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Scarecrow (novel)
Encyclopedia
Scarecrow is the fifth Matthew Reilly
novel, and the third to feature the main character Captain Shane Schofield
, USMC
. It was released in 2003.
A gruesome USD $18.6 million per head bounty
hunt is on for 15 targets across the world - all either intelligence officer
s, military personnel or terrorists. The bounty will be paid upon production of the decapitated head of each target to a castle in France
. One of them is Shane Schofield (callsign "Scarecrow") our all-action hero. Schofield is leading a special forces
team on a mission in Siberia
, to reinforce a Delta Force
team. Delta had been sent to quell some terrorists, and is led by two of those whose names are on the hitlist.
Arriving on the scene, Schofield proceeds with the mission, splitting his team into two groups. They are subsequently ambushed and a bloody battle against mercenaries
ensues. One of the groups is decimated but, sensing a trap moments before the first shot, Schofield manages to remain unharmed, eventually ending the fight with the destruction of the Gulag
facility by a missile launched from an abandoned Typhoon class submarine
. Schofield and his NCO Book II escape by hijacking a fighter jet
owned by a bounty hunter named the Hungarian.
Schofield gains an unlikely ally in the "Black Knight
", a bounty hunter
being paid to keep Schofield alive rather than kill him, and their alliance takes them worldwide from Afghanistan
to France in a desperate race to stay alive. Crucially, Knight's orders are to allow Schofield free rein, in order that he perform the tasks the bounty hunt is designed to prevent him from doing.
At the heart of the conspiracy are the twelve most powerful businessmen in the world; self-styled puppeteers manipulating the course of governments calling themselves the Majestic-12 (or M-12 for short). Member No. 12, Jonathan James Killian controls the Axon Corporation, a defense contractor
of the United States
commissioned to construct the sinister 'Chameleon' project, a series of nuclear warheads and missiles designed to imitate the weapons of another nuclear power. As an Israel
i Mossad
agent describes them, "they're designed to start wars ... but to make it look like someone else fired the first shot". The missiles are launched from ships belonging to the 'Kormoran' project: battleships disguised as ordinary cargo vessels. The intention is to begin a 50 year Cold War
that would earn the companies within M-12 billions.
The Chameleon series of missiles is protected by the CincLock-VII security system which can only arm or disarm the missiles if three criteria are met: proximity to warhead (must be within 60 feet (18.3 m)), a light-pattern reflex response test and a numerical code. It is the light-pattern reflex test that is the crux of CincLock-VII - only someone who knows the sequence of flashing lights by heart or with unusually fast reflexes will be able to disarm the system. The fifteen names on the bounty list include six soldiers who can disarm the program, two scientists who worked on the NATO precursor to the reflex test, three spies who variously know about Chameleon and Majestic-12, three terrorists who participated in the Soviet
equivalent of the NATO tests, and one high-ranking soldier who oversaw key parts of the program.
The Majestic-12 plan to fire a series of Iran
ian nuclear warheads on London
, Paris
, Berlin
, New York
, Washington, D.C.
, Los Angeles
, San Francisco and Seattle and a series of North Korea
n missiles on New Delhi
, Islamabad
, Beijing
and Hong Kong
. With the aid of the French, Majestic-12 stage a series of terror raids on their missile plants and steal their own projects before starting the bounty hunt to stop anyone from preventing the execution of the plans.
Killian, however, has his own endgame. As an anarchist
, he confesses his love for watching people in situations where there is no law or order. Directly in control of the missiles, he substitutes several of the missiles so that India
and Pakistan
apparently engage in mutual nuclear bombardment, while China
is hit by Taiwan
. Killian also adds an additional Israeli-made missile, based in Yemen
and aimed at Mecca
on the first day of Ramadan
and armed with an American warhead. The book ends in a usual Scarecrow fashion, he blows up everything (several jokes are made about this by characters within the story) but before the end he nearly kills himself because of the death of his girlfriend Gant. With M-12's true intentions revealed to the government, its members all die in mysterious circumstances. In the end, the only evidence there is of the days events is a memo to the US President reading: "Sir, it's over, Majestic-12 is no more".
