Rating: 2 1/2 stars
Terrorists come to a remote Montana winter resort to take some of the world’s wealthiest men hostage. Mickey Hennessy, a former Special Agent and head of security for the resort, escapes but leaves his children behind and begins his quest to rescue them from the Third Position army -- the anti-globalist capitalist terrorists providing the villainy. Thus Mark T. Sullivan’s Triple Cross kicks off its ‘Die Hard in a blank’ plot.
The action in Triple Cross works well; the scenes are crisp and well laid out for the reader, but without being outlandish or lacking verve. The author keeps the story moving briskly and is rarely a chore to read. As with many action novels, they are the book’s strength. However, the dialogue occasionally becomes jarring -- most notably when the teenage children speak with any kind of slang or jargon -- and the romantic subplot ought to have been tossed out, as it feels inserted so boobs can be seen when the novel makes the transition to the big screen. These are small complaints though.
Unfortunately, the problems come in from other angles. The biggest problem is that it takes a big idea and doesn’t do anything interesting with it. Seven of the ten wealthiest men in the world are taken hostage and after being forced to ransom the lives of their loved ones, they are subject to ‘trials’ broadcast live on the internet where people are presented with a history of their misdeeds. The court of public opinion decides if they are guilty or innocent. It is at this point that the novel could have something to say about the forces of greed and capitalism that affect the entire world; exploiting the poor and causing long-term damage for short term gains, or the extremist positions taken when legitimate grievances are not heard. It does not.
The Third Position Army rarely comes across as men or women truly outraged at the crimes these men have committed. They are instead willing to commit some truly medieval crimes themselves in the name of justice, or behave as the standard mercenary-for-hire who really isn’t very nice. Mickey Hennessy could decide that the way the hostages have created their wealth is problematic, but he doesn’t and even makes money on their advice and not once questions whether his benefit came at someone else’s expense.
When the big reveal comes it really is not a surprise to anyone who has watched an action movie since 1988. There is a ton of wasted potential here and it is a problem for two reasons: the plot follows a formula that has been used a lot in the last twenty years, and secondly, action thrillers are about right and wrong at their core. Triple Cross sets up an interesting dilemma about the nature of economic globalization, but then fails to actually take a point of view and possibly say something that isn’t blatantly obvious about the subject.
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Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pub. Date: April 2009
ISBN-13: 9780312378509