John Templeton Smith

On the back cover, Rowland White, aviation author, writes that "Skytrap reminded me of the glory days of Alistair MacLean, Desmond Bagley and Hammond Innes. They don't make them like this anymore." Indeed, John Templeton Smith, who was encouraged to write this by Desmond Bagley himself, writes a story worthy of those three master thriller writers. Africa, flying, diamonds, and murder all figure in this exciting novel. Every few chapters, someone else seems to die--rather unexpectedly, too. This bleakness lends, as with his other novels, a reality and an authenticity to the plot.… (meer)

Excellent "conclusion" (prequel) to the John Winter trilogy:

The first book of the trilogy, White Lie, was a suspenseful, pulls-you-along read. The second book, Saigon Express, was a little slow, and only sped up towards the end and ended abruptly. This third book, Then a Soldier, returns to form, and is probably the best of the three. It is intriguing, quick-paced, but also has snippets of politics and philosophy (that don't detract from the story). Bleakness, again, infuses the story and characters, but I love how JTS always provides a "debriefing" at the end of each novel to show what happens to the various characters. One hope: because there's a gap of time between this prequel and White Lie, JTS could easily provide some more "inbetween" novels to close the gap. Let's hope!… (meer)

Compared to Book 1 of this Trilogy (White Lie), this story has a slow start, and spends much of its time in details that are presented elliptically and cryptically, which sometimes makes it difficult to decipher and figure out. Only towards the end of the book does the pace speed up, and then it becomes interesting and suspenseful. Too bad this pace couldn't have been introduced earlier in the book, because it seems the book ends too quickly. So the balance of built-up detail and suspenseful pace is not equilateral. I did like the "debriefing", at the end, to tie up the loose ends. The bleakness of what happens to the characters, as with his other books, adds to the reality of the atmosphere of the story.… (meer)

Although sometimes as a reader I felt somewhat confused about exactly what was going on, because not everything is explained, the plotting and style of writing do draw you into the story and keep you wanting to read to find out what will happen. Although, too, some reviewers have mentioned the improbability or implausibility of the story, I noticed the bleak realism of the story--nothing is romanticized. Furthermore, although there are technical details about airplanes or flight, it doesn't detract from the story but is an integral part of it, and it is not excessive. Overall, a suspenseful, compelling read, and I am intrigued to find out what happens to John Winter, the protagonist, next.… (meer)