Coup d'Etat: A Dewey Andreas Novel (A Dewey Andreas Novel, 2)

I read book eight in this series (the latest one) and after giving it a five star review, I purchased the other seven books in the series. I finished the first book in this series earlier this week and have now finished reading this novel (the second in the series.)

Ben Coes, as an author, has improved in this novel over the first in the series, although not quite up to the latest book, it is still very enjoyable.

If you are going to read this series of books - do so in order of publication, as the books do build on the prior installments. Although, I must say the author brings the new reader up to speed fairly quickly without a full rehashing of all of the prior story line.

This series centers around the character of Dewey Andreas - a former Ranger/Delta operative, that has tried to avoid that world, but keeps getting dragged back into it. In this installment, he has gone to one of the remote "stations" (ranches) in Australia to get away from the results of the first book in the series - he remains there unmolested for a year - while the father of the key terrorist he killed in the first book hunts for him. Needless to say, they find him (otherwise there would not be much of a story). He is warned by his sometimes girlfriend, and eludes the terrorists, and is then dragged into the India/Pakistan war that has started. Enough of the plot line - if you like complicated plot lines this one is pretty good - a bit more straight forward than the superb plot in the first book, but still decent.

Unlike the first book in the series which had a high number of firearm errors, I really only found one that stood out - the author mentions that one of the terrorist bodyguards is carrying a "Glock 33 .357 Magnum". The Glock 33 is actually chambered for the .357 SIG round. The SIG round was developed in the 1990's to give a semi-auto pistol similar stopping power to that of a revolver firing a .357 Magnum round, but the correct designation is 357 SIG.

At times one must suspend reality and to just go along with the plots in these books, the characters, although they bleed, and scar, it never seems really slow them down.

"Coup d'Etat" was the second Dewey Andreas thriller by American author Ben Coes, following on the heels of [[ASIN:B0051BNZLO Power Down]]. And it's a good one, crammed with detail, yet quick-moving. I'd never read Coes' work before the recently published [[ASIN:B008BFK2BI The Last Refuge]], but I can see that he's got a resume set heavily in the halls of American governmental power, sufficient to enable him to write at a minimum the book at hand, which is certainly backgrounded in the halls of power of Washington, D.C.

A fragile peace has broken down between the neighboring states of Pakistan and India, which have often gone to war since their founding. And the United States feels forced to intervene. A rapidly escalating war, in which a nuclear weapon has already been used, threatens to, at a minimum, engulf the entire region, and tempt China to intervene to take over India, a long-cherished secret plan. Or to devolve into a global nuclear war. And Pakistan is governed by a radical imam willing to do anything to achieve his plans for the world-wide victory of Islam. So Dewey Andreas, former Army Ranger and Delta, is sent to remove the Pakistani president from power, and to replace him with a man more amenable to the West.

Seems to me Coes must have done some boots on the ground research in India/Pakistan, as he brings those countries very vividly to life. He also brings the internal government wrangling of those countries, and the United States, very vividly to life. As a bonus, he gives us a flavorful look at the Australian outback.

The author seems to be a follower of the Tom Clancy school of thrillers: Coes is just in love with ordnance, and tells us quite a bit about all kinds of weaponry. Though, fortunately, his work has not reached the same state Clancy's has: Clancy's more recent work frequently reads more like an ordnance manual than a thriller to me. At any rate, Ben Coes is a former speechwriter for the George H. Bush White House. He was a fellow at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was also the campaign manager for Mitt Romney's successful run for Massachusetts governor in 2002. He's currently a partner in a private equity firm, (Bain, dare we wonder?), and is resident in Wellesley, MA.

Coes is an excellent writer, his narrative keeps relentlessly unspooling, and his descriptive writing and dialog keep pace. His story here is audacious, and gripping, though somewhat over the top, and I did sometimes have some difficulty suspending my disbelief of the goings-on. I must warn about a few things, however; there's a lot of violence in this book, including torture scenes, and a heavy body count. And it's certainly strongly pro-Israel. If any of these issues will disturb you, this isn't the book for you. Also, Andreas has been given, so far as I'm concerned, an unnecessary, unrealistic love interest, who has been given nothing to do. But these issues did not stop me from enjoying the intense thriller Coes has written, nor should they stop most readers.

Ben Coes is a good writer and Dewey Andreas is a good hero figure. This second book was better than his first, but both plots seem a bit much. Nonetheless, I will continue to read the series.

Just couldn't get excited about the main character.

