just a wee bit over-the-top ya think?

I was one-third of the way through the book before I decided that I actually liked the novel, and will look forward to other books in the series. A character's remark that the Travis McGee novels of John D. MacDonald are the greatest works of literature ever written, may have made the difference. The comment reminded me that suspension of disbelief is critical to enjoying many good novels. Laissez les bon temps roulez. So, I'll decline from pointing out the most serious implausibilities.

However, among the hilarious, but minor, implausibilities: Anastasia (aka Asia, Korsakov's daughter) and Alex, both naked, accidentally meet on an isolated Bermudan beach. Asia is described in mouth-watering detail. Thinking Alex to be a homosexual beach bum (because he lives with this elderly manservant), Asia engages Alex as a nude male model, and through several sessions, the error of her assumption never occurs to her. (Note that there are some emotions a highly aroused naked man cannot hide). In short order, they engage in a torrid affair--and Hawk just cannot figure out why her father is having him followed. Duh.

What if an embittered Russia had the ability to destroy virtually any location on earth, without warning and without the possibility of retaliation? That's the scenario presented by Ted Bell in his newest book Tsar, a tense and well-crafted action thriller that sucks the reader in further and further with each turned page.

Tsar pits a group of English and American agents against the impending threat of a rebuilt Russia, hellbent on expanding its borders to their previous, Cold War boundaries. Leading the West are the English Alex Hawke and the American Harry Brock, and leading the Russians is Ivan Korsakov, a man who secretly pulls the strings in the Russian government and who yearns to bring the Tsarist era back to Russia. Korsakov is also the inventor of the Zeta computer, an extremely advanced computer that also costs mere hundreds of dollars, allowing worldwide distribution to millions upon millions of people. What nobody knows, however, is that each Zeta contains a small bit of explosive and a remote signal that connects back to Korsakov's main detonator. And without getting too much into the plot's intricacies, that should give you an idea of the threats at stake.

Tsar begins with a series of seemingly unrelated scenes, but as the book goes on and the pieces fall together, the reader becomes further engrossed as more and more connections are made. The characters are pretty well developed, from Hawke himself to the newly-minted mega celebrity entertainer Fancha, who plays a larger part than initially expected. Each chapter ends more or less with a cliffhanger, and because the chapters are all relatively short (probably on average 10 pages or less), the book flies by. However, the short chapters do not at all compromise the plot or pacing of the novel, as the plot comes together quite perfectly at a pace that is fitting to the reader.

If you are a fan of thrillers, this may be the book for you. I ordered it not knowing anything about it or Ted Bell, and would enthusiastically recommend it to anybody who finds my review even passingly engaging.

The book was in the condition as advertiszed. The delivery time was short. Totally pleased with product and seller.

Tsar: A Thriller I read this book in the Amazon Vines program. If you have only a little personal knowledge of the Global Positioning System, the Internet, personal computers or the Cold War era, then you may find it easy to suspend disbelief as you swoop through "Tsar" in a few hours. It's a page turner. The main characters are well sketched, particularly Hawke and his closest collaborators and friends. The action is fast-paced and multiple plot threads compete for your attention as the story unwinds. There is love and horror and honorable pain in hard choices. Something for almost everybody.

It is merely unfortunate that some of Ted Bell's plot premises are a bit loosely thought out. A Russian technology company ships millions of small, cheap computers throughout the world -- each one carrying a few ounces of super-explosive and a satellite receiver, listening for the signal to detonate its bomb... and each reporting its location to a master computer the size of a brief case. Nobody ever notes the location signals or tries to take the computer apart, or discovers the explosive? Hmmmm... Can any of us imagine that a generation of teen-aged hackers would allow itself to be thwarted in this way? Doesn't seem likely.

Still, Ted Bell manages to mesmerize. I think I'll sample some of his other books before I write him off as a second-ranked imitator of writers such as W.E.B. Griffith or Tom Clancy.

I have enjoyed the Hawke series, read each of them and recommend them. This was tough to get through. I am the type that once I start a book I want to get lost in it. Read it each night before I go to bed. This sat on my night table collecting dust for months before I was able to get through it. I suggest you read the other Hawke books if you haven't already before you pick this one up. If you have already read the others, this will not live up to your expectations.

Tsar, by Ted Bell, was my first venture into this series. Bell is one of the many successful action adventure series writers on the market today. Similar to Brad Thor and Vince Flynn, Bell covers the current state of tension with Russia. This territory has been mined quite a bit recently, even with Daniel Silva's excellent Moscow Rules. My problem with this book was that it took me much longer to finish then books by the aformentioned authors. This may have been because I am not as familiar with Hawke's backstory. There was plenty of action, adventure, humor, and some romance to keep readers involved. Some of the action is a bit over the top, but hey, that's why it is called fiction.

This is an action packed thriller that is very quick once it gets rolling, at about the mid-way point. Other reviewers have stated that you should not have anything to do once you hit the last 100 pages, it is at that point that Bell and Hawke hit their strides. The book was enjoyable enough to inspire me to got back and read the others.

Four stars for this action packed thriller.

