Oh No They Killed Libby - "Scarecrow" by Matthew Reilly

Just finished this, the current book by Aussie Action Thriller writer Matthew Reilly. I've now read all his books to date bar one, and this one is as good as they get. It's his usual brand of super-fast action, with no pause for breath, and no respite from death or danger. Reilly doesn't write novels that span days, rather his books tend to span just a few hours - you're looking at 500+ pages covering just a few hours - THAT'S how fast the action comes.
As usual the hero of the book is Shane Schofield and this time he's up against not just one enemy, but a whole host of them - squads of bounty hunters competing against each other for Schofield's head - literally! Of course there's larger issues behind it all, namely the destruction of the free world, orchestrated by the worlds wealthiest industrialists (amongst which Bill Gates isn't actually named, but then again he's not unnamed if you catch my drift).
As usual too for Reilly this book is full of those moments that pay no respect to reality, moments that make you almost laugh and say "oh, come on, get real". At one point he takes his car up onto the barrier alongside a mountain road and "grinds" like a skateboard (is that the correct phrase, I'm no sk8er boi myself) then whips the tail of the car out into mid air to take out an attacking helicopter and bounce his car back onto the road. Later he flies a plane at Mach 6 alongside an inrushing ICBM so he can disarm it! And when he's about to blown to kingdom come by an anti-aircraft missile... easy, flick the "super-secret stealth mode" switch and watch the missile fly past. As with all his books, you just have to put the absurdities to one side and just go with the plot.
All of the usual suspects are here too, Schofields friends Book and "Mother" and of course his romantic interest, girlfriend, fiance and soon-to-be wife Libby Gant. Until that is the moment when Reilly kills her off. Sorry to spoil the plot for anyone that is about to read this book, but I can't help myself. I was struck dumb when it happened. They've escaped certain death so many times that I though "nah, she can't really be dead" and I looked back for clues as to how she'd escape, or any loopholes Reilly would exploit later. But Gant had been beheaded by a guillotine, and her head had rolled away, her neck spurting blood - so I was pretty convinced that he couldn't possibly say later "It was all done with mirrors, Libby's fine really". And she wasn't, she was truly dead. A brave move to kill off a lead character, and a totally unexpected move, one that left me cold for a while. I read later that Reilly wanted to show that no one is safe in his books, even the heroes (of course, I'll be ready for it next time, I'll be waiting for Book or Mother to buy it as soon as I start reading).
So anyway, by the end of the book we're all still alive and living our normal lives, thanks to the efforts of the unknown hero Shane Schofield. And he steps straight of of this adventure into his next one.. Bring on the next book.
Scarecrow by Matthew Reilly - 4 stars. (And thanks to Sandy for the Xmas Present ;-))

Comments

[sandy]

Hey glad you enjoyed it after all the sagas of your xmas pressies - sounds like quite an amazing story line and characters! Glad no one else got you that book !

[Leon]

yeah, i got the same feeling when I saw Fox's head was sepearting from her body..