User blog:7GSTF/The Phantom Agent - A review

The Phantom Agent - A review

This book was interesting in a variety of ways. It is one of the rare cases where the book feels as if it is written for a male MC more than a female MC (I don’t play as female MCs unless I have no choice. If PB made every single book or at least the vast majority of their books as GOC, then I would probably do so, but considering the present scenario, I see no reason to change my male MC only approach).

This book if explained in two words is - James Bond. Yes. That is all this book is, or attempts to be. However, I have no problem with this approach whatsoever. Why? This is PB’s first spy book, and hence, it was a voyage into unknown waters. They have done a pretty decent job too, all things considered.

 The Bad 

Lack of subterfuge

Let’s get to the problems. PB made this book too James Bondian. The familiar lapses of logic persist. Which spy or secret service agent reveals their actual name every time?! Just like Bond introducing himself with his name, neither of the two leads make any attempt at subterfuge at any point in the story, which makes me wonder - how were they able to remain hidden from the villain (who btw, knows them by halfway point) ?? The dumbness of revealing the MC’s face and name was also on display. (Which spy reveals their identity?? Sheesh!). The imitation of James Bond was accurate to a frightening degree. Some questions remain unanswerable eh?

Gadgets

There is way too much focus on gadgets at many points of the story, with the actual plot development taking a hit for the worse. Vivian Lopez is fine as a gadget developer - she is essentially Q from the James Bond series here and there is little innovation to speak of. Only difference being that Q was old and wise. Vivian is young, impulsive, fanatically attached to robots and tech, and is a gaming addict. Not much else to report honestly. She is a decent side character, but is nothing to write home about.

Marvin

Marvin is the typical superior in the secret service with a slight twist at the end to make things mildly interesting. His pseudo betrayal makes things dicey for a while, but the plot resolves itself almost immediately afterwards. This isn’t a good sign. This may have been a deeper plot point to be explored in a later book perhaps, but Choices of late hasn’t been giving most books a sequel. Correction : they usually don’t give books a sequel. They give rabid trash such as Surrender 2 or 3 sequels. (TBH, I wouldn’t be surprised if Surrender is made into a 3 part or a 5 part series) The quality has been underwhelming of late, and things are only looking up on that front due to the announcement of BOLAS 2 in the year end blog last year. Same thing happened here with this book. It definitely had some story left to tell. The MC having a new partner would have opened a new dynamic altogether. However, they chose to sell themselves short here again.

 The Grey 

The villain.

Interesting attempt to have a grey villain, but the real problem is an obvious one. I simply didn’t know whether to root against him or for him. By the end, GAIA’s motivations and dealings seem almost as shady as the company that the villain was aggrieved by and their lackluster approach to resolve real issues and instead concern themselves with nothing more than a small set of limited issues is frustrating to say the least. However, the maliciousness and murderous instincts of the villain are obvious for anyone to see and eventually I rooted against him. But PB just didn’t try to write an all out villain, instead trying to write a dark grey character again, and this does cause issues once in a while. Here it absolutely does. Sometimes the villain is absolutely evil, such as when he tries to destroy the French hospital. However, at other points, he appears to do good, as in when he tries to take down the stock market companies (some of which are a little shady to put it mildly), or when he takes down the company that resulted in the death of his wife and daughter due to their industrial effluents poisoning them through the water supply. The villain is a complex character, which is good - usually. However, in a James Bond-esque graphic novel? I don’t consider it a particularly good idea, honestly.

The MC

The MC is also, for the first time in a long time, impulsive and rash. To put it mildly, an imperfect, unlikable MC is certainly refreshing, and a change from the norm. I am not saying that PB were making perfect MCs, far from it. However, they tended to lean on the side of the nicer, imperfect MCs. Here, the MC is boisterous, arrogant and impulsive, which makes for a nice change. The MC shows a decent emotional range - especially when their former partner ‘dies’ and later dies in front of them. The emotional outbursts feel quite genuine to say the least.

The LI.

