Title - Field of Blackbirds - Author - ES Hoover - Book Review

By Gary R. Sorkin
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."