If he can be a bestselling author, we all have hope.
Plot is silly. Characters ridiculous. Just bad.

I acquired this book to read during our most recent vacation. I always try to find something that can capture my attention and keep me focused during long flights, but not so complex that it leaves me re-reading passages to try and comprehend what's going on.

This book fit the need perfectly! The storyline quickly drew me in and kept my interest throughout.

Although it is a relatively complex espionage and 'world domination' storyline, Ted Bell is able to introduce characters in very memorable ways, so it's easy to place a name when you hear it again two chapters after an introduction.

I'm not typically drawn to espionage thrillers, but other reviews and the synopsis made me give this one a try. I'm glad I did!

For me, it was a very satisfying combination of mystery, science fiction and espionage.

For readers who enjoy less 'happy ending' types of novels, and who like action-driven plot lines, I think you'll enjoy this book.

The spy thriller genre has been well-developed in the past fifty years, having been given a huge boost by the Cold War. Since that period ended, writers have had to look elsewhere in creating the kinds of awful villains that hold our attention to the end of a book. Clive Cussler, for instance, has created an industry doing just this. Ted Bell longs for the bad old days, and in Tsar he has found a way to recover them. The first clue is on the very first pages. The Cuban Missile Crisis, arguably the lowest point of that period, is well underway. A British spy named Alex Hawke shoots a Soviet agent who is gunning for him. Flash forward forty years. Hawke is now dead. The Soviet Union is gone, Vladimir Putin has been deposed and is in prison, and another president rules as the puppet of a ruthless genius. The genius' plan is to restore the Russian monarchy, recapture the former Soviet republics, and then turn his attention to dominating Europe. Such a book plot might work, were it not full of implausible events and derivative elements. The hero, for instance, is the son of the murdered British agent. Hawke, Jr., meets the bad guy's daughter at a cove in Bermuda when she emerges from the ocean naked from the waist up and wearing a belt full of conch shells--a scene straight out of Ian Fleming's Dr. No. Believe me, Anastasia is no Honeychile Wilder, and Alex Hawke is no James Bond. The bad guy has built huge airships to further his plan for world domination, and one wonders at the feasibility of the technology that is described. Putin is in prison on top of a radioactive waste dump, but he has powerful friends who have built him a lead-lined cell. Hawke manages to wangle the introduction of the bad guy at the ceremony where he is to receive the Nobel Prize, but there isn't the slightest indication of how it happens. To Bell's credit, he does manage to create some workable suspense in the last third of the novel, but it doesn't offset the ridiculous picture of Alex Hawke sharing a cigarette with Vladimir Putin. Maybe his next book could be about the storage of nuclear waste.

Occasionally, one purchases a book convinced that what it really is, is what it's not. My interest in the title came from several sources: My sovietophilia, my love of the Russian Republic brought on by the practice of that obsession, and a description in vine that suggested a quick moving story. Dismayed to find, not an inch high novel but a tradepaper tome in my Amazon delivery box...considering the difficulty fiction has in the task of maintaining my attention. . . . I saw myself trapped in having to read a chapter over and over, all the while wishing I was reading a history of, say, the Russian civil war. So the book stayed on the shelf for awhile, until I had to write another review to continue my Vine status, and then I pulled it down again and prepared to hunker down in Ted Bell's spare but descriptive prose.

Happily. Although the first few chapters did move slowly, while a slew of characters were introduced, the action quickly picked up. The book, which includes the current Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, as a character, is an ironic backdrop to the current state of affairs between Russia and the West, wherein fears of "a new cold war" pop up not rarely in US and UK newswires. Hawke, the protagonist, is an homage to Ian Fleming's hero, but not a carbon copy.

The romance in the book and some of the violence seemed to distract from the story, but nonetheless, I found the premise interesting and the prose enjoyable.

I gave this book to my husband as a gift. He could hardly put it down, and ever since he has finished it, he has wanted to share it with everyone he knows, and even asked me whether I thought my co-workers would like to read it. I have never seen him wanting to share a book before this one. So far, four friends of my husband have read the book, and I was amazed by how fast each one returned it. They must have not been able to put it down either.

I haven't read any of Ted Bell's books before this one. I had a bit of trouble getting into the first half, walked away for awhile and came back to finish it. It was entertaining, albeit a bit more violent with details that I could have done without. Felt bludgeoned by it at times. Think I'll look into the other novels now.

Author Ted Bell is an advertising man by training, which explains why this novel is so packed with Madison Avenue hype. All the main characters are either beautiful, powerful, rich or immensely talented. Even the criminals have nice cars and fancy speedboats, not to mention gorgeous girlfriends. The entire book is one non-stop male fantasy.

Our British spy hero, Alex Hawke, is a mixture of Ian Fleming's Sean Connery and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan -- perfectly crafted and carefully packaged to sell, sell, sell. I've never read a novel that's more "commercialized" than TSAR. Ted Bell should get his own show on Home Shopping Network.

That said, TSAR is one a helluva ride after you get through the first 50 pages or so.

