----- Introduction -----

First of all I must say I’m not the most discriminating reader of fiction novels, I tend to like my books on the exciting and nail-biting side of the equation. Up to this point I’ve been a fan of Matthew Reilly even though his books are always over the edge like Niagara Falls. Matt hasn’t bothered generating a strong following for his literary prowess or linguistic flexibility. He just knows how to blow stuff up, make a big mess, and somehow tie it all together with that silly fluff called a storyline. Call his novels beach books, buttered popcorn for your brain, whatever genre you want. His books at times seem like set-piece battles where some pages exist only to fill in required character drudgery before the next battle. A perfect example of this style is Reilly’s book Contest, and while totally improbable and heinously distasteful to any discerning reader… it was a fun read. All this ends with Scarecrow, I’ll try to describe why this will be my last Mathew Reilly book.

----- Plot overview -----

Reilly’s gallant champion from past books returns, Shane Schofield himself. The enigmatic marine code-named Scarecrow has taken his men from bowels of Ice Station to the mesas of Area 7, only this time it’s all about Schofield. 15 of the world’s best warriors both military and mercenary have been targeted for death by a worldwide group of billionaires known only as “The Council”. Each of them have the same price on their head, 20 million U.S. dollars, enough to turn black and white to grey for quite a few military units. With less than a day remaining for all of these men, Schofield must figure out what all the targets have in common and how he can survive.

As Shane races ‘round the world pursued by several groups of elite bounty hunters all gunning for his head the pace goes from frantic to frenetic. Shane begins to uncover a vast global consipiracy and the terrible reason why he cannot under any circumstances, be allowed to live…

----- What’s with the two-star rating buddy? -----

Matthew Reilly states in his interview about Scarecrow that “I wanted Scarecrow to be seen as a new kind of Matthew Reilly novel, a faster book, a book that was more densely packed with plot: a book that was a stylistic leap forward from my previous efforts. I’m hoping people will see Contest, Ice Station, Temple, and Area 7 as Reilly Version 1.0 and Scarecrow as the beginning of Reilly Version 2.0.”

What this statement means for the reader is that apparently Reilly though his previous books held too many plausible elements, too many character developments and meaningful dialog. He must have come up with this on his own as I can’t think of anyone else that would have suggested this. I was completely blown away by most of Scarecrow, so much so that I almost didn’t finish it. The action sequences are so completely insane they are painful to read. For example, one of the weapons employed by a mercenary force is the cleverly titled Metalstorm M100 assault rifle. This gun fires its bullets by electrical impulse allowing a 10,000 round-per-minute firing rate. And yet as Schofield and company try to attack several mercs no one ever runs out of ammunition. Schofield has to reload multiple times but no, not the guys firing 10K rounds a minute. These M100 guns are used to great effect throughout the book, to the consternation and disbelief of the reader.

Another excellent example of the maladroit and lunatic combat sequences dreamed up by Reilly is this car chase on the coast of France. Schofield and his (now) fiancé Libby Gant (a carryover from previous Schofield books) are fleeing the castle of the bad guys in a Subaru WRX STi rally car along with their ally in a Lamborghini Diablo. They are being pursued by two Russian Skorpion MI-38 Assault Helicopters, a Porche, a Ferrari, and three Peugeot Rally Cars. (at least Reilly has good taste in cars) Oh yeah, there’s also two Kenworth semi tractor-trailer trucks racing towards this group to cause a roadblock. On this scene comes two French made Dassault Mirage 2000N-II VTOL ground attack fighters, a French Aircraft Carrier, and a French Destroyer with plenty of 4” guns to destroy the coastal road. Remember now, there’s only a WRX and a Lamborghini on the good guy’s side.

Okay, let’s start blowing stuff up. While avoiding constant machine gun fire and random grenade tosses from the Peugeot rally cars Schofield manages to:

• Destroy a hovering 600 million dollar Mirage jet by firing nine rounds from his Desert Eagle .50cal at the jet, several rounds penetrate both engine intakes and make it into the fuel injection chambers behind the intake fans. These aren't just standard hollow-point rounds, these are gas-expanding bullets which do enough damage to cause the jet engine to explode. Good shooting, eh?

• Destroy the Skorpion attack chopper by using handcuffs to lock a hanging carabiner loop (from the helicopter) to a speeding Lamborghini’s steering wheel. This prevents the chopper from gaining altitude and avoiding the vertical cliff above the tunnel ahead.

• Escape death and destroy a Porche by slamming into the roadside wall and riding it with his WRX sideways into a tunnel, continue his slide inverted, then fall down onto the roof of another car so the two vehicles are riding roof to roof. Naturally the WRX carrying Schofield slides off it's roof and rotates to land back on its wheels

• Break past a roadblock by ramming the WRX up and onto a guardrail 400ft above the ocean and sliding past the two Kenworths while the car is almost perfectly balanced on the guardrail. Just as the car starts to tip over the edge it slams into the nose of a rising attack chopper and spins back onto the roadway.

• Destroyed another hovering Mirage by driving a Kenworth rig off the cliff and into the jet… but of course Scarecrow jumped at the last minute and happened to be wearing a slim backpack-style parachute from an earlier battle in an airplane.

• After Schofield drove off the cliff, his cohort (character named Knight) jumps another Kenworth over a rising drawbridge while driving over 100 mph and narrowly escapes death as he lands the 18-wheeler on the other side.

It’s so ridiculous that reading it makes your brain hurt. All the above occurs in just 25 pages of this book, the whole 457 pages is exactly the same… nonstop and totally unexplainable action. I’m an action nut and I was overloaded by page 100.

----- Bottom Line -----

I’m not one to criticize very often, but this book is a stinker. Reilly, I hope you realize your 2.0 update was actually a virus and that you need to go back to version 1.0. If you think I’m bashing on the guy because I don’t like his writing style you’re wrong, check out my reviews of his last 3 books. I wanted to like this novel but it just isn’t going to happen.

I can’t recommend Scarecrow even for beach or airport reading, it’s just too painful. I don’t know how this book got a few good reviews… I guess some people have different standards for their action/real-world balance in fiction. If you liked Reilly’s other books I’d caution you about this one, it’s not the same at all. If you didn’t like his previous work, stay far away from Scarecrow. If you read Scarecrow and liked it leave a comment and let me know what you liked about it, I’m curious. I’ll be reading other authors from now on until I know Reilly’s style has changed for the better.

Related Links:

Matthew Reilly: Contest
Matthew Reilly: Area 7
Matthew Reilly: Ice Station

Carsten Stroud: Black Water Transit
Lincoln Child: Utopia
Dean Koontz: The Taking

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment!

Openroad


Recommended: No