Review: Well plotted thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 11, 2013
"The Winds of Kedem" by Roger Radford is a fast paced and cleverly plotted political thriller. It is however much more than that, in that it gives us a lot of detailed and insightful background information about the past and present political and cultural situation in the Middle East.Radford tells the story from various perspectives, so we learn more about the Muslim, Christian and Jewish interests and characters in this complex story.The main character is David, a Jew from Damascus, and we learn about his life in Damascus before 1969, after the war, his life in a Kibbutz, his life in the army and eventually also his work for the Mossad.HE is an interesting character as well as one with an amazing background. Each of these sections alone would have already been enough for a book alone.I do not need all of my thrillers to have so much substance but I was quite taken in by the fascinating setting and characterisations. Radford's background as foreign correspondent and his research into the Arab culture and the Islam have clearly paid off.The complexities of diplomatic relations, networks and etiquette as well as the spy network in the Middle East is very well set up and when the terrorist threat becomes the main focus of the plot all of this comes together.Although the nuclear threat is debatable in terms of how believable it is in an otherwise story that is grounded in reality, the author states correctly that 9/11 at one stage would also have been considered unrealistic.I found the story breath taking and compelling and am sure that fans of political thrillers will love it, particularly since the good and bad guys are well differentiated and not painted in black and white.A well rounded book.