For many readers, the name Matthew Reilly is synonymous with Aussie author produced action thrillers, and it should be. Reilly is one of the best authors of the genre worldwide, let alone in the Australian fiction landscape. *Read my review of the latest entry into the Scarecrow series, SCARECROW AND THE ARMY OF THIEVES (2012) on Goodreads.com here.
What readers may not know is the buck doesn't stop with Reilly. There are many talented Oz authors who produce books with just as much action, thrills, spills, and adventure.
Chris Allen, author of the Intrepid series (DEFENDER, HUNTER) has created a unique and daring protagonist who has all the hallmarks of Reilly's Scarecrow but is more blue blooded.
The action sequences in the Intrepid series are intense; described in a manner which completely eradicates the world around you and places you inside the fictional landscape scared by the atrocities of ware and moulded by intelligence agency corruption. In each of DEFENDER and HUNTER, protagonist Alex Morgan is accompanied by a Bond-like female lead and an earth shattering plot which give the series a big budget blockbuster feel and sense of the familiar while still maintaining a unique identity. *You can read my interview with Chris (Dec 2012) here.
Steve Worland, author of the Judd Bell/Corey Purchase action thrillers has produced two great reads thus far with hopefully more on the way. Fans of Matthew Reilly will enjoy Steve Worland's first book, VELOCITY, yet Judd is no Scarecrow. He's not some special ops, beefed up marine with a near perfect ability to kick ass and take names. He's a deeply flawed yet endearing character who grows throughout the novel. Not the sort of protagonist typical to this genre - refreshing to read.COMBUSTION looks at environmentalist extremists, a rogue terror-like group who want to teach the world a lesson by burning LA - their aim, to eradicate harmful emissions by infecting combustion engines with a nanotech virus dubbed The Swarm. This book is great - not only is it high on action but also builds upon the famed Atlantis 4, a group of unique individuals who have helped save many lives twice over.
Rounding out this blog post is Nathan Farrugia, author of The Fifth Column, a tech thriller series which includes THE CHIMERA VECTOR and THE SERAPHIM SEQUENCE. If you were to fuse the literally talents of Matthew Reilly (SCARECROW, Jack West) and Michael Crichton (PREY, NEXT) you'd end up with THE CHIMERA VECTOR. Despite the complimentary styling, this book is all Nathan Farrugia.
THE CHIMERA VECTOR explores the notion of different types of humans coexisting with some having the potential to rule mankind by virtue of their chemical /refined make-up, and another - a select secretive group of programmed agents trying to stop them. Sophia, Damien, and Jay, a crack special ops team exemplify all that this genre encompasses and then some. This series has some serious legs. I'm yet to read THE SERAPHIM SEQUENCE but by all accounts it looks as action packed as THE CHIMERA VECTOR.
Review Links:
- Chris Allen, INTREPID #1: DEFENDER
- Chris Allen, INTREPID #2: HUNTER
- Steve Worland, VELOCITY
- Steve Worland, COMBUSTION
- Nathan M. Farrugia, THE CHIMERA VECTOR (Fifth Column #1)
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