Beirut: An Explosive Thriller: 2 (The Levant Cycle) Paperback – 26 Sept. 2012

I’ve powered through this in a few hours with a small number of breaks. In itself this’s an indicator of the suspense, tension & magnificence of a superb book. A character whom in book 1 was non gratis, now the hero!The gamut of all possible behaviours, plots, twists & turns, betrayals, the double-cross’, and anything else you can think of (adults ‘doing it!) is here, in this amazing book. I cannot see why you don’t read it — noyy!

It is a commonplace of crime stories and thrillers that the principal protagonist has a troublesome back story and Gerry Lynch has more than most, the Troubles, abuse in a Catholic children's' home, drink, and guilt to mention only some and they are not always relevant to this exciting and well-written thriller.The descriptions of Beruit, its life and people have the smell and taste of authenticity but the language and habits of the Maronite Christians do not ring true to me. Another false note is Lynch's name; an Ulster Catholic is more likely to be christened Gerard than Gerald - an Ascendancy name.But these are no reasons not to read and enjoy a terrific espionage thriller. Lynch is a James Bond de nos jours drinking and screwing with enthusiasm and impunity, able to deliver violence to his enemies notwithstanding hangovers and beatings.It is great stuff and I will read more about Gerry Lynch.I am too mean to award 5 stars but it was very close.

This is the second book in McNabb's planned Levant trilogy and whereas the first one (Olives - A Violent Romance) takes place in Jordan the focus this time moves to, well, Beirut. In an unusual twist, a key but secondary character from Olives, British intelligence officer Gerald Lynch, becomes the central character and key protagonist of Beirut - An Explosive Thriller, but it is in no way necessary to have read Olives to enjoy the newer book (although I heartily recommend that you do read it on its own merits).Beirut is an out-and-out spy/action thriller with all that that entails - a super-yacht, beautiful women, extreme violence and sudden death (though no fast cars). McNabb deftly manoeuvres these against a lovingly wrought portrait of a city he knows well and the background of very real regional tensions. I found the premise frighteningly plausible, but as is perhaps usual with this type of novel, the need to focus on the plot allows less room for character development and, with the exception of Lynch himself, the characters lack a little depth - certainly, I didn't much care what happened to any of them. The plotting is taut and the action moves forward at terrific pace - at times, perhaps, a tad too quickly (for my taste) as McNabb does not pack in the fine operational detail favoured by writers such as Gerald Seymour or early Frederick Forsyth. However, the fact that I'm even drawing comparisons with such illustrious names of the thriller world reconfirms my opinion - if Beirut bore one of their names it would be gracing the bestseller lists. I'm looking forward to third in the trilogy (due in 2013) and hope that like other illustrious writers he might go on to add further books to it.Two non sequiturs:It was only marginally detrimental to my enjoyment that my mind's eye couldn't help but picture Gerald Lynch as Bert Lynch from Z CarsIf you want a taste of what Jean Meset is listening to when we first encounter him, I recommend the album 'Mutter'.

I got into this book quickly and liked the pace, I could see where it was going. However once half way through with more and more characters involved I found it difficult to know who was who. I also thought the book was too long. The author clearly knows the area, full marks for that, but I just found the last third in particular very muddled.

What a fantastic story, I couldn't put it down. A really excellent story line, you could say action packed all the way!!! Thoroughly enjoyed this book, what a page turner.

This is one of those books where you actually speed up your reading cadence at various points... as the tension mounts and you simply want to know what happens next.Beirut - An Explosive Thriller has a fair touch of Bond about it, but with a rather more heady and exotic scent of Arabian/Mediterranean spice than Fleming ever managed. It's a page turner, it's a thriller and it will keep you hooked until the end.Gerald (don't call me Gerry) Lynch is something of an unlikely hero, but you quickly grow to love his flippant charms -- even in the shadow of his drinking and womanising devil-may-care approach to beating up the thugs that need beating up. The character list is rich, occasionally familiar and in places colourfully exaggerated for the big screen movie theatre (which this story would be well suited for).McNabb is personal, funny, sometime sensual and always erudite in his showcasing of Middle Eastern places, people, history, sensibilities and illustrative nuances.This is not sex, drugs and rock and roll (well, there's no rock and roll), this is more a case of missiles, multi-location spy suspense drama and political intrigue.Beirut - An Explosive Thriller is explosive and it's thrilling... and it's set in Beirut. What more could you ask for?

A follow up of sorts to Alex's previous novel, Olives.I am not a great fan of thrillers, but this was thrilling and engrossing and for once I could not put it down until I got to the end. It's also great having a well written novel written about the Middle East.

One of the better novels that I've read in 2022. Great story and exciting characters. Make this thriller a page turner.Looking forward to seeing more from this author.

Gripping

Excellent read the title says it all, with a good plot and a range of interesting characters that take you through Europe to lebanon

Good plot with lots of action. Character development did not seem consistent.

Its an interesting read..although in some parts the political narrative becomes a bit boring..but overall a good read. Some sub plots are left unanswered