In message , Eric Pinnell
writes
I am having a dispute with a literary agent and I am conducting
this on-line book survey to add ammunition to my argument. I would
greatly appreciate it if you could answer this survey honestly, but
please dot not send answers via email. Thanks.


1) Who are you favorite espionage/war authors and why?

Early Clancy: interesting characters and plot, credible technical
details, and uncertainty as to how the book will end and whether all the
characters I've come to like will survive.

Richard Herman Jr: same reasons.

Larry Bond: likewise. Less on character, but solid on interesting
military action.

Craig Thomas: the mach 6 radar-invisible Firefox was overkill, but again
Thomas made you care about Gant (who wasn't very likeable) and Dmitri
Priabin (supposed to be the enemy) and kicked some really good stories
along.

Derek Robinson, Mark Berent, John Del Vecchio, Steven Coontz, Barrett
Tillman all wrote one or more good books that I've kept.

2) Who are your least enjoyable espionage/war authors and why?

Of the ones I've read and can remember, Dale Brown (too much
ubertechnology), Sven Hassel (too much "How the Wehrmacht overwhelmingly
won every single battle in the course of losing the war".

3) What determines if the book you read is a keeper or a reject?

Do I feel like reading it again?

4) Other than 38 North Yankee and Red Phoenix, have you read any books
about a war in Korea? If so, what are the titles?

No.

5) Assuming a book was well written about a war in Korea, would you
read it, or do you believe the Korea scenario has been overdone?

It's got plenty of potential if well done.

6) Do you prefer war or espionage stories?

Both.

7) What story would you like to read?

Either if they're well done.

8) Do you still buy espionage/war novels, or do you feel that the
genre is overdone?

I read less fiction than I used to, mostly because of shortage of time.
(Easier to dip in and out of Usenet than to give a good book the
attention it deserves...)


--
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
W S Churchill

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk