In Field of Blackbirds,
E. S. Hoover begins with the discovery of a historical Roman document laying
claim to the sovereignty of Serbia by a French professor Dr. Jean-Pierre
Fournier. Immediately thereafter Hoover started a chapter introducing the character Sebastian Bishop, a clean-cut
teenager days away from graduating high school in South Carolina. In a meticulous literary volley of
alternating snippets of character development, Hoover cleverly sews the
storyline of what is an awesome work of pseudo-historical international
espionage.
As the chapters flew by, I was taken down the book’s
separate structural underpinnings and plot machinations so diverse I honestly
could not conceive how the culmination of events would occur. It is hard to say what impressed me the most
about Hoover’s writing skills; the excellent suspense techniques, its subliminal
foreshadowing, or the expert level detail of content. On one side in the novel, the history and
culture of eastern Europe from the 12th and 13th century
through current times was so enjoyable, being described with such acumen of
detail, location and individuals. Then were
interleaved chapters of the events
building Sebastian’s character with such detail to clandestine military
training, special ops and human endurance that I became absorbed in that aspect of this story. How E.S. Hoover would ultimately tie these diametrically
opposing subplots together was so perplexing I found myself incapable of putting
this book down. Hoover’s skill became
self evident as Field of Blackbirds
took on an absolute personification of credibility, a life of its own.
In a style reminiscent of a Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton
novel, with a mix of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci
Code elements of historical importance, topped off with a bit of Robert
Ludlum’s Jason Bourne character, E.S.
Hoover takes rank among the finest contemporary authors. Ideally suited for a screenplay adaption, Field of Blackbirds is the perfect
formula for a block-buster movie. Sebastian Bishop is a character we will be “seeing” more of in future
work. The appeal of Hoover’s novel
penetrates a wide variety of sophisticated story connoisseurs, travel
enthusiasts, history buffs, military thinkers, and certainly appeals to the Walter Mitty within all of us.
As primeval endorphins and adrenaline of combat stirs
Sebastian Bishop to say to the victims of his deathly blows, “Hell awaits,” I
say to Hoover, “Fame awaits.” This
caliber of work is destined for boundless accolades of praise. I can envision meeting Hoover at some future
book signing or movie opening, having the author turn to me and say, “Hello, my
name is Hoover --- E.S. Hoover.”
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