The Amazon Code (Harvey Bennett Thrillers) Paperback – May 21, 2016

Fast read but good plot, I enjoyed the characters and plot from beginning to end, will look see if more books in the series

This is my second Harvey Bennett thriller and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is basic, the story lines are entertaining and the characters are simple. Perfect for losing oneself in a book that doesn’t require a lot of brain power. I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.

I am glad to finish this book so my heart rate can return to normal. I’m exhausted from the never ending adrenaline rush. I enjoyed the character building and friendships that were formed from these characters trying circumstances.

Plenty of cliff hanging moments.Plot of experimental dream reading machine, of a little ancestry DNA research leading to the Lost City of Eldorado. Which, of course, leads to a trip down to most remote part of the Amazon looking for, of course, Eldorado. Hmmm.Of course they are being chased by experienced well funded mercenaries from the Shadowy corporate Dragon entity from day one.Of course the exploratory team is without experience in jungle survival, a extremely hostile environment that has eaten many experienced Western exploration teams for the last two or three centuries and with no backup rescue in sight if things go wrong. Hmmm.There were none of the egregious editing and proof reading errors that made the 1st book of the series such a slog to get through.Characters still stiff. Having some difficulty liking our hero and his main squeeze. Reluctantly, I like angst ridden Ben. Julie not so much. Also a bit of female hysteria peeking through Julie character. She had "estrogen" moments. Wow. Like Reggie isn't a walking advertisement for testerone. Oh well, this is a modern adventure thriller.Lots of blood and guts. I mean really a lot. Lots of human collateral damage. From the laboratory at the beginning and to the jungle at the end.And yet I kept on reading.I found his take on the lost city of Eldorado interesting. I spent time a while back, reading up on how Conan Doyle came up with his book on the Lost City. And the fascination that has followed this idea in books and movies ever since. And even documentaries.Read at your own peril.

At its heart, The Amazon Code is action/adventure, with all the extreme feats and unlikely events that this genre implies. Set in the Amazon (obviously), it becomes a veritable catalog of the gruesome ways someone might die in that world – hostile natives, vicious creatures, unforgiving habitat. Then, add to that mix a shadowy and utterly ruthless organization committed to your demise and the stage is set for some hair-raising action.The potential reader should view this book’s listed genre with skepticism, in my opinion. On Amazon (the online store, not the region), the book is listed as Psychics, as well as Action & Adventure. I don’t get it. With the references to neuroscience, as well as the author’s synopsis mentioning “emerging science,” I was thinking technothriller. For example, the clues that drive our protagonist, Harvey “Ben” Bennett, to the Amazon come from fMRI-based videos of people dreaming, a capability that appears close at hand. But perhaps the author went with the psychic category because the link to science is weak with more hand-waving in crucial places (how did they get that map?) and niggling errors (e.g., the incorrect definition of fMRI) than one would hope.The second precautionary note for potential readers is that you may want to start with book 1 – always a good idea, but maybe more so for this series, because you are joining an on-going story. Ben is single-mindedly pursuing a ruthless organization he faced in book 1, even though he’s totally unsuited to the task. He’s a park ranger. The villains are part of a clandestine group unencumbered by ethics and at ease with the use of extreme violence. Hopefully, his obsession is explained in the first book, because the attempt to attribute it to his personality in this book just doesn’t work (“Ben was just being Ben — stubborn, boorish, and reclusive”). Lots of people share those traits, but none of them go to the Amazon based on a rumor, untrained and unprepared, hoping to form a rag-tag team with the right mix of skills to win the day. Ben, however, does. It’s good suspense, but a bit inexplicable even for action/adventure.The Amazon Code also has the somewhat unusual distinction of being loaded with action – chases, gun fights, grisly deaths – and yet, it feels slow. Part of the reason is that chapters are written from the perspective of different characters, so with each change in point of view, the reader gets another recounting of the hopelessness of their situation. Additionally, each character recounts events from their lives in general. The technique can greatly aid character development, but it’s overused and sometimes makes little sense. I was never sure, for example, how either Ben or Julie saw their relationship, beyond the fact that they thought it was something they couldn’t escape (“Hours of arguing and slamming doors had taught her that there was nothing that could force them apart, except, ironically, death”). Is that supposed to be romantic?So, for the reader who can suspend reality a bit and who doesn’t require crystalline characters, The Amazon Code can provide a decent rush of intense action…and a long list of ways to die in the Amazon.

I decided to read this book because I generally enjoy the "thriller" genre and because it's focused in the Amazon Jungle. Having spent a little time there, I think it should be a required life experience for everyone. It's a place where you can realize your true significance in the universe - or the lack thereof. That being said, this book definitely took me back to the land of vegetation so thick that you can't see the sun and predators that can make your hair stand on end.I also love the premise of this book, that your dreams can tell more about you than you have ever imagined. As a vivid dreamer, I wish I had access to the technology explored in the plot - or maybe I don't.The characters in the book are well developed and highly believable, the good guys, the bad guys and those who unexpectedly switch sides. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. I kept reading faster and faster to find out what was going to happen next. I loved the piece of the story about how your ancestry is more of a part of who you are than you might have considered. I have always felt a deep connection to the land of my personal history and was glad to know that it isn't just me that feels this way.Although this is part of a series, you don't feel lost because you don't know the whole back story. I've had this happen with other series, so I just don't read them. A good author can write a series of books with each one being a great read in and of itself.This was an engrossing story, very well told, that makes me want to read more from this author.