Review: A brillian short story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 10, 2013
If there's one thing I really like about Jeffery Deaver's short stories, is that they always manage to surprise the reader, one way or another. An Acceptable Sacrifice is not an exception to that rule.It all begins with the meeting of two partners in crime, or rather law-enforcement. An American agent and his Mexican counterpart set house in the city of Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico, with a single mission in mind; to stop a terrorist attack from happening.They, and their respective agencies, suspect that a local drug lord is planning an attack on a tourist bus to mark the anniversary of the local government's war on drugs. The man behind the planned attack is someone who's so clever, and looks so clean and respectable, that no one ever managed to find a single clue that he's involved in any illegal activities.The two agents have their doubts that he's indeed a criminal mastermind, but they have no choice but to carry on with their mission. The order is simple and clear: take him out before he takes anyone else out.But how can they do that? The man lives in huge house, behind thick walls and bulletproof windows that looks like a fortress. They have to find a way to get in and plant a bomb, but in order to accomplish that they first need to spot his weakness, and he doesn't seem to have one. Or does he?Well, everyone has a weakness, and since this eBook belongs in a series consisting of Bibliomysteries it makes sense that his is books. He likes to collect old and valuable tomes from all around the world and he's an avid reader. "That's it," the agents think and they start planning the attack; an attack that won't be so easy to carry out; not only because their target is a very suspicious man, but also because timing is of the utter importance. Will they make it or will everything go wrong? And what if the man isn't who they believe him to be?As one would expect from a master storyteller, when it comes to the crime genre there are no easy answers to questions like these. Read the story, enjoy the plot, and prepare yourselves to be surprised time and again, by its few but yet great twists and turns.