SecondWorld by Jeremy Robinson – A Review by Larry Tubbs

I’m embarrassed to admit that SecondWorld is the first book by Jeremy Robinson I’ve read. A fact that will be soon changing, I assure you. It is a thriller in the complete sense. From the moment you meet our hero, ex-Navy Seal, current NCIS special agent Lincoln Miller, you never leave his side as he swims, runs, jumps, drives, flies, paddles, and climbs through countless harrowing attempts to end his life, before he can stop global annihilation at the hands of recently-thawed Nazis bent on bringing an end to the world war they feel was not lost, but simply paused, until such time as their final solution could be carried out. Whew!

The story moves at a relentless pace. So much so that in many ways it feels more like a video game than a novel. This is not a criticism. I for one enjoy a good video game. In fact, this story and the writing style evoked fond memories of playing the Nazi-killing shooter games of my youth, like Castle Wolfenstein. In fact, I’d love to see this story realized as an action role playing game by the folks at Bioware. This would make a great adventure using the Mass Effect engine. Who wouldn’t love their chance to help our hero rid our planet of Nazis?

As entertaining as the novel was, I can’t quite bring myself to give it 5 stars. The story brings together a core group of characters, attempts to bond them together through common struggles, and elevates them almost to the point of superhero status. They even give each other code-names like “Survivor”, “Cowboy” and “The Kidd” (two Ds, that’s important, it sounds tougher). This is very fun, but requires an extreme suspension of your disbelief, even more-so than what is required to accept the overall premise, which in itself is quite fantastic. At times this was so distracting that it took me out of the story. But, these times were brief, and I was able to get past them.

And I’m glad I did. SecondWorld, even with its faults, is an immensely entertaining read. It has inspired me to seek out more of Mr. Robinson’s work. Read this book. I wouldn’t start it in the late evening however, unless you plan to sacrifice a night of sleep. You have been warned.