Title: Open Source: A Novel
Author: M.M. Frick
Publisher: Matthew M. Frick
ISBN: 9781453719985
Pages: 336, Paperback & Kindle
Genre: Fiction/Suspense
Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
A new character is formed into “reading reality” by the name of Casey Shenk, in the premier novel Open Source, by M. M. Frick. A crossover between James Bond and Jason Bourne, Casey Shenk boldly has the fate of the world rest on the outcome of his mission as he peels the onion of international politics within the framework of the Middle East’s controversy.Having a natural talent for writing suspense and international espionage events, Matthew M. Frick is comfortable describing the minutia of detail regarding the inner workings and intricacies of the black-ops, secret political underpinnings and contrivances of what lies beneath the world news headlines. Beginning with a news bite about a highjacking of a freight vessel MV Baltic Venture, Casey picks up the scent of something being out of the ordinary from an Internet story. Teaming up with Susan Williams from the Intelligence Watch Group in New York, they begin a path that leads them through the maze of global geopolitics and into the realm of world power and clandestine operations. Tracing the voyage of the MV Baltic Venture’s log, they come across a scheduled stop in Kaliningrad, where the loading of lumber from Finland reveals a stash of Soviet built missiles destined for Iran were placed within the cargo hold. As they unravel the whereabouts of the weapons, they discover the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a secret visit to Russia and from there begin to connect the dots.
M.M. Frick adopts a style and ease of writing which is bold, smart, and immeasurably elaborates in military terms, weaponry details, location and ways of secret political workings not known to ordinary people. This magnifies to storyline to a heightened level of credibility, and embellishes the character development into truly realistic proportions. Wrapped up with a fast and consistent pace, the book is a pleasure to page and plays out like a movie within one’s mind, going between narration and dialogue, plot underpinnings and action. In total control of the reader’s knowledge base, Frick embarks on a “good vs. evil” battle behind the scenes where the integrity of world peace lies at the brink of disaster while ordinary people go about their ways, oblivious to what lies beneath the headline news.
Matthew M. Frick has “hit one over the wall” with his debut novel. His experience as an active Naval Officer and experience living overseas has noticeably enabled him to write with authority and confidence bringing a wealth of knowledge not generally known to the public to the reader’s attention. This results in a novel not only fun but very educational. Open Source is a perfect book for potential screenplay adaptation and the making into a block-buster movie. I hope he continues the exploits of Casey Shenk in future work, and brings out more from the creatively complex mind of M. M. Frick.
