Review: A Nice Read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2013
For me, this book falls into the category of a mild amusement.  It was worth the purchase price and provided a diversion, but it didn't grab me by the throat and pull me in to the storyline.The plot itself was interesting, not something that has been done over and over in other novels.  One of the better things that the author accomplished was seamlessly pulling in history to support his plot.  I think this was a high point of the novel.Proofreading was good with only one typo noted.On the other hand, characterization was so-so.  I got a little tired of the sarcastic bravado several of the characters exhibited, especially at times when the sarcastic attempts at humor were extremely out-of-place.For someone who obviously knows the Oceanside, California area, I was surprised at how poorly the Marines were represented from a realism standpoint, from too-young lieutenant colonels to how Marines were being involuntarily discharged in order to be assigned to the CIA.  I also noted simple mistakes in geography and times throughout the book (shifting the POV from Italy to California didn't seem to take into account the time difference.)I would recommend this book based on the plot alone.  It may not be at the top of my reading list, but it was still a good effort and worth the read.