I have read all Scott Mariani‘s Ben Hope e Books. There is a huge amount to be learnt about Islam, Daish and France from background to this book but I think it’s spoilt by a real hatred of Islam which has led to an unlikely plot. As usual for Scott it is very well written. As retired English teacher I’m very aware of style and language.

The twentieth book in the popular Ben Hope series, and I'm still loving the experience! Ben is still running a tactical training centre in Normandy, when he isn't fighting in all four corners of the world, when he comes across a man in Paris, that he believed had been killed many years previous.
The man concerned is a terrorist who is an ISIS/ ISIL trained fighter, and whom Ben last met in the Iraqi western desert. The terrorist is Nazim- al- Kassar, and Ben and his SAS squad were responsible for his capture and detention, later handing him over to the Americans. Ben finds out that there is a plot to smuggle drugs into Western Europe, using stolen Syrian statues, in an attempt to destabilise these nations. Set against the background of the Gilet Jaune riots in Paris, there is both the opportunity to increase the death count and use the confusion to plan smuggling routes in to the country, that work so well.
Using ISIS terrorists was always going to be a difficult play as a story line, and there were a lot of discussions about the religious differences between Muslims and Western infidels, which had the effect of making an escapist adventure thriller, into a pseudo -religious rant. However, it is very well researched, and this book does seem a little more grown up, in its approach to serious worldly matters. It doesn't show the American forces in a very good light!.
I have read every book in this series, and I know I am in for a good yarn whenever I open one of these books. They amuse and completely hold my attention throughout. It is a genre that I keep returning to, because I enjoy the escapism and roller coaster ride they provide. Endlessly inventive, I do hope Ben can delay his long overdue retirement for a few more years at least!.

Very enjoyable story in the Ben Hope series that seemed very well researched, albeit rather scary. I found it a compulsive read!

I have read the majority of the Ben Hope series, and was looking forward to reading this one.

Let's start by saying, it is escapist, you don't expect it to be true to life and you do have to suspend some belief, but surely that's the whole point of the series?

Ben is in Paris to sell his bolthole there, whilst waiting for the estate agent, he goes to get breakfast but bumps into, literally, a lady who isn't looking where she is going and drops her handbag and it's contents, she seems scared and hurries away, Ben then finds her phone and from there we have the beginning of a roller coaster ride.

Intertwined with this thread is one regarding a former enemy of Ben's that he had captured, handed over to authorities and was then presumed killed, but Ben sees him alive and remarkably well for someone who supposedly died a few years ago.

Throw in historical artefacts from Syria, ISIL, CIA operatives and old friends and enemies, plus travels around the globe and there you have it

I actually enjoyed the book more than I thought I would, having been disappointed in a couple of these books recently, did take me a while to get into but once started couldn't put it down.

Recommended

I couldn’t put this down!

Thank you to Netgalley for introducing me to Ben Hope-he’s now one of my favourite characters!

I hadn’t read any of the other books and this is still enjoyable without knowing what happened previously. I couldn’t put it down.

If you want a great thriller read pick this up.

I've read all the previous Ben hope novels and this one didn't disappoint! In fact I devoured it. Scott is a masterful writer and the plots are so well thought out. I felt I was on a roller-coaster of a ride the whole time and I didn't actually want it to end!

I recall reading one of the Ben Hope's adventures a few years ago and failed to finish it. Never thinking that Mr Mariani is still treading the same path with an all action man. The story here is again unbelievable, and when Ben is in a car chase and luckily finds a french scrap dealer to change the number plates - I gave up!

Poor man's James Bond as other reviewers have mentioned.

My thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC.
To start with I will say there is good story here but I felt the writing style rather detracted from it.

Ben Hope, ex-SAS and now running a tactical training centre in Normandy, France, is in Paris hoping to meet up with an estate agent to sell his apartment but on the street a woman, Romy Juneau, collides with him in a panic as if she's being chased. Gathering up herself and her handbag contents she continues on. Ben retrieves her phone from the gutter and after some investigative techniques finds her address in order to return it to her. Her apartment door is broken and Romy is dead but when Ben looks down from her window to the street below where her assailant has exited he was shocked to see the face of an adversary from the Iraq war - an evil ISIL Commander, Nazim al-Kassar. He was supposed to have died, according to American intelligence, years ago.

With the help of a criminal friend Ben unlocks a video file on Romy's phone, taken covertly days previously on a trip to Libya with her boss Julian Segal. Armed with this evidence Ben contacts an American colleague from his army days, Tyler Roth, and flies to the Caribbean to discuss how the killer was still alive.
They team-up, determined to find him and understand the connection with Romy.

