Is it possible for a plot to be too complex, with too many reversals, changes in loyalty, table-turnings etc. Maybe I'm just not smart enough, and Nathan Farrugia has a planet-sized labyrinthine brain. Still, while I was left feeling slightly stupid after reading The Chimera Vector, I was mightily impressed by Nathan's knowledge of the 15 ways to kill a man with only a tunafish tin key, his obvious affinity with modern mercenary and spec ops arsenals, and his mastery of the detailed fight scene. The Chimera Vector played out in my head like a top of the range Hollywood action movie - even if, admittedly, one that I'd missed a few key elements of because I'd ducked out to buy a tub of popcorn. My only slight beef was that the middle section where our crack team has infiltrated the enemy base felt way too long and at times I thought I was watching a walk through of some playstation action game (video games are not good spectator sports), but no doubt real lovers of action novels (with bigger brains than me) lap this stuff up. Mind you it's not all action, action, action. There is a suitably complicated conspiracy going on at the same time as the flashbombs are being lobbed and this - for me - was the most satisfying element of the whole book.