Thursday 19 March 2015

REVIEW: Iain Rob Wright - Hot Zone: An MCU Thriller (Sarah Stone Book 2)

I am very sad to say this is the last night of the Iain Rob Wright special on the blog.

I hope you have enjoyed it. If you have then please get in touch to let me know....if you haven't then please get in touch to let me know as well.

This has been an absolute pleasure to put together but would not have been possible without the help, willingness to put up with the interview and of course....the writing of author and all round top bloke Iain Rob Wright.

Please continue to support Iain in his work. If you haven't already, you really need to get reading his stuff. There are links at the bottom of this page for his website and his author page on Amazon where you will find links to all of his books.

Please also continue to come back and read my blog if you can. Nothing I enjoy more than giving something back to the authors I read and if by visiting Confessions of a Reviewer you pick up even one book, my job is done.

You know the drill.......drink and nibbles and read the review!!



Genre: Thriller
Publisher: SalGad Publishing Group
Publication Date: 16th March 2015
Pages: 223

MY REVIEW:


I was lucky enough to get a chance to help Iain Rob Wright out with the proof reading on this book and wrote this review at the same time.

This is the second instalment of the Sarah Stone series and it will contain some spoilers about the first book. So, if you want to read the first book, eh, first, then go buy it HERE US or HERE UK and then come back to read this.

A mad doctor is on a mission to highlight the plight of the children of the 3rd World. The problem is he is intent on unleashing a new strain of Ebola he has developed on the western world. Particularly the UK. Agent Howard Hopkins and the rest of the members of the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) must track the doctor down and try to get their hands on the virus before it is set free. The only question that remains is where is Sarah Stone?

OK, I didn’t give the first Sarah Stone novel too good a review. It still got 4 stars because Iain Rob Wrights writing is something to behold anyway, but it certainly wasn’t my favourite book of his. Then came the short story Slasher: The Escape of Richard Heinz which is a stand-alone MCU tale that showed me a great improvement in the characters and suspense in this new branch of thriller writing from Mr Wright. Now we have Sarah Stone Book 2. Is that improvement continuing?

Absolutely bloody right it is!! This book shows to me just how much Iain Rob Wright’s development of the MCU and its characters has come. Howard Hopkins takes the lead in this one as he did in Slasher. He is a cool customer on the outside even though a lot of the time he is in pieces on the inside but his character is very likeable and very believable and you can’t help but be on his side and shout your support for him. Other members of the MCU take a back seat through much of this story as Howard has to lead from the front during the chase.

Sarah Stone does make a comeback in this book. She was taken hostage at the end of the first book and we find her in captivity and struggling to escape. When she finally does attempt to make her escape, all is not what it seems and she was certainly not expecting to bump into who she does next. That is all I can tell you on this part and indeed for the rest of the story without giving away details you would want to kill me for.

As is normal with Mr Wrights writing, it flows, and flows, and flows. I can never get bored reading his stuff. He doesn’t let you. In Hot Zone it’s action from the very first page and it never stops until the last page. This could be the script for the new James Bond movie. It could be made into the biggest blockbuster movie of the year and people would flock to cinemas all over the world to see it.
Iain Rob Wright has the potential and the writing skill to ensure this series runs and runs and runs. The characters all fit together so well. The ideas he comes up with make it exciting. The twists and turns he thinks of are fantastic. There are quite a few twists in Hot Zone that will have you cursing him for throwing you completely off the track and thinking “Where the hell did that bit come from?”

In summary: This book is full of tension. It’s full of action. It’s full of thrills and spills and it’s full of twists and turns and more direction changes than you could shake a stick at……right up to the very last sentence!!

The MCU hits its first 5 stars from me! Can’t wait for book 3!


General rating:

★★★★★ Absolutely loved it and it comes highly recommended.

Thriller rating:

★★★★★ Where are my blood pressure tablets?



You can buy Hot Zone: An MCU Thriller here:




Book Synopsis:

Sarah Stone is missing.

The terrorism threat in the UK is growing. MCU agent, Howard Hopkins, has been called to hospital. Not because he is sick, but because there has been an outbreak. Somebody has intentionally infected hundreds of people with Ebola Virus. It's time for the Major Crimes Unit to act.

Sarah Stone hasn't seen home for 4 months. Someone is keeping her captive. She intends to find out who and why. Then make them pay.

Soon Sarah and Howard's paths will cross, and they may not be on the same side when it happens. They are both looking for the same man, a psychotic doctor with a grudge against Western society and a mission to inflict upon the world the biological terrors of impoverished Africa. He won't be happy until Ebola, HIV, and Malaria are as much a threat in the United Kingdom and Europe as they are in the 3rd World.

How do you fight an enemy you can't see?



Iain Rob Wright is one of the UK's most successful horror and suspense writers, with novels including the critically acclaimed, THE FINAL WINTER; the disturbing bestseller, ASBO; and the wicked screamfest, THE HOUSEMATES.

His work is currently being adapted for graphic novels, audio books, and foreign audiences. He is an active member of the Horror Writer Association and a massive animal lover.










You can see more about Iain at his website.

Iain's author page is here.

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