Scarecrow - Mathew Riley - Reviewed by Anthony Shahat

Matthew Reilly’s Scarecrow is an action packed stunner of a book. The main character in the story is a Commander of a team of Marines his name is Captain Shane Schofield. During the series Captain Schofield and his team of marines save the world from terrifying disasters. In this saga, Captain Schofield is hunting for missiles while he is being hunted by hundreds of bounty hunters. This book is an intense, fast paced story and once you start reading it, it is impossible to put down.

The story begins when a worldwide bounty hunt is launched. There are twelve heads on the list and each has a bounty of 18.6 million dollars. The problem is that Captain Shane Schofield is on the list. But that’s the least of his worries because twelve missiles have been set to launch at key cities all over the world, and he is the only one that can stop them from launching. Captain Schofield and his marines trek to many different places around the world but the unusual thing is that another person is added onto their group. His name is The Black Knight and he is a bounty hunter. But, the catch is, he has been paid to protect Captain Schofield throughout his journey. What he doesn’t know is that the bounty hunt and the launching of the missiles are all connected, and that the people behind it all are some of the most powerful men in the world they call themselves Majestic 12.

The most attention-grabbing aspect of the book is when you find out that The Black Knight is actually a Bounty Hunter. It makes you wonder why someone would have paid a Bounty Hunter to protect a person on a random bounty list. The first few chapters of the book were the most interesting. This is because Matthew Reilly gets straight into the story line and then explains the setting and the characters later which I think suits the nature of the book. This is different to most other books because the authors will usually start with introducing the characters which makes you almost want to stop reading the book.

Matthew Reilly’s style of writing is in present tense. This different style of writing works very well with action or any adventurous book. When the characters in the book Scarecrow talk to each other, they talk like they are in an action movie including all the swearing. Matthew Reilly has put a new twist on military fiction novels in the sense that the storyline is not just a battle, it is a mysterious conspiracy adventure book while always having the military sense to it.

It’s fairly clear to see that Scarecrow informs the reader of the ins and outs of military work. This is shown throughout the book by the description of the influence of the American military on the terrorists and the Majestic 12. The brotherhood of the military is also a main theme in Scarecrow. This is publicized by the American military’s motto “No man is left behind”. Scarecrow shows this brotherhood by the way Captain Schofield cares for each and every person in his Marine team. He even has a girlfriend in his team named Gant.

Reading Scarecrow reminded me of Black Hawk Down because in the movie, a helicopter code named “Black Hawk” is gunned down, and a team of men go to the aid of the pilot and their fellow team mates. This is like when Scarecrow is in a tight spot being chased by Bounty Hunters, so one of Schofield’s marines (code named Mother) sets up a diversion even though it could have cost her her life. The common thing between these two stories is the immense loyalty that is shown.

Scarecrow is a spectacular book, and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to be shown the true meaning of suspense and unsilenced, warfare. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the next book in the series. Well done Mr Reilly indeed you have written a ripper of a book!