The date is the near future. Putin's authoritarian Russia has been upstaged by an even nastier band of strong men called the "siloviki." They answer to a shadowy genius named Count Korsakov, who is the secret power behind the Kremlin. Not only is Korsakov threatening to take back the former territories of the Soviet Union, he's also sending killers around the world to "restore order" to the planet. TSAR, which stands for Technical and Scientific Research Corp., is the name of his evil mega-corporation.

Much of the novel takes place in Bermuda and Ted Bell's home state of Florida. The Brits and the CIA soon join forces to launch a secret task force called "Red Banner," which is conveniently based in Bermuda. It's purpose: uncover Russia's plans for world domination -- and then rescue democracy.

Almost by mistake, Alex Hawke falls in love with Korsakov's daughter, Anastacia. Meanwhile, a luscious Fado singer also gets snared in Korsakov's trap. Throw in some Rasta gangsters, enormous air ships and high-tech bombs, then shake to perfection. End result: A completely unbelievable but enormously fun read for a cold winter evening.

It's interesting to note that Russia's new-found wealth, which forms the centerpiece of this novel, has declined significantly since the oil market crashed in late 2008. Maybe Putin will have to wait a while before taking back the Baltic States and Caspian Sea oilfields. Let us know when you're ready, Vlad.

I know the movie won't be as good as the book but I'm still excited to see these books on screen! Reading Ted Bell's book comes closer to watching a movie than any other fiction I've read. The style is cinematic, I felt like I was seeing it, not reading it.

Loved Tsar!!!! Pre-ordered it for my husband through Amazon, he read it in about 3 or 4 days. I grabbed it as soon as he was done and read it in about a day and a half. You know - one of those nights where you've been reading for a while, but can't put the book down. You look at the clock and think, "I only have 100 pages left...... that's only a couple of hours. I can do this." I wanted to finish, but didn't want to be done. Oh well. I finished at about 1:30 a.m. It was worth it!
The action, the characters, the entire thing was first rate.
The ending, while sad was well written and fits in with the overall Alex persona and history. It is fiction. And when in fiction does the guy ever get the girl forever until the very end of his fictional storyline or life? And I don't think any of us are ready for Alex and his story to be done! Who knows what Ted has up his sleeve for later? He left it wide open for all kinds of later possibilities.
The politics are part of the story line also. Fiction. Ted does an awesome job in his writing. He states what the Fictional powers that be do, say and decide. As part of a storyline. Not as a commentary. Don't you just love fiction? We can be anywhere, be anyone, do anything and it's fiction.
I can't wait to see what Ted and Alex do next!

As a kid I was a huge Bond fan, and loved books and movies about super spys, and impossible plots featuring evil world-threatening villians. As I read this book I realized I had abandoned that sensibility in favor of grittier, more realistic fiction, but it was actually nice to step back and read a highly improbable but exciting book featuring larger-than-life characters. The many reviews of this book clearly spell out the plot, and I would agree with many that said the last hundred pages are the best. It can occassionally get a little painful to get there, but overall it is worth the journey - a good escapist book - lots of fun to read.

I've read all the books and seen all the movies (Bond fanatic) and even read bios of Ian Fleming. I have to say that Bell's series of Alex Hawke spy novels are more satisfying in any number of ways than those of his predecessor. Obviously, they are more contemporary (books) but they also have more depth, more character development, more humor (not the cheesy double entendres of the movies,) but laugh out loud moments.

Bond never grew or matured. That cannot be said of Alex Hawke. Each installment deepens and broadens his character. He's a dashing, piratical super spy, but he is also deeply wounded by the events of his life, and fights mightily against to succumbing to the terrible cards he's dealt.

There is also a romantic strain running through all the books, and not just the male/female relationships. I have a far easier time describing Hawke as a romantic, almost Byronic, hero than I do James Bond. Bond is a civil servant employed as a paid killer. Hawke is out to prove something to himself: that good can triumph over evil if someone is willing to pay any price.

The books move fast, with no dearth of action. And, one of my favorite components of each story is a kind of Jules Verne approach to modern warfare. A lot of the critics find this silly, but I think it is another example of the author pushing these stories outside the boundaries of the current spy genre boundaries. And good for him! I loved the zeppelin in Tsar. I loved the driverless trucks headed for Washington in Spy. Loved them.

And as for villains, you'll find no standard bearded evil jihadists here. You will find a heinous Chinese hermaphodite who can adopt any earthly persona and can mimic Eric Clapton singing "You Look Lovely Tonight" perfectly.

If you are tired of the formulas and stereotypes dictated by the current boundaries of the spy genre, you could do a whole lot worse than to delve into the byzantine world of Alex Hawke.

Sally Powell

Entertaining, amusing, escapist, and laughably bad fiction. Others have reviewed the plot, so I will focus on what went right and wrong, here.

The action sequences were fine, when you read them, you feel like you are watching a big-budget Hollywood film (particularly the SEAL incursion into a zeppelin; that was a whole bucket of amusing, all on its own).

The plot was pretty much imaginary, because it could never happen. International politics just don't work that way. Russians, despite their national zeal and pride, would never just lose their minds and decide to engage in nuclear war with the United States just to get lost territories. Look at Abkhazia and South Ossetia - they want back in. Ukraine doesn't, but that is hardly telling, there are long historic problems between the two populations. Nevertheless, despite its predictability, it was solid, for an action thriller.

