Warlord

Warlord
Ted Bell
Harper
Harper Collins Publishers
July 2011
Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-06-185931-1
$ 9.99
681 pages
Fiction – Action- Adventure

Thank goodness that somewhere in the world there is one extremely gifted person who can be trusted
to do the right thing, even if it involves risking their own life. They truly feel that this is their sense of
duty and service to others. These people are rare but those few who feel this commitment are highly
valued by their peers, their superiors, and those everyday folks who need a champion. Fortunately for
us, Alex Hawke is that person in this fictional novel.

Mr. Smith has a long history of terrorism and now seems to be instrumental in the unification of two
known terrorist groups, the IRA and the Sword of Allah who interacts with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
This Mr. Smith seems to be British but was somehow involved with the death of Lord Mountbatten in
1979 as well as Diana’s accident. Now, his target is the royal family beginning with the princes.

Being that Warlord is the sixth in the Alex Bell series, there are continuations regarding the
progression in their personal lives. Warlord begins with the James Bond-like character in his Caribbean
retreat reflecting on his personal loses from the previous novel, Tsar. Wallowing in his grief, Alex
receives a call from Prince Charles who asks for his help in protecting his family who has been
threatened. Alex instantaneously changes his attitude in response to his long-time friend that
reignites his sense of duty.

Added to that is a missing nuclear weapon which leads Alex and his associates to the Afghanistan desert
and into the mountains along with Mr. Smith.

Warlord is action/adventure with a James Bond attitude. Alex Bell seems to be a more focused Bond-
like character who only needs to focus on one woman. There is humor and a sense of being realistic in
that the characters do need to sleep and eat. Even without having read the previous novels, this one
is easy to understand and the characterization does not suffer.

I enjoyed reading this fast-paced novel. My criticism regards the Epilogue which obviously is leading
into the next novel. With most of the writing being tight and conclusive, this was wandering and
unevenly paced. It really didn’t blend well with theprevious story.

Ted Bell is a former chairman of the board of an advertising agency. He lives in Florida and Colorado
writing his adventurous novels featuring Alex Hawke.

I look forward to the next in this series.