Ben Coes - The Last Refuge

This is an outstanding book that I really enjoyed
reading.  Anyone who loves Vince Flynn will also
 love Ben Coes!

From the moment I received the first Vince Flynn novel for a Christmas present, I got hooked!  I have Tippy and Frankie Lou to thank for introducing me to my new reading pastime.  Mixed with the very popular books of Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games), Stieg Larsson's trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and another recent book that I believe every medical student and practicing physician should read - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Vince Flynn's exciting novels have been the comfort food of my reading pleasure.

So who is Ben Coes? The Last Refuge is the 3rd book by an author I had never heard about (not that I should be counted on to know anything about contemporary authors). Ben Coes, hummm...how do you pronounce his name...like goes, or kose, or koze.  Anyway this book came to me and another copy found its way to brother-in-law Tippy for an advanced reading.  Apparently my blog comment about Vince Flynn's reaction to the secret service South American sex scandal ....ala....SSSASS... prompted some attention by Lizzie, Ben's marketing manager. 

Getting started was a chore because I still have half of my Vince Flynn books in the queue to read although I'm trying to savor every book knowing my reading his 13 or so books will come to an end soon enough.  But it didn't take long to get hooked on this book, and once you're hooked, you can't put it down. Very well written, easy to follow, intense and very enjoyable.  It wouldn't be fair of me to compare Vince and Ben, but I think that Ben would not be considered a lightweight by any responsible comparison.  There are aspects of Vince's writing that I like better but then again, Ben suits my taste in other aspects.  Included below are some comments from Tippy who hit it on the nose as far as I'm concerned.  I'm just including excerpts from his email to Lizzie, editing others out.  Like Tippy, I'm looking forward to reading the first two Ben Coes novels, and maybe I'll intersperse them between my next few Flyyn's.

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Hi Lizzie

Ben Coes new book is very contemporary and one that I had trouble putting down.  It's a real "grabber".  As you know, I love Vince Flynn's books, and this one is on a par with the intensity and realism.  A powerful read, and I can't wait to get his other books.

On the critical side, I wish that his latest book developed Dewey Andreas a little better (ala Flynn's Mitch Rapp).  ..............On the whole, this is an exciting and scary book, and one that I think will be a huge success (maybe a movie???)

Thanks for the opportunity to read the advance copy.

Tippy