The characters, though, were tragically amusing. For example, we have Alex Hawke, international spy and sex symbol. When will authors finally come to the conclusion that spies are not the hawtness? If you are that noticable, covert activities start to draw attention. Not only that, but the introduction between Anastasia and Alex, laughably simplistic, completely random, and inanely deus ex machina, leads to the obvious conclusion of the story about fifty pages into the book.

The worst, though, the worst, by a long, long way, is the villain of the piece, Ivan Korsakov. We are told that he is a: computer engineer who personally designed a super-powerful fifty dollar computer, a chemical engineer, who made an explosive fifty times as potent as dynamite that also turns into inert powder upon exposure to air, an aeronautical engineer, capable of designing an air ship that uses vortices for lift and thrust, despite the fact that no one else in the world truly understands these phenomena, let alone being able to harness them to lift something this massive and move it through the sky, and a Nobel prize winning astrophysicist. This is ridiculous. No one person, no matter how clever, can be a world-wide renowned specialist in fields this diverse. It just doesn't happen. In the past it did, but in science, we like to call that phenomenon "Picking the low-hanging fruit."

As a side note, I find it laughable that all of the years Nobel nominees were invited aboard the aircraft for a transAtlantic flight, since those lists are sealed for fifty years, minimum, after the nominees are chosen. Only the winners are made public. Another "fact" courtesy of Ted Bell.

The book is worth reading if you can get past laughable dialogues, poor plot, and completely ridiculous characters. The action sequences weren't so bad. In the end, it was amusing, but only because it is so bad.

D

Harkius

Russia is a country which has faced more than its share of humiliations over the last few hundred years. Defeated and/or conquered alternately by the Mongols, Poles, Swedes, French, Japanese, and Germans, some cosmic force surely felt that the coming of the 20th century was a time for change. Indeed this was precisely what happened after the Iron Curtain descended over Eastern Europe in the days following World War II. Unfortunately, the golden age was a short one, and Russia since the early 1990's has endured more embarrassment in the form of military humiliation at the hands of tiny Chechnya, wide-spread organized crime, crumbling standards of living, and the rise of an oligarchy. Some would maybe expect that a desire for yesterday's glory may propel an influential few to proactively set events to return Russia to the status of superpower. The country's recent military adventures in Georgia and alleged attempts at assassination in both Britain and the Ukraine provide some real-world basis for such speculation.

Tsar opens in the past, in JFK's Oval Office. America stands of the brink of obliteration as the president realizes that the formerly effective technique of MAD--mutually assured destruction--may, unbelievably, result in hundreds of millions of deaths. Ballistic missiles have been discovered on Cuban soil, and Kennedy's ultimatum to the Soviets seems to have been called--Russian vessels are speeding to the Western Atlantic, and enemy submarines lurk in the cold waters. An American naval blockade has been rendered vulnerable secondary to an advanced Russian technology known as "Redstick." An advanced form of SONAR which can detect American submarines up to one-thousand miles away, Redstick is capable of punching holes in the American blockade. British special agent Hawke is enlisted to infiltrate and/or destroy the secret Russian Arctic installation thought to be behind this nefarious new technology.

Back in the present, Hawke's son Alex recuperates on a lonely beach in Bermuda after a victorious mission. He is alternately both pleasantly and rudely surprised by two seemingly disconnected events: a topless Russian nymph emerges from the waves to make his acquaintance, and, later on, his erstwhile boss Sir Truelove enlists his aid regarding a matter of world importance. British Intelligence and the CIA have noted stirrings of the great Russian bear, thought to be in hibernation since the 1990's. Both agencies fear that Russia seeks to regain its lost supremacy--little do these Western spooks realize that Russian plans for world domination are already firmly in motion. The rousing bear also hold a trump card: the ability to destroy the world if Russia's dreams of conquest encounter resistance. Seemingly disconnected events--the explosion of a prison in the American north, the sinking to a Japanese whaler, and the quite surprising birthday cake for a Chechnyan gangster--are being orchestrated by twelve powerful individuals in the Russian government, all under the auspices of a shadowy leader known as the Dark Rider. Can Hawke and his allies stop plans put into motion years before?

Ted Bell, author of Tsar, seeks to collect these speculations under one roof, mix in a bit of fiction, and produce a story full of intrigue, chills, and style. Whether Hawke is up to the task of carrying this novel to success is the real question. The answer is: it depends upon what you are expecting in terms of genre and protagonist. It is best to leave your preconceptions at the door here. In other words, do not expect James Bond, Jason Bourne, or even the A-team to leap from these pages--Alex Hawke is nothing like those characters. Bell's hero has the emotional maturity of an adolescent, the physique of a decathlete, the charm of a class clown, and the mind of a hunter. His melee skills inconsistent, his foresight lacking, and his ability to remain free of captors suspect, Hawke does not evoke any elite secret agent in recent memory. The idea that a president would rely on this guy to save the world is simply laughable--Bozo the Clown is more capable. If the book's theme was "everyman rises to circumstance," then maybe the idea would be palatable. However, Bell is trying to sell his protagonist as mankind's most qualified savior--it just doesn't compute.

