Review: Great, intelligent and engaging read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 28, 2014
This novel is great.  I am not one for political thrillers at all, but a friend recommended this book to me.  This is an overall well written work of fiction.  It is well-written and the chapters read similar to action sequences in a movie.  There never a dead moment in this novel.  And the author has put so much detail and suspense into this book that I was left constantly guessing.  Even the dates at the beginnings of each chapter have meaning and significance.  No detail is overlooked.  The characterization of the main character Kathy Canfield is stunning.  Her voice and perspective clashes perfectly and incredibly well with the cold candor of the overall tone of the novel.  As a reader, you feel the political evil prowling around her and yet, you know, through Kathy (whose last name is reminiscent of a “can-do” Roosevelt mentality), that the right political moves will prevail.  I won’t give up too much of the plot or the resolution and conflict of the Balkan conflict, but the foreshadowing and symbolism the author chooses in creating this political conflict is clearly a nod to the Balkan Wars of the early twentieth century and the consequential Turkish unrest with the rest of Europe that succeeded those wars.  This is a great book for anyone who is interested in political thrillers, great writing or a story that simply enthralls from start to finish.