. Although his rank is well below many others in the story, he frequently takes command of the entire United States military; the President personally agreeing to this due to Schofield having saved his life the preceding year. Often resorting to very dangerous strategies to win a battle, it has become the norm for any attempt on his life to end with him escaping while the surrounding environment is more or less demolished. He commands a recon unit of Marines called to aid the Russian government - a trap designed to lead to his death. Upon discovering M-12's plot to change world order, he embarks upon a campaign to ruin the Chameleon and Kormoran projects. He is the protagonist in three Matthew Reilly novels and a novella, Scarecrow being the third novel.
), and a Marine Lieutenant. It is revealed that Schofield intended to propose to her soon. Gant's callsign was bestowed upon her by admiring male colleagues due to her athletic figure and attractive features. Unlike Schofield and Mother, Gant has neither lightning-fast reflexes nor sheer brute strength and as a result has been seriously injured several times before. That said, she has proven more than capable of holding her own in fire fights and hand to hand combat in all three Schofield novels. Due to a Marine Corps policy, she has been placed in the command of her own unit, rather than in Schofield's. Her other nickname is Dorothy, in reference to the Wizard of Oz, as Gant is in love with Schofield (the Scarecrow), and in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy likes the scarecrow the most. Gant is viciously beheaded via a guillotine in Killian's Forteresse de Valois by Noonan, an ISS operative working with M-12. Her execution at first drives Schofield to attempt suicide twice, both times failing to do so, but then prompts him to seek vengeance. Gant is a primary character in the first three Scarecrow novels.
, in which he was infiltrating an arms deal involving Osama bin Laden
. Despite being in shooting range of the terrorist, Knight was ordered not to attack, allowing the terrorist to escape while Knight was forced to wait for reinforcements. Later, while preparing to board a Black Hawk piloted by his friend Rufus, he overhears his backup being ordered to kill him and his pilot. He finds out later that the men belong to the ICG (Intelligence Convergence Group), a complex web of civilian and military spies whose job is to ensure all intelligence obtained by the United States of America stays solely within the United States of America. He escaped, along with Rufus, and killed 13 of the men pursuing him. He was consequently placed him on the FBI Most Wanted List and his family killed in a supposedly botched home invasion. He turned to being a mercenary and after successfully rescuing the daughter of the Russian Vice-President, was given a fighter jet known as the "Black Raven" which Rufus pilots for him, as well as landing privileges at any Russian airfield. He is regarded as the second best bounty hunter in the world after "Demon" Larkham. More than 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, he dresses entirely in black, in keeping to his call sign "Black Knight". Due to an eye disorder, photophobia, he must wear tinted lenses at all times. This weakness is sometimes exploited by others, as removing his shades will cause him to experience immense pain.
It was revealed by Matthew Reilly that the Black Knight was meant to be a dark double to Scarecrow; he also has an eye problem and has had his disagreements with the US government. This is even mentioned in the book, when Mother (upon hearing his biography) remarks that he sounds like a Shane Schofield gone wrong.
headquarters. Along with David Fairfax he provides Scarecrow with a long-distance electronic link to the Kormoran supertankers, allowing Scarecrow to disarm several missiles from the other side of the world.
, Matthew Reilly
was engaged by a Hollywood producer to adapt Scarecrow into a screenplay.
It is to be the first in a series of Shane Schofield
movies which Matthew Reilly says is okay with him "but structurally it means introducing characters like Scarecrow and Mother and Book and Fox within the framework of the story in Scarecrow, as opposed to (the prequel) Ice Station".
Matthew Reilly
Matthew John Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.- Biography :...
novel, and the third to feature the main character Captain Shane Schofield
Shane Schofield
Captain Shane Michael Schofield, USMC is a fictional character, whose exploits form the basis of a series created by the Australian author, Matthew Reilly. He appears in Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves and the spin off Hell Island...
, USMC
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. It was released in 2003.
Plot summary
As well as Schofield, Mother, Gant, and Book II all return from previous Schofield adventures.A gruesome USD $18.6 million per head bounty
Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
hunt is on for 15 targets across the world - all either intelligence officer
Intelligence officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile and/or analyze information which is of use to that organization...
s, military personnel or terrorists. The bounty will be paid upon production of the decapitated head of each target to a castle in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. One of them is Shane Schofield (callsign "Scarecrow") our all-action hero. Schofield is leading a special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
team on a mission in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, to reinforce a Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
team. Delta had been sent to quell some terrorists, and is led by two of those whose names are on the hitlist.