Unfortunately, that's not all that's wrong--there is nothing believable about much of the story. Forget that every male character is buff and massive, or that every female is willing and beautiful, or that Alex and his band of bumbling troubadours uncover every Russian secret in a matter of days--secrets which have taken their enemies years to bring to fruition. Forget all of that, and there are still glaring logical holes through which a Yukon would fit comfortably. For instance, it seems as if most of the major events occur inside of a vacuum and many characters' awareness of circumstance ceases at the end of a chapter.

*** spoiler alert ***

Yuri Yurin was threatened and nearly killed by Stokely in the boat scene; nevertheless, he goes on to train his rescue-prevention terrorists and complete the invasion of the "Pushkin," even though Stokely was already aware of his plans. An ex-SEAL who doesn't follow-up a threat probably doesn't deserve his pension. Paddy Strelnikov blows up a prison, a boat, and a party without any of these events even registering on our heroes' radar. One would think that ABC news would produce a couple of stories on the sudden immolation of an entire prison, remote or not. Rostov, trumpeted as a judo master who loves political intrigue, accomplishes nothing and is unceremoniously killed by drinking arsenic. There is much more, but the point is made.

*** end spoiler alert ***

In summary, the overall plot is rather inventive, but the implementation is lacking. The dialogue is fresh, descriptive, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, but the characters speaking the lines have less dimension than a point of singularity. We've discussed Hawke's form-but-no-substance failings. However, Tsar's several concluding chapters--especially the epilogue--are gripping, original bits of writing, so we know Bell has it in him. Sadly, the ball that was dropped four-hundred pages back has rolled far, and has flattened any high hopes regarding this story's ability to deliver a serious thrill. Thus, this book should be grouped into the "fast-food thriller genre (think Clancy's "Power Play" series)," rather than as serious cloak-and-dagger fare. Even seen with this lens in place, Tsar disappoints mightily for a very simple reason--one never forgets that one is reading. Even action books need suspension of disbelief, and none of that will you find here. This book earns two stars for the ending, several belly-laughs, and Bell's gift for scenery description.

For me, nothing beats a story combining technology, espionage, military and geo-political suspense. Throw in an omnimpetent Mr. Big and you have a good start at a great story.

The hard part, of course, is to combine all these elements in a compelling and entertaining way. Understanding techno-military stuff is difficult and incorporating all this in a story that will appeal to a wide audience clearly requires rare skills.

And it takes some skill and commitment to read a book like this. By the very nature of the subject matter, the reader has to understand the times and technology in some reasonable depth to really get the full impact of the story. This means a considerable amount of setting the scene, describing the technology and jumping around in history and location. The first third or so of the book requires this sort of concentration and some people find this tedious. I enjoy it, personally, but it is never easy to keep track of all of it.

Like any good book, though, after the scene is set the pace picks up, the actions become more and more concentrated, mysteries are unveiled and it all rushes on to an exciting and compelling finish.

I actually like a bit more realism, not so much impossible feats and powers, as well as more sex and less violence, but the author had a vision and a story to tell and he did it skillfully. Five stars for that, and maybe a movie?

The author supposedly gets mad about critical reviews and since I did not want to die a hideous and mysterious death like the characters in his book, and because he may know people, I did not dare to rate it any lower! (smiley imaginary emoticon here)

The very beginning of the book caught my attention immediately. Somehow knew the Wizard would play a significant role in the story.
Most of the book moves rather well and the ending chapters are page turners.
Our historical relations with Russia and the mood of the world today, terrorism etc. often depict the dangerous reality of our present era.
If the reader has traveled to Bermuda or Russia the descriptive narratives were on target and in some cases beautiful.
There is enough mystery to keep it going and I do believe it would make an excellent movie of the week.

Easy reading, interesting to the degree you just don't want to put it down. Recommended by Rush Limbaugh and found worthy...thanks

Tsar is a political thriller that starts slow, providing challenging description of characters that take a long time to develop into recognizable participants on a story that will slowly capture your attention, but once you have an inkling as to where the author is taking you, a fascinating look into the possible scenarios we may expect from the Russia of today, run by a former KGB strongman, Vladimir Putin.

What if Russia appeared to no longer be involved in a cold war with the west, only to gain strength, penetrate the world of technological advancement, recapture territories lost during the last few decades, infiltrate organizations of the free world, acquiring great wealth through selling oil reserves, to then attempt to take control?

If you like this type book, don't miss reading Tsar!

This is the first book that I have read by Ted Bell. I thought that Hawke was a reincarnated Roger Moore (007). Just in the new century, when I got past that high Velveeta factor (because its the cheesiest). The story line was good. Especially the last one hundred pages. I do feel like the main criminal was good but left me wanting to know more about his organization.

