Critical Mass

by David Hagberg

Book Overview

Kirk McGarvey--one-time CIA assassin--dreams of a peaceful life and marital bliss. One man will change all that. In 1945, Isawa Nakaruma lost his mother and father at Hiroshima, his wife and child at... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031285255X
• ISBN13: 9780312852559
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Good Action Story!

A good action packed novel. It was not quiet as exciting as Crossfire and Countdown. A Japanese billionaire loses his family (mother,father,wife,and child) in the atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The billionaire,many years later starts making plans for revenge. His plans include Ernst Spranger and his lesbian sidekick(both are ex Stasi). This group of ex Stasi agents steal the components to assemble a nuclear bomb. Our hero Kirk McGarvey enters the picture and promptly disrupts the scene for the bad guys. McGarvey does battle with this group all over the globe. He also does battle with the goons who belong to the Japanese billionaire.The daughter and ex-wife of McGarvey are also kidnapped by the Stasi renegades. This just adds to the action of the book. The book finally reaches a screeching finale. You will be greatly entertained by this book.

Not Clancy, but still pretty good

I read this mainly because I had read Hagberg's earlier stuff, and couldn't help but note the similarities between him and Clancy. A pretty good handle on the action sequences, and he convinced me that he knew how to write a good old-fashioned action/adventure novel. Many people seem to be making comparisons between Hagberg and Clancy, but I think he reminds me more of early Ian Fleming. Our leading character is much more a spy ala James Bond than he is a Jack Ryan. That isn't to say his writing suffers, not at all, Hagberg has delivered a fantastic adventure story, much of which is totally unbelievable, but then when was James Bond believable? I get into 007 because he's FUN more than anything else, and that is why Kirk McGarvey is Da Man! A chip off the CIA's block and a pretty exciting one, too. Just when you think it's over and the story is fizzling to nothing, watch out! Hagberg is the real deal and even if he never gains the popularity of Tom Clancy or Ian Fleming, he IS a fun author to read. Give him a try, he just might surprise you.

Not Clancy, but still pretty good

I picked this one up, if I can be entirely honest, I did it based on the cool cover. It was, however the plot that got me to actually purchase Critical Mass. It was my first Hagberg novel, and my introduction to Kirk McGarvey, someone who would soon become my favorite spy in modern fictional print. What I really like about Kirk isn't that he could wipe the floor with Jack Bauer from 24, or take out James Bond on any given day...no, what I like about Kirk is that unlike the other two fictional characters, Kirk would most likely be wounded along the way, and dislike the art of killing at the same time. Kirk is a deeply flawed character, and I seriously believe it is his shortcomings which drew me into not just liking him, but rooting FOR him through several other books along the way. Critical Mass by no means is where Kirk got his start, I believe his debut (so-to-speak) came from Without Honor, a book I STILL haven't found, and am dying to find and read...but even though I didn't read his humble beginnings, I have picked up every single McGarvey tale since. While you don't have to read all the books in order, I'd recommend doing so anyway because towards the last 5 novels or so, he begins to refer to previous exploits enough that it may spoil a surprise (or ten) if/when you eventually go back and pick them up. A pretty good handle on the action sequences, and he convinced me that he knew how to write a good old-fashioned action/adventure novel. Many people seem to be making comparisons between Hagberg and Clancy, but I would like to clarify this to a degree: Hagberg writes like EARLY Clancy. In MY opinion, the last Clancy novel worth reading was 'Executive Orders'...everything since has been sub-par to downright pure drivel. Also, imagine Clancy's best novel with at least one-third of the novel trimmed down because of the repetition or outright needless additions and whatnot that he deems critical to including...Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sum of All Fears, but he could have easily trimmed 350 pages and it would have been JUST as good (probably better). Kirk McGarvey is much more a spy ala James Bond than he is Jack Ryan. That isn't to say his writing suffers, not at all, Hagberg has delivered a fantastic adventure story, much of which is totally unbelievable, but then when was James Bond believable? I get into 007 because he's FUN more than anything else, and that is why Kirk McGarvey is Da Man! A chip off the CIA's block and a pretty exciting one, too. Just when you think it's over and the story is fizzling to nothing, watch out! Hagberg is the real deal and even if he never gains the popularity of Tom Clancy or Ian Fleming, he IS a fun author to read. Oh, and the final twist? VERY worthwhile and satisfying. Give him a try, he just might surprise you.