I am talking of ‘Samara Grey’ here. This LI is pretty decent as far as single LIs go. PB clearly tried to replicate Trystan Thorne to an extent here. If not the character, the dynamic between the COP MC and TT was certainly imitated here. Understandable, considering how successful COP has become. However, the romance feels rather stiff at times. It isn’t unnatural or artificial. However, it just does not flow with any elegance or smoothness. The dialogue can sometimes feel clichéd and wooden. The love stems from jealousy and a competitive rivalry more than anything else. Some people may like this, but in my opinion, it felt a little forced at times. COP was perfect as a slow burning romance. This romance felt rather cat and mouse at times, and not in a fun way. The addition of the hook up scenes was sometimes good, sometimes bad. Alexis Reid was a good hookup, since the character was clearly established as a libertine. The nurse felt rather contrived and forced. Rather unnatural to be sure. The good part is that her trust in the MC gradually builds over time and does feel natural, even if the love arc doesn’t. Also, her continued will she, won’t she character arc - where she tries to be in a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship with the MC can feel annoying at times. At the very least, the romance receives a decent ending. Even if some moments do feel jarring at times, this romance doesn’t feel completely out of place (such as any of the smut books, or any of the BDSM books, or the possessive LI books, or books such as Passport to Romance, or even with certain LIs in VOS). A decent LI, but nothing to write home about.

 The Good 

The Action. Gripping from start to finish, this book doesn’t waste time and makes no attempt to slow its pace down. Tightly written, it is somewhat reminiscent of MW. It is nowhere near MW’s brilliance, but it nonetheless doesn’t waste the readers’ time.

There are plenty of exciting chase sequences, some shootout scenes, and an emotional, tense, final standoff right before the climax of the story. This is standard action movie - James Bond stuff that doesn’t really have much to stand as a unique scene, but it is a decently executed scene nonetheless.

The Dialogue.

It was very James Bond-esque. The arrogance, the total command of a room, the ability to seduce any woman (I was playing as a male MC) anywhere, anytime, etc. The overconfidence was on show too. (Reminiscent of both Sean Connery and Roger Moore). The look and feel was obvious for anyone to see. If this was the effect that they were going for, then they executed it flawlessly.

For what its worth, it is tight, with many details being revealed without saying too much. Another good part is that the dialogue doesn't devolve into all out spy lingo all the time. It is understandable and legible enough for the reader.

The dumbness of revealing the MC’s face and name was also on display. (Which spy reveals their identity?? Sheesh!). The imitation of James Bond was accurate to a frightening degree.

The Betrayal.

Due to the fact that a decent amount of investment has been put into the relationship between the MC and his first partner (By decent amount of investment, I mean - the first chapter, some flashback sequences here and there and plenty of emotional drama surrounding the partner’s necklace). Due to this bare minimum of a background story, PB has ensured that the betrayal was believable. The emotional impact of the scene is genuine and feels earned. This is something that PB have been struggling with in the recent past. Rowan feels like a real character. Yes, she is naive, but many people are, and her death is a truly tragic moment. It isn’t spectacular, but it achieves its job nonetheless.

The ending.

This book doesn’t rush its ending. It takes its time, and due to this, a decent ending with most of the loose ends tied up is the result. The villain is taken care of in a satisfactory ending battle sequence. Rowan’s arc reaches a satisfactory (unspectacular and cliched) conclusion. It isn’t the best ending by any stretch of the imagination. However, it gets the job done, no question.

No Sequel.

It is actually a good thing, considering how much they have been struggling with endings of late. This ending was decent enough, and ending it here isn’t much of a surprise for PB. I don't trust PB to deliver great sequels anymore. My only hope is that COP 2 and BOLAS 2 don't meet the same fate as LOA 2 (fine but plenty of issues). This book is lukewarm and it doesn't really deserve a sequel. Nothing special.

Conclusion

This book is a decent addition to the Choices oeuvre, but it is nothing special whatsoever. A gap was filled by the addition of a spy book. There are issues with the writing and characterization, but it is a lukewarm read. It is far better than the Surrender series that they have been pushing out of late. If you want to read something crime related - try MW, VOS or TH:M. Far better books in most aspects. This is fine, but it doesn’t inspire much confidence in the reader, considering the future releases that they have been putting out as of late. 50/100.