Arriving on the scene, Schofield proceeds with the mission, splitting his team into two groups. They are subsequently ambushed and a bloody battle against mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
ensues. One of the groups is decimated but, sensing a trap moments before the first shot, Schofield manages to remain unharmed, eventually ending the fight with the destruction of the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
facility by a missile launched from an abandoned Typhoon class submarine
Typhoon class submarine
The Project 941 or Akula, Russian "Акула" class submarine is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s...
. Schofield and his NCO Book II escape by hijacking a fighter jet
Yakovlev Yak-141
The Yakovlev Yak-141 , also known as the Yak-41, is a supersonic vertical takeoff/landing fighter aircraft designed by Yakolev. It did not enter production.-Design and development:...
owned by a bounty hunter named the Hungarian.
Schofield gains an unlikely ally in the "Black Knight
Black Knight
The black knight is a literary stock character, often contrasted with the white knight. The character famously appeared in Arthurian literature and has been adapted and adopted by various authors, in cinema and popular culture...
", a bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
being paid to keep Schofield alive rather than kill him, and their alliance takes them worldwide from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
to France in a desperate race to stay alive. Crucially, Knight's orders are to allow Schofield free rein, in order that he perform the tasks the bounty hunt is designed to prevent him from doing.
At the heart of the conspiracy are the twelve most powerful businessmen in the world; self-styled puppeteers manipulating the course of governments calling themselves the Majestic-12 (or M-12 for short). Member No. 12, Jonathan James Killian controls the Axon Corporation, a defense contractor
Defense contractor
A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
commissioned to construct the sinister 'Chameleon' project, a series of nuclear warheads and missiles designed to imitate the weapons of another nuclear power. As an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
agent describes them, "they're designed to start wars ... but to make it look like someone else fired the first shot". The missiles are launched from ships belonging to the 'Kormoran' project: battleships disguised as ordinary cargo vessels. The intention is to begin a 50 year Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
that would earn the companies within M-12 billions.
The Chameleon series of missiles is protected by the CincLock-VII security system which can only arm or disarm the missiles if three criteria are met: proximity to warhead (must be within 60 feet (18.3 m)), a light-pattern reflex response test and a numerical code. It is the light-pattern reflex test that is the crux of CincLock-VII - only someone who knows the sequence of flashing lights by heart or with unusually fast reflexes will be able to disarm the system. The fifteen names on the bounty list include six soldiers who can disarm the program, two scientists who worked on the NATO precursor to the reflex test, three spies who variously know about Chameleon and Majestic-12, three terrorists who participated in the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
equivalent of the NATO tests, and one high-ranking soldier who oversaw key parts of the program.
The Majestic-12 plan to fire a series of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian nuclear warheads on London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, San Francisco and Seattle and a series of North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n missiles on New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. With the aid of the French, Majestic-12 stage a series of terror raids on their missile plants and steal their own projects before starting the bounty hunt to stop anyone from preventing the execution of the plans.
Killian, however, has his own endgame. As an anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, he confesses his love for watching people in situations where there is no law or order. Directly in control of the missiles, he substitutes several of the missiles so that India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
apparently engage in mutual nuclear bombardment, while China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
is hit by Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Killian also adds an additional Israeli-made missile, based in Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
and aimed at Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
on the first day of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
and armed with an American warhead. The book ends in a usual Scarecrow fashion, he blows up everything (several jokes are made about this by characters within the story) but before the end he nearly kills himself because of the death of his girlfriend Gant. With M-12's true intentions revealed to the government, its members all die in mysterious circumstances. In the end, the only evidence there is of the days events is a memo to the US President reading: "Sir, it's over, Majestic-12 is no more".
Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield
Only in his early thirties, Captain Schofield is renowned for his level-headed demeanor and reflexes that afford him the ability to come out of devastating conflict alive. His callsign comes from two vertical scars that run from his eyebrows to his cheeks, over his eyes, wounds he sustained while he was a Harrier pilot for the Marine Corps in SerbiaSerbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. Although his rank is well below many others in the story, he frequently takes command of the entire United States military; the President personally agreeing to this due to Schofield having saved his life the preceding year. Often resorting to very dangerous strategies to win a battle, it has become the norm for any attempt on his life to end with him escaping while the surrounding environment is more or less demolished. He commands a recon unit of Marines called to aid the Russian government - a trap designed to lead to his death. Upon discovering M-12's plot to change world order, he embarks upon a campaign to ruin the Chameleon and Kormoran projects. He is the protagonist in three Matthew Reilly novels and a novella, Scarecrow being the third novel.
Elizabeth "Fox" Gant
Gant is Schofield's girlfriend (whom he started dating just before Area 7Area 7
Area 7 may refer to:* Area 7 one of the areas inside the Nevada Test Site* Area 7 , thriller by Matthew Reilly* Area-7, Australian band...
), and a Marine Lieutenant. It is revealed that Schofield intended to propose to her soon. Gant's callsign was bestowed upon her by admiring male colleagues due to her athletic figure and attractive features. Unlike Schofield and Mother, Gant has neither lightning-fast reflexes nor sheer brute strength and as a result has been seriously injured several times before. That said, she has proven more than capable of holding her own in fire fights and hand to hand combat in all three Schofield novels. Due to a Marine Corps policy, she has been placed in the command of her own unit, rather than in Schofield's. Her other nickname is Dorothy, in reference to the Wizard of Oz, as Gant is in love with Schofield (the Scarecrow), and in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy likes the scarecrow the most. Gant is viciously beheaded via a guillotine in Killian's Forteresse de Valois by Noonan, an ISS operative working with M-12. Her execution at first drives Schofield to attempt suicide twice, both times failing to do so, but then prompts him to seek vengeance. Gant is a primary character in the first three Scarecrow novels.
Gena "Mother" Newman
Thirty-four years old, 6'4" in height with a fully shaved head and weighing in at over 200lbs, Mother's callsign is not meant to convey maternal qualities - rather it is short for Motherfucker. She is ordinarily under the command of Schofield, but begins the story instead as Gunnery-Sergeant to Libby Gant. An encounter with a killer whale in Ice Station has left her with a prosthetic left leg from the knee down (it has served not only to provide mobility but to save her life frequently). Fiercely loyal to Schofield and possessed of a similar luck which has allowed her to survive several near-death experiences- to the extent that it is commented towards the end of the novel that the Grim Reaper, if he exists, is only afraid of Mother-, Mother opts for a violent solution more readily than her unit leader. Her short temper and eccentric nature lead her to many hand-to-hand fights with adversaries often even larger than her. Possessed of a sarcastic wit, she is also the helpful best friend to Gant, often offering advice or insight into her relationship with Schofield. Although in awe of Schofield's achievements- to the point where she has never referred to him as anything other than 'Scarecrow' as she regards him as more than a normal man-, she has managed to evade certain death many times herself and is indispensable to Schofield, both as a soldier and a friend. Mother is a primary character in all four Scarecrow pieces.Aloysius "Black" Knight
A bounty hunter hired to protect the "Scarecrow", Aloysius (Pronounced allo-wishus) "Black" Knight was a captain within Delta Team 7, regarded as the "elite within the elite" of the special forces. He became a fugitive from the US during a mission in SudanSudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, in which he was infiltrating an arms deal involving Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
. Despite being in shooting range of the terrorist, Knight was ordered not to attack, allowing the terrorist to escape while Knight was forced to wait for reinforcements. Later, while preparing to board a Black Hawk piloted by his friend Rufus, he overhears his backup being ordered to kill him and his pilot. He finds out later that the men belong to the ICG (Intelligence Convergence Group), a complex web of civilian and military spies whose job is to ensure all intelligence obtained by the United States of America stays solely within the United States of America. He escaped, along with Rufus, and killed 13 of the men pursuing him. He was consequently placed him on the FBI Most Wanted List and his family killed in a supposedly botched home invasion. He turned to being a mercenary and after successfully rescuing the daughter of the Russian Vice-President, was given a fighter jet known as the "Black Raven" which Rufus pilots for him, as well as landing privileges at any Russian airfield. He is regarded as the second best bounty hunter in the world after "Demon" Larkham. More than 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, he dresses entirely in black, in keeping to his call sign "Black Knight". Due to an eye disorder, photophobia, he must wear tinted lenses at all times. This weakness is sometimes exploited by others, as removing his shades will cause him to experience immense pain.
