A review by kurtwombat
The Specialists by Lawrence Block

adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

 
Mildly enjoyable if thin exercise in crime fiction. The central idea of ex-military being brought together by a former commander to right wrongs likely ripped off by TV’s THE A TEAM, down to sharing a character named Murdock, and even the first LEATHAL WEAPON where the movie flipped them to   bad guys.  THE SPECIALISTS always seems about to cook then the heat is turned off. There is surprisingly little action—I assumed that the central heist the book was leading up to would be a nice action set piece but unfortunately it is rushed through to get to another bit of action that is even more anti-climactic. Finding out in the afterward that this was the first and only book of an aborted series explained the nagging feeling during the book that the whole thing was formulaic. The author admits in the afterword that when the writing of the second book was delayed, he lost interest in following up the series—I know how he feels.