I am posting this after reading Coup D'Etat and then reading the reviews. The book has received many five star reviews and a smattering of one stars. One five star stated it as "The Holy Grail of Action-Packed Thrillers!" I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was exciting and kept me from first page to last. But it is not the next "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold". This book also has been criticized by one and two star reviewers for the technical details that were flawed. Reviewers gave examples such as, Singapore is not a republic, as stated in the book. Jets use fuel, not gasoline. Or when it was described that the blind cleric looked out the window. Sometimes flaws need to be ignored or you may miss out on a good story. Too many and it can be distracting. When considering a book I will ignore the five star and one star reviews. No book is that good or that bad. I will read the 2-4 stars and get a consensus, and if the ratio is favorable, then I will try it. It never fails for me, and it didn't in this case. This book was VERY good. Not a five star, but not a one star as some have described here. Otherwise, it wouldn't have made the Amazon Top 100. All books, even the classics have their faults.

Great read! Once I started the book I could not put it down. Ben Coes has created a superb protagonist in Dewey Andreas and Coup d' Etat keeps you captivated through the end.

The loner Delta with a chip on his shoulder is a recurring character in so many thrillers that they're not very thrilling to me anymore. In fact, they're almost all interchangeable. It was with this jaded opinion that I first read "Power Down," Coes first novel to feature Dewey Andreas. I was pleasantly surprised to find a truly fleshed out character. I was anxious to see if he could sustain this in his second novel, "Coup d'Etat," and he does. The unique thing about this book is that Dewey Andreas is a minor character in about the first third of the book. He has to do something to establish his bona fides in the first act and he does so without killing, maiming, or wisecracking. Instead, the first third is devoted to establishing how India and Pakistan are drawn into a shooting nuclear war. The way he weaves the personal and political ramifications of such a war make this situation ring true. It is beautifully conceived and executed. (Now that I've written that, I wonder about using "beautiful" to desribe nuclear war, but what the hell.) Dewey winds up being given an impossible task. That again has become a trope of the genre. Coes dodges most of the trappings. He does fall into allowing his character to consistantly fire kill shots immediately. A comrade does get wounded, and Coes treats this reasonably well. Thankfully, it's not in the shoulder. (The whole shoulder shot that the character blows off like it's a scratch really gets me going...but we'll save that for another time.) This may be a quasi-spoiler but I'll cover it anyway. If an athlete/soldier looses a lot of blood, I have trouble beleiving they could run 6 minute miles at high altitude in the dark over uneven terrain. It's so physiologically improbable that I had to cringe. But I'll tell you what...it certainly didn't stop me from wanting to turn the page to see what happens next.

I would highly recommend reading "Power Down" first. It's not entirely necessary but if you're a fan of the genre, you'll find Dewey Andreas compelling enough to join him from the beginning.

I love Ben Coes. I have read his three books out of order but in quick sucession. The plots are complex. The characters interesteing but...why is it that contemporary thrillers have to be so long? Look, this is not a philosophical treatise such as Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It is a work of great escapist fiction. Ian Fleming managed to write brillaint novels in 200 pages. Why does it take Coes well over 400? Mr Coes, please save something for the next book. Also, i think there is too much plot and not enough characterization. There needs to be more time spent on the lead characters. That said, another fine job, another novel where you have no teouble telling the good guys from the bad guys and you will always root for the good ones. Coes has become my favorite contemporary novelist. keep up the good work, just make it shorter.

Once you start reading, you cannot put this book down. Thrilling and compulsive reading! I cannot wait for his next book...

I cant feeling ambivalent about the Author and his prodigious talent in writing a page turner.
Unfortunately Mr Coes suffers from either a form of literary hubris or is plain lazy, knowing fully well that he has a talent for writing and will sell this book whatever nonsense he may write. It is also possible that he has that typical Ugly American attitude, a combination of arrogance, sanctimoniousness and a touch of racism.
I liked the style which kept one turning the pages. However the theme of the book has been selected without any research or a study of the background of Indo Pak Relations. The geography is appallingly incorrect. Perhaps Mr Coes thought that the remotness of the area will let him get away with out without realising that he may get a reader who knows the area like the back of his hand. Secondly, there are no names (at least 90% of them) which do not have any relationship with how people are named in the Indian sub-continent. Thirdly the area of the conflict is super high altitude. If Mr Coes had even walked once above 10000 ft he would have realised that wars cant be fought the way he has described.
What could have been a superb thriller loses its way in the details. Do your homework better in future Mr Coes.
I also feel sorry for the members who had nominated this book for the Barry Award. Their lack of knowledge is evident.