Rules Of Betrayal by Christopher Reich
Published by Doubleday
ISBN 978-0-385-53154-2
At the request of Doubleday, a HC was sent, at no cost to me for my personal opinion
Synopsis (from book's jacket): In 1980 an American B-52 bomber transporting a top-secret weapon crashes high on the peaks of a remote mountain range on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Nearly thirty years later, deep in the unforgiving, Taliban-controlled Lashkar Province of Afghanistan, Dr. Jonathan Ransom is making amends for the violence in his past. The woman he married, Emma Ransom, a.k.a. Lara Antonova, is in fact a spy and an assassin who used his job with Doctors Without Borders as her cover story. Now she is missing-most likely in the hands of a charismatic and violent arms dealer who goes by the name Lord Balfour. Emma is also being hunted by two conflicting shadow agencies-Division in the U.S. and the FSB in Russia.
After Ransom is nearly killed in a stunning double cross in Tora Bora, he is summoned by Frank Connor, the power broker a the helm of Division, and presented with an impossible choice. Jonathan must undertake a harrowing one-man mission into Balfour's lair to save Emma or stand by while a weapon of mass destruction is acquired by the most dangerous terrorist in Afghanistan-an unforgettable true believer known as The Hawk.
My Thoughts and Opinion: I wasn't a big fan of government espionage storylines, but when I read the synopsis, I thought that I might enjoy this read. I was surprised that within the first few pages, I was not only enjoying it but was also pulled in. I didn't realize, when I accepted the request for review, that this was the 3rd book in a series. Not having read the first two, I feel that this book can stand on it's own. For a spy thriller, it did hold my attention at times but then, there were some parts where I lost interest. This is my opinion, and my opinion only, rating this book is difficult. For those that enjoy this type of novel, it would probably receive a 4/5. But since I am not a big fan of espionage, I would give it a 2/5 because I did struggle through some of the book. So to be fair to the author and those that enjoy the double agent storyline, I will average it out.
4 comments:
Averaging it sounds like a good idea, Cheryl. It is hard to rate books when the genre isn't really something that sparks your interest. Thanks for sharing....
It is hard to rate books like this. An average is a good way to go. That's what I did with Penhallow by Georgette Heyer--rated it on two scales and then averaged.
I'm not a big espionage fan either...but once in a while one with a good plot line comes along.
Cheryl, reading books that is not quite us is very hard, you did a good job and you did finish it, that is promise :-)
I'd say it's a pretty good book if you enjoyed it that much, even though it's out of your comfort zone.
Post a Comment