Fans of this storyline may find my review off, and they might be right. I'm wondering if I should start at the begining of this storyline to get a better insight into Mr. Hawke

This series keeps to the same standard as the other novels in this series. It was nice to catch up to his Lordship and his friends. would not enjoy a hero that is honorable, gets the best of womanhood, is nearly invincible, and wins in the end! I have read all the Blackhawke novels to date(I think), I was kind of hoping Lord Hawke was ready to find the woman of his dreams and settle down! Not really, it is good to have a human who has nearly superhero abilities. I suppose I will continue to read these novels as long as Ted Bell continues to write them. When I read the first I thought this is really over the top in terms of believability, but I keep coming back!

This book is far apart from the usual spy novel. Very exciting. Adrenaline fueled type book based on realistic events that could happen. All and all a decent book. However, I would like to see a slightly more complex plot than the run and gun type of book, since this is a spy novel, the plot is a bit too obvious. Hence the 4 out of 5 stars... A great book though.

I give the first third of the book a C minus and the last two thirds an A.

The first third was very tedious and hard to get through, jumping around from event to event with make, model and statistics of almost everything with a motor. Lots of names were mentioned but none were memorable and there was no real connection between them. After wading through more than 130 pages, I debated whether or not I wanted to continue reading, however the story did finally pick up, with the second two-thirds of the book being the exciting thriller I was expecting - a nail biter until the very end. Definitely worth a read if you can stand to plod through the beginning to get to the good stuff.

I'm a fan of Alan Furst so I thought I'd try Ted Bell's work "Tsar". Because it is a spy thriller, I expected to be grabbed by the seat of my pants but I was sorely disappointed. First off, the beginning is so slow. It is bogged down by tedious descriptions of clothing and furniture. I mean, who cares what color Alex Hawke's socks are? The plot doesn't have a fluidity to it. It's explosion and then a long discussion or dinner. I also found the characters boring. Alex Hawke sounds like he belongs in a GQ magazine and Anastasia Korsakova in Playboy. Of course the villains look hedious. I'm assuming that this story is written in the present time because there were mentions of Escalades and Mercedes Benzes but the Russian aircraft is a bit far-fetched. If it's supposed to be in the future, then ditch the current car models. I'm sorry to say that I managed to read almost a third of the book and I will try to finish it but I'm thinking I am more likely to just give up.

This is not my type of preferred reading but on recommendation from Rush Limbaugh this past fall, I thought I'd select this from the Amazon Vine list. It is fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. Our hero is like a James Bond and Jack Ryan rolled into one. The story is timely and smart. Like a Clive Cussler read but better.

I didn't hate this book. Didn't even really dislike it to any significant degree. In fact, I'd heard so much about this particular protagonist (Hawke) that I was really looking forward to "meeting" him, and I did like him as a character. My difficulty with this novel is that it moves very slowly, at least for me. Bell does a good job of going back and forth from one group of characters to the other so that the reader is always getting varying viewpoints and seeing the progress in all aspects, but man. It took a good 200 pages for me to feel the pace pick up, and by that time, I wasn't particularly interested any longer. Couple that with the fact that I suddenly found myself plagued by ennui when it came to all things Russian, and you have the makings of a bad review. Still--don't blame Mr. Bell for this being about Russians like that's a bad thing; I knew that going in. It's just that I can usually overcome the ennui by focusing on the characters and the fast pace. Not so here.

I liked the characters just fine, and the plot started out interestingly enough (in fact, the first few pages seemed deceptive to me because they were comparatively fast-paced), but really--there's gotta be something that continues to grab me, or I lose the desire to keep reading.

For those of you who are used to this pacing from Mr. Bell, this book will likely seem just fine. For me, it was a real endurance test.

Tsar is great pulp fiction. It contains all the elements of the dime novel: the Dudley Do-Right hero, the evil villain, exotic locales and great sex scenes. Like all pulp fiction, it contains inaccuracies and improbable situations.

Considering that it was jinned out in less than four months, the editing and wordsmithery are as good as it gets. In a few cases, the plot moves into the realm of "HUH?" but by the book's completion, all the loose ends were tied up in neat little bows.

In short, I liked it. Now I'll read more of Ted Bell's books. Maybe...just maybe...he's the next Griffin.

What a great surprise! Have not read anything by the author, so I didn't know what to expect. This story has something for everyone...fantasy, international intrigue, humor, romance and a bit of history. The characters...who will forget Happy the Baker, bombing his way through America? Anyway, the story centers on Hawke, son of a cold war spy, who continues in his dad's footsteps. He is in Bermuda recuperating and falls for a mysterious Russian, whose father is an eccentric genius. Russia is actually planning to reincorporate all the former countries of the USSR, using a secret weapon threat. There are lots of action, plot twists to keep you interested and a great descriptive sense of place...the warm beaches of Bermuda, the wildness of a Russian winter sleigh ride. The final outcome of the standoff between superpowers ends up depending on Hawke, to do the "right" thing. Would highly recommend to romance and spy novel buffs and can't wait to find out what our hero is up to next.

I really have nothing good to say about this book, unfortunately. The plot is goofy, the charactes are stereotyped, boring, and will make you hate them within the first 100 pages. The sentence structure and word choice, especially in action sequences, or dramatic scenes, is asinine. Everyone 'screams' when they're upset. "He screamed at her, 'Blah, blah, blah...'" "'I can't stand you!' she screamed back." Gah.

