After a somewhat slow start this turned into a really interesting and gripping book and I found it difficult to stop reading. Just one more chapter, and then I will go to sleep. Well, perhaps just one more ...The main characters are well drawn and feel fully fleshed out and even the main villain does not feel like a comic book character. The crisis that the characters find themselves in seems feasible and, perhaps above all, the politics feels like exactly what would happen in this kind of situation with the political masters trying to cover their butts and having a difficult time coming to any firm decisions.The book is also full of British terminology which I, who thought I was familiar with British terms, find a bit puzzling. Fortunately the Kindle reader provided the proper definitions. Still terms like "trug" and "four-ways" were a bit baffling at first.There is also an issue with some formatting with entire sections being displayed in narrower columns than normal, and there are many hyphenated words that need not be hyphenated. That is, it appears that when the book was converted from print to electronic format words which were split between lines, and hence hyphenated, were just copied as they were, hyphen and all, onto formatted lines so that they remained hyphenated when it was no longer appropriate. I have removed a star because of this formatting issue as it is very annoying and very common.Other than the formatting and hyphenating issues this book is a nearly perfect thriller, and I liked it enough that I plan to buy the next book in the series.Andy McNab (of Bravo Two Zero - The True Story Of An SAS Patrol Behind Enemy Lines In Iraq fame) successfully transitioned from a controversial account of the ill-fated Gulf War mission (and a less controversial novel about his time in the Regiment leading up to that mission) to a successful fiction writing career. SAS: Red Notice is the first fiction novel I've read by McNab, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.Tom "Posh Lad" Buckingham is a blade with the Regiment, assigned to assist civil authorities with effecting the arrest of Laszlo Antonov, a South Ossetian insurgent known for his brutality and efficiency. Antonov slips the net, and business returns to normal for the Regiment.Buckingham's girlfriend, Delphine, is tired of playing second fiddle to the "mistress" that is the Regiment, so when he stands her up for an important date, she gets on a train, determined to return to her native France. Violating protocol (as he is on 30 minute standby with the Counter Revolutionary Wing), he catches the train to make a last-ditch plea for Delphine to stay with him. To his shock and surprise, he recognizes Antonov on the train and calls it in, knowing he can get binned for traveling so far outside the area.When Antonov's men attack the train, it becomes obvious that there is far more to the situation than what meets the eye, and Buckingham will need every ounce of guile and luck he can muster to stop Antonov in his tracks and protect Delphine.This was a real page-turning read with compelling characters and kinetic action. The overall plot was solid and definitely could read as if it had been ripped from the headlines. It becomes easy to immerse one's self in the story and invest in the characters.The realism was solid, though it's clear that McNab relied a lot on his previous experience rather than blend it with open-source research on what's being done in the here and now. A minor nit-pick, but one worth noting.While I appreciated the backstory on Tom's and Delphine's courtship, I don't appreciate that those scenes were inserted between action chapters. While it was necessary exposition, it did seem to slow the story down a bit. That, and a couple of plot inconsistencies, kept it from being a great novel.That said, it was a very good novel, and the ending perfectly set up for a sequel, which I will be purchasing. I definitely want to read more of Tom Buckingham's exploits, and recommend SAS: Red Notice to fans of the genre.Superb action and detailed tactics and weapons description, along with character development and emotion that is missing in the writings of other latter-day ex-SpecOps novelists like Jack Carr. In other words, I could relate to the thoughts and feelings of the characters, which went along with the action sequences. Enough to make me want to read more of this series.Decent read, so respect to the author. And all of these books carry interest as about a world only very few know about. Whilst I know nothing of special forces, which makes these books interesting, I do know about the real world. And it’s here that this book doesn’t quite hit right. There are details that are wrong, nonsensical and sometimes plain puzzling. It probably doesn’t matter if reading at a slow pace as lots of action. But stepping back and view as a whole its plot holes are irritating. Would still recommend as the new main character is introduced well.I usually love McNab books, and this one had potential - but for me was utterly ruined by the horrific descriptions of violence. I’m not fussed about people getting shot in the head or blown up, and I know it’s supposed to be gritty, but using a flamethrower on a crying child with tears rolling down it’s smoke-stained cheeks, turning it into a small human torch? Is that really what it takes to convey ‘realism’ these days?I’m sorry to say I stopped reading this halfway through and deleted it. I’m all for for tough, gritty and real, but I can do without sickening.A good book full of action and grit but after 20-odd books written by McNab featuring his Nick Stone character and the first-person style he wrote them in, this is different and doesn't feel like his work. I suppose it's his attempt to break away from that style of writing but as a result, there's often too much stuff going on in Red Notice and the pacing is off.I also felt the ending was disappointing. While the SAS are tough and are trained to withstand hardship, I felt like Buckingham's exploits to finish off the leader of the terrorist faction was something out of a Marvel comic book, especially given he'd spent the last few hours with a serious injury.That said, it was a good story and probably not too far from the truth. It gives some great insights on how a Red and Blue Team would operate in a national security incident as many ex-SAS operators who become authors tend to write about covert black operations with characters as members of shady government departments - including McNab's Nick Stone works - rather than them being active SAS members.It's actually a bit like an 80s action movie, come to think of it. I could totally see Sly Stallone playing Tom Buckingham if this was a movie made in 1985. As is with those 80s action flicks. The plot holes can be forgiven due to the amount of cool action that goes on.Side note: There's a mistake on Page 152 where McNab makes reference to the "Prince's Gate siege of 1982". Prince's Gate was the Iranian Embassy siege which happened in 1980.I nearly gave up! I have read all of McNabs books and have always found them to be very well written, fast paced and full of action from the start. This book was a huge disappointment. I don't know if the author is currently going through his mid life crisis ( I hope not to wind him up, not a good guy to have on your case) but for the first third of this book he is trying to copy a Mills & Boons love story. Instead of the usual violence and action, he seems to concentrate on Tom's love life. If I wanted all luvvy duvvy mushy stuff, I would have chosen a book from the romance section. As for the lengthy introduction to Tom's posh parents who have a problem downing loads of gin, I felt sorry for them, but was so bored with the dragged out details, that I skim read that particular section.Even when the real action gets started, when the terrorists are in the tunnel, our hero Tom, single handed, takes on about 40 veteran soldiers trying to rescue his girl. I usually love McNabs books because they are realistic, with the good guys getting injured and killed, and sometimes even failing in their mission. Tom appears to be invincible when chasing after his true love. I hope Tom and his Gal live happily ever after, but lets get back to what McNab is good at please, no more Romance. McNab is far, far, better than this when he sticks to what he is best at. I have only ticked OK because the last two thirds pick up a bit with more action, last out until then if you can.The strong point of this novel is the detail about how the SAS would really operate if such a plot were to happen. The weaponry, the tactics, the way they fight, it's all interesting and believable. However, McNab also writes the way that the SAS fight. They are always calm as they go into battle, keeping their heartrate down, thinking clearly, and the action is all written in a similar matter-of-fact style. There are no similes or metaphors, just simple description. And so for all the action, there's not actually much excitement.The characters are okay, although when he's writing everyday dialogue of non-military/political people it's a bit unbelievable. All the SAS guys talk in the same kind of banter and appear quite shallow; I didn't care very much about any of the characters - even the French girl. There was nothing much to her - she was just waiting around for her shallow boyfriend.The plot is an inventive terrorist situation in the Channel Tunnel. However, (Spoiler) it's not believable that Tom would just happen to be on the hijacked Eurostar train that very day, having failed to capture the hijacker that same afternoon. It's an incredible coincidence.Overall, the action detail is very good, the writing is okay, but it has some problems.