It was revealed by Matthew Reilly that the Black Knight was meant to be a dark double to Scarecrow; he also has an eye problem and has had his disagreements with the US government. This is even mentioned in the book, when Mother (upon hearing his biography) remarks that he sounds like a Shane Schofield gone wrong.
Buck "Book II" Riley Jr
Book II's father, Book, was a loyal friend of Schofield who was killed in the first Scarecrow novel Ice Station. Although initially there was friction between him and Schofield over the death of his father, he has warmed to his new superior and is less cold and brooding than he first was upon joining Schofield's ranks in Area 7. Due to his resemblance to his father he earned the callsign Book II. 25 years old, with a heavy browed face and pug nose, he is described as a "tough-as-nails warrior". Quieter and composed than the others within his regiment, his level-head affords him Scarecrow's respect. Other than Scarecrow he is the only marine to survive the trap in Siberia at the beginning of the novel. Less inclined to combat than Knight and especially Mother, he is very capable of deduction and serves as an accurate information gatherer for Schofield after managing to secure files on M-12 within the MossadMossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
headquarters. Along with David Fairfax he provides Scarecrow with a long-distance electronic link to the Kormoran supertankers, allowing Scarecrow to disarm several missiles from the other side of the world.
Film
After completing the first draft of his most recent book The Five Greatest WarriorsThe Five Greatest Warriors
The Five Greatest Warriors is the third thriller novel in the Jack West Jr. series, by the Australian writer Matthew Reilly.The book is the third in an Indiana Jones-style action series. The preceding book was The Six Sacred Stones which ended in a cliffhanger with archaeologist and ex-soldier Jack...
, Matthew Reilly
Matthew Reilly
Matthew John Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.- Biography :...
was engaged by a Hollywood producer to adapt Scarecrow into a screenplay.
It is to be the first in a series of Shane Schofield
Shane Schofield
Captain Shane Michael Schofield, USMC is a fictional character, whose exploits form the basis of a series created by the Australian author, Matthew Reilly. He appears in Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow, Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves and the spin off Hell Island...
movies which Matthew Reilly says is okay with him "but structurally it means introducing characters like Scarecrow and Mother and Book and Fox within the framework of the story in Scarecrow, as opposed to (the prequel) Ice Station".
Allusions
- The name of Demon Larkham's bounty hunter team, IG-88 is taken from the robotic bounty hunter IG-88 who cameos in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes BackStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes BackStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
. - Aloysius Knight is named after Aloysius Gonzaga, a Jesuit saint who was the namesake of his old high school St Aloysius' College in SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. - The character of Lillian Mattencourt "the owner of the Mattencourt Cosmetics Empire and the richest woman in the world" is based on the real life Liliane BettencourtLiliane BettencourtLiliane Bettencourt is a French heiress, socialite, businesswoman and philanthropist. She is one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal and, with a fortune estimated at US$23.5 billion, is one of the wealthiest people in the world.-Biography:...
who really is the richest woman in the world and has the biggest shareholding in L'Oreal, the largest cosmetic company in the world, which was founded by her father.
Criticism
- This novel has many parallels with John GardnerJohn Gardner (thriller writer)John Edmund Gardner was an English spy novelist, most notably for the James Bond series.-Early life:Gardner was born in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland. He graduated from St John's College, Cambridge and did postgraduate study at Oxford...
's novel Nobody Lives for EverNobody Lives For EverNobody Lives for Ever , first published in 1986, was the fifth novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond...
. In both stories, the returning protagonist (Schofield in Scarecrow, James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
in NLF) is the target of a monetary contract posted by a villainous organisation (Majestic-12 in Scarecrow, SPECTRESPECTRESPECTRE is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, the films based on those novels, and James Bond video games...
in NLF) that requires delivery of the target's severed head, and both stories include the protagonist's loved ones (Gant in Scarecrow, May and Moneypenny in NLF) being used as leverage against the protagonist. A guillotine is also promptly used to try and kill the protagonist in an execution style chamber in both Scarecrow and NLF.