I do apologize for the brevity of this review, but I'd like to forget I ever read this novel. I consider this the Amazon review version of quickly flushing something especially nasty down the toilet.

I'm a big fan of spy movies like the Bourne trilogy or James Bond, so I had really high hopes for Tsar. I really expected to enjoy the book, but quickly found that I do not like Bell's writing style at all. Tsar reads like a trashy novel with silly, pornographic imagery and sadistically detailed descriptions of violence.

The hyper-macho main character reminds me a bit of Brock Samson from the Venture Bros. cartoon, except that Brock is a parody of the secret agent/action hero archetype and Hawke is not.

I get the feeling that I probably would have enjoyed Tsar much more when I was 14 years old, and this is coming from a guy who also enjoys books such as Real Ultimate Power and The Alphabet of Manliness.

It's been a long time since I've read any sort of thriller novel, so bear with me. This is the first novel of Ted Bell's that I've worked through, and overall, the novel was a rewarding experience. While it's not great literature (sadly, despite the Russian setting, Dostoevsky still manages to hold my preference), Hawks is an interesting character, and the novel remains entertaining.

Another reviewer mentioned how this book falls into three different levels of ability, and I'm inclined to agree. The first third (130 pages or so-) was lackluster, but the final 2/3 are redeeming: it's a book worth reading for entertainment and enjoyment.

From a critical perspective, I find the American novelist's fascination with Russia to be interesting: despite the fall of Communism and the demodernization effects of such, Russia remains a pre-eminent part of American consciousness. Particularly because there have been historic hostilities (during the Cold War, the notion that the Soviet Federation was diametrically opposed to the foundational elements of American freedom, liberty, etc seems far-fetched, all things considered; it remains a common notion nevertheless), Russia is a convenient 'evil' archetype. To me, this book would be more meritous to be set in China, though perhaps it wouldn't as adequately cater to the perceived reading audience.

At any rate, reasonably well worth reading.

A wise and old reader once told me: "If you are ever reading a book and think, 'Gee, I'd like to be that guy,' then you know you are reading a bad book." At the time I was in high school and infatuated with whatever the latest Tom Clancy thriller was--probably "Red Storm Rising" or something else. And of course I wanted to be Clancy's Ryan, which, I suppose, says a little (but not much) for my taste, insofar as I never wanted to be James Bond.

There is much to be said, even in favour of, a boyhood novel, or shall we say, a boy's novel? They start us off, in many cases, in a productive reader's life. The show us that you can be gripped by mere words. We fall in love with reticent, battle-scarred male characters and the lithe females that populate the various and often exotic locales. We drink up the fetishistic machine-love ("Decker eased his Sig P220 from his ankle holster, imagining the recoil of the blued monster as it spat a tight group, centre-mass, into his opponent, whose nickel-plated M1911A1 seemed a man's tool in a boy's hand...") and thrill to the glories of the cars and airplanes.

And then we move on.

Ted Bell has not.

It's one thing to be reading the grown up version of A Boy's Own Paper stories--we all have our guilty pleasures--but it's another thing entirely to be writing them. For about 500 pages or so we get moving prose like....like what I wrote up there. For 500 pages. ("He had a rifle slung on his back and a single bullet burning a hole in his pocket. His name was Hawke.") Yes, compact, lean, muscular prose! The author delights in detailing his obsessive workout routines, and his obsession with health in general. Which of course, makes Hawke about as interesting as that competitive runner/marathoner/triathlete you bumped into the other night at a party. Wasn't she a gas!

And of course his name is Hawke. Dark, broody, reticent men who kill without a thought, whose fighting skills are honed to a savage pitch, and who sleep nude on the beach awaiting the arrival of comely Russians ("...She emerged dripping wet from the sea. She was tall, with long straight legs, skin tanned a pale shade of cafe au lait...") are always named Hawke. Or Viper. Or Steele, Tower, or Mach.

The author is quick to tell you that he was once worldwide creative director of Young and Rubicam. (That's one of the world's largest advertising agencies, in case you didn't know. The author thought you should know that. Or his publicist did. Wait. Does it matter?) It makes sense that he knows his target demographic, and is good at selling his creative vision to others.

I gave it a star. After all, it is 500 pages long, and that has to do something for you, right? I mean, you get 500 for just showing up at the SATs! I'll say this, to be fair: It's more entertaining than a phone book. It's more satisfying than a Diet Coke (I've always preferred Diet Pepsi). And it makes an excellent prop--my monitor is a little low, so I've put it just underneath. Really.

Other than that, I recommend not reading this book.

If you like thrillers in which every woman is buxom and beautiful and every man is virile and dashing (except, of course, for certain members of the bad guys) then you'll like this one. It is full of explosions, killings, political intrigue, technology from the not-too-distant future and all the other trappings of a James Bond-esque or perhaps James Bond-wannabe novel.