The investigation takes us into black-market antiquities from the mid- and far-east; international terrorism, murder and mayhem and a plot to kill millions of non-believers, as well as Ben's amazing ability to remain alive.

As said, there is a reasonable story here. However, it is greatly overshadowed by extremely lengthy passages giving historical facts and figures and a very lengthy theological discussion between Ben and Tyler. Completely unnecessary with my annoyance only tempered by my skim-reading abilities to actually finish the book.

I didn't enjoy this writing style but, hey - if you do, then go for it!
2.5 stars.

The Ben Hope stories always were a high octane thrilling journey and this one continues; book 20 in the series, wow. I last read book 10 so am definitely out of date. This has the same basic premise though - Ben, ex SAS, previously trainee priest is still running his own security training business in France. On his way home he is run into by a girl in Paris, she drops her bag and contents scatter, he picks them up, she runs off, he then finds her phone and, with his 'spy' skills finds out where she lives. As he's going up the stairs to her apartment a man passes on the way down. Vague familiarity. Girl's flat; girl dead and off we go. Ben realises that the man on the way down is an old enemy and not dead as Ben believed. Muslim terrorists of the most fundamental and nasty kind are involved in stealing historic artefacts and developing a system to spread drugs to slaughter millions of people. They lead Ben and an old mate, ex Delta Force Tyler Roth, round the houses, always one step ahead with murder and mayhem, quick thinking by our hero and so on. There are rather a lot of "just misses" and a bloody finale of the best kind. The only reason I dropped a star, and almost 2, was the frankly, vituperative diatribe by Roth against the Quran and all Muslims with Ben only mildly saying that the Bible has some pretty extreme passages in it too. I suppose he is only a character and that that was his feeling but it felt distinctly uncomfortable and I really hoped that he would get his uppance before the end! If we have that much on the subject then Ben should have argued the case for the non fundamentalist Muslims who are in the vast majority. The book is well-written and I believe that the author does a goodly amount of research given the detailed descriptions of various toys, gizmos and the like. James Bond - you still have a rival and without the girls. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Scott Mariani always delivers with his Ben Hope thrillers. If you like clean cut heroes who are like a cross between James Bond and Jason Bourne, Mariani’s Ben Hope series is definitely worth a read.
This one, the 20th in the series, had me on the edge of my seat and I devoured it very quickly over the course of a few days. In true Ben Hope style it left me wanting more when I got to the final page and as always the author provided an opening chapter to his next Ben Hope book to hook me in!
House Of War is up to date in that Ben is up against ISIS terrorists who are planning an atrocity in Paris. In this book Ben literally bumps into a young woman when he Is walking in Paris and she drops her mobile phone. Whilst trying to return it to her Ben catches sight of a terrorist he remembers from his previous life as a soldier. What was he doing in her flat?
This is a man he believed to be dead so he is somewhat surprised to see him alive and well. He sets out to find him and investigate what he is doing in Paris. He gradually discovers that he is mixed up in a plot to smuggle Syrian statues into the country.
This is an enjoyable and entertaining read which was so exciting I couldn’t put it down. It is truly an escapist novel which was fun to read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent story that will appeal to readers who enjoy this type of book. Definitely recommended to those who are interested in this genre.

The latest adventure for Ben Hope, and everything you would expect from Scott Mariani. Very much up-to-date in both references, and the threat from the 'villains'. A page-turner which makes ideal holiday reading. I'll say little about the plot in order to prevent any spoilers!!

Oh Mr Mariani. I must confess that I think I'm falling a little in love with Ben Hope.
Loved loved loved it.
Fast paced and action packed with just the right amount of doing the right thing mixed with blood guts and gore.
What's not to like?
Superb
Many thanks.

A solid thriller from an established author, which kept me mostly engaged and the pages turning. Recommended for thriller fans.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!!

House of War has moments of intense excitement. It has a big battle at the climax that was fun to read. It also has numerous digressions to give historical background. I was there for the thriller, not the history, much of which I already knew.As exciting as most of the fighting was, some of it seemed to be there to build the story, some of it seemed, well, a waste of space. So it's a mixed bag. There is a reveal at the end about one of the characters which I found very disappointing. The reader was strung along on that one.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.
3.5 stars

An enjoyable book from start to finish, this thrilling ride kept me gripped throughout. Ben Hope is fast becoming my all time favourite fictional character and Scott Mariani's writing is always top class. Can't wait for Ben's next adventure.

Ben Hope has a past, as nineteen previous entries in this adventure series will testify. But he also has a present as this exciting novel reminds us. The antagonist, thought to be dead, proves to be a worthy opponent as the body count rises in the Middle East, Europe, and the Caribbean.. With the help of his Delta force ally, the race is to stop millions more in a battle of stolen artifacts and international terrorism.