For me, however, I really didn't enjoy it too much. I've enjoyed books by Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton and others. However, this one was just too much. The sex scenes were far too explicit and seemed just too tacked on. The characters were not well rounded. They were all flat and none were terribly likable. It was entirely adolescent. The guy gets the girl, but is still single and, at the end, it is hard to see how any progress was made.

In short, the action was engaging, but the characters weren't. The story line also left a lot to be desired. If you can live with action alone, then go for it. Otherwise, consider carefully.

Prescient, fast paced yarn told by ex advertising director concerning the topical situation of Russia flexing its oil rich muscles and lack of regard for human life. A page turner that whisks you away to an almost fantasy world. Ted Bell enjoys his imagination & it shows.

This is the most boring action book I have ever tried to read. I gave up half way through the book.

If you're looking for an easy read in a not-for-the-squeamish Tom Clancy meets Ian Flemming genre, then this is the book for you. This is a present day cold war style story of Russian attempts to recapture the countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. Lead by the behind the scenes "Tsar", Russia plans to expand beyond the old empire and is considering the rest of Europe too.

Enter Alex Hawke, a James Bond style character whose violence is a little more graphic, yet who womanizes and exudes that British secret agent charm that works so well in the novels. A silent, mysterious man with a tragic past who is back on duty - the only man who can stop the Russians as he did the Soviet Union.

With Vladimir Putin in prison, any voice of reason has been silenced. The West is desperate to prevent their old nemesis from rising again. The Evil Tsar has a flaw: his beautiful daughter...who just happens to have run into Hawke...and fallen for him...

As I said, while there are grains of modern day politics and current events in the book, it's a little far-fetched James Bond style where things come together when they need to...except does Hawke save the day?

You'll have to read more to find out.

If you're looking for an easy-to-pick-up and easy-to-put down novel that doesn't tax your brain too much, this might be good beach / vacation reading.

Another in the Alex Hawke series puts its finger on a very real concern in our 21st Century. Ted Bell sets the stage for an action packed read that will take you on a memorable ride.
With some personal knowledege about Russia, I can say that Ted Bell has been researching his subject and has identified what should be a major concern for the Free World as we all know it. Although fiction, you will be asking yourself whether it is possible for Russia to achieve its objective...and can Alex Hawke stop the Russian Empire.
Strap yourself in for a good read.
Review written by:
Bradford P. Miller, Author "Lessons From Rocky"

Improbability and fun. A hero who could grace the cover of Mens Health, but doesn't practice safe sex. Elegant little best-selling computers with explosive laden hard drives that could destroy America and provoke World War III. A head of British intelligence air headed enough to take a swim with sharks while checking out Jamaican criminals in Bermuda who were trailing a friend. A Secretary of State named Conch, and a new Tsar who writes symphonies while impaling enemies by the thousand (please kids, don't read this)and winning a Nobel Prize for physics. Putin in a radioactive prison with a secret lead-lined cell. Glimpses into the secret (and boring) world of the rich and famous and extreme Russian nationalists. The world just a minute or two from mass destruction. Oh yes, brutal sex, gentle sex, English butlers, the Brooklyn Russian Mafia, lots of booze, right wing geo-political nightmares and, yes, at the very end, Diamonds are Forever. Forget the facts (Bell really messes around with history), play to curiosity and fears, load the torpedoes and full speed ahead.

I have to hand it to Bell. Though it seems like he writes while popping steroids and wolfing down Grade B movie popcorn, he tells a pretty good, if occasionally incoherent yarn, and that's what this genre of entertainment is all about, aside from making money. Forget the stereotypes, and the lucky breaks which make a bittersweet world-saving ending possible, he also writes well. The plot weaves its way through settings which he describes nicely (having spent some time at the Bermuda Yacht Club he describes, I can tell you he got the details nailed perfectly), and there is a pretty appealing and sometimes very human quality to the rather odd group of characters who populate the good side in his books: the gigantic black Stoke and the old Scotland Yard and CIA chums to name a few. Lots of guy stuff in a book, I would think, primarily for those of us of the male persuasion.

So, why not five stars? It just seemed to me that while Lord Alex Hawke is a brave if softhearted soul, neither he nor his motley crew of buddies demonstrate the kind of analytical skills one would hope to find in those selected to run the world's most important and secret spy program. And though the Russians are portrayed as brutal and duplicitous (particularly to each other), it is a kind of fortuitous macho prowess (albeit with the hand of one brave woman) that ends up saving the day.

In other words, something of a good entertaining and utterly improbable romp. But not much more than that.... Until I read in today's NY Times that the Ruskies are threatening to cut off natural gas to Europe, and recent reports say they have sent warships to Venezuela and have bought up half of France....But folks, whatever you do, don't buy a Russian computer for $80. Their free hackers are enough of a problem. And forewarned, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Spend the money on this book and popcorn. And, you won't need the steroids. You already bought 'em.

This novel is not an easy read and whether you will finish it (I didn't) will depend on whether you are interested in Russian/US politics (I am not). Others have liked this book, so read the positive vs. the negative reviews and determine if this the type of mystery you want to read. I'm into more light mystery reading that moves fast and has short short chapters. After a long day, this is a little more than I bargained for in terms of intrigue and suspense but probably not for others.