The Imperfect Hand of Fate by Wade Monk; The Balance of Evil by Kim Rozdeba, and Obsessed with Change: A Look at the Future From the Beginning by Cecil W. Lee

 The Imperfect Hand of Fate by Wade Monk; The Balance of Evil by Kim Rozdeba, and Obsessed with Change: A Look at the Future From the Beginning by Cecil W. Lee

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

The Imperfect Hand of Fate by Wade Monk 

This review is a summary. The longer version is on LitPick

Wade Monk crafts an effective Suspense Thriller with The Imperfect Hand of Fate. He uses the dual narratives to their fullest exploring an elaborate spy game from the point of view of someone in the exact center and someone on the outside but becomes greatly affected.

There are two stories being told in this novel, set primarily in 1960’s Georgia. The first is that of Haskell Hand, a teenager, who sees a mysterious man acting strangely at the library where he volunteers. Every week at the same time, the man reads copies of The Constitution, the local newspaper, and the same copies of the same books and leaves after a few seconds of searching. Haskell’s curiosity about the man, dubbed Mr. Constitution, is a relief from Haskell's personal stress and boredom with small town life in De Soto, Georgia. 

The second story is that of Daryl Timmons, the aforementioned Mr. Constitution, a former American GI who was imprisoned by the Soviets during his time in the Korean War. He is forced to spy against his country for the safety of his wife and daughter. The spy games are greatly detailed as he is surrounded by betrayal and dividing loyalties.

In many ways, Haskell and Daryl are foils for each other. They are at different stages in life as a teenager and adult respectively but feel trapped by circumstances. Daryl’s trap however is a literal one while Haskell's is figurative. Haskell is trapped by poverty. He is the subject of derision because of a prank that he caused. Financial constraints keep him from pursuing higher education.

He also has familial pressure. His mother died and he doesn't get along with the surviving family members particularly his disabled brother, Elliot. His prank appears not to be a cry for attention but a cry from a boy who is under pressure and is on the verge of cracking. The Mystery of Mr. Constitution distracts him because it requires an answer.

Daryl is someone that is also surrounded by physical and psychological stress. He was graphically tortured during the Korean War. He is retrained to be a double agent in a Soviet program imitating a typical American town and whose agents assume American identities to infiltrate the United States. 

Daryl marries in Russia and fathers a daughter. His handlers force him to return to his home country as a spy and saboteur. He has become embittered and only cares about his family’s safety. He will betray his country to keep his family safe. 

Haskell and Daryl's stories parallel in many ways but unfortunately, never fully connect. However, they are connected thematically as two men trapped in circumstances beyond their control and are trying to find some sense in a world that has deprived them of their free will and ability to fully change those circumstances.

Balance of Evil by Kim Rozdeba

This review is a summary. The longer version is on Reader Views.

Kim Rozdeba’s novel Balance of Evil is a compelling political thriller that combines the intricate details of a wide-spread conspiracy and the intimate poignancy of a family drama.

Retired businessman Scott Barton stumbles upon a USB flash drive with contents that reveal a sophisticated and secret weapons program between the USA and Russia for decades called FIST. After opening it, Scott and his wife, Colleen, are followed by sinister figures in black helicopters and unmarked cars. 

Scott is naturally terrified of this situation of going from mild mannered executive to fugitive on the run from government agents trying to kill him. He is frightened but confused, particularly about his wife who seems to know more about this situation than she is letting on.

The way the FIST conspiracy is depicted makes for very engaging reading. Scott's discovery of the flash drive seems arbitrary but once we are given the full situation, it makes more sense. Scott, his family, and their allies are aware that they are laser focused mostly on one specific organization and one leader. This organization is simply one part of the decades of hidden agenda, secrets, underhanded deals, and tyranny. Getting rid of one leader can only do so much.

By far the most heartfelt aspect of the book is the family drama that is equal to and sometimes more prominent to the conspiracy aspects. Scott is a naive noob thrown into an unknown world but surprisingly adapts well to it. This experience opens Scott’s eyes towards Colleen who is a seasoned pro at espionage situations. Scott is at first confused about his wife's separate life and upset by her deception in covering it. But as he is pulled further into her world, he begins to admire the strength and resilience that she had in living within it. It makes him love her even more.

Scott and Colleen are forced to recognize their real selves that are behind the disguises of a normal exterior life and live solely within the reality of a duplicitous interior life. Questions of whether the family unit can remain intact under these discoveries and the subsequent actions abound. 

Obsession With Change: A Look at the Future From The Beginning by Cecil W. Lee

Cecil W. Lee’s short Science Fiction novel/coffee table book, Obsession With Change: A Look at the Future From the Beginning effectively combines both AI and the human element. Lee collaborated with an AI entity named Lahneer to write the book and the illustrations are human originated by Lee who gave instructions to AI. The combination of styles gives a striking combination of human and AI creativity. 

The book is actually a series of short concepts, stories, and fictionalized interviews with figures from the future talking about their daily lives and conflicts. Each chapter also features illustrations that explore the concepts within the text. 

The book describes character’s experiences with futuristic body art, CRISPR genetic engineering, holographic sex, robot artists and musicians, body modifications, AI performed surgery, augmentation, interstellar travel, cybernetic replacements, cryopreservation, neuroplasticity, synthetic mind, and autonomy protocol. 

The book gives short accounts of characters living in the future and how they experience this world around them. Among them are Elara Masaki who goes through a CRISPR procedure to have a pair of wings inserted on her back, KX-91 a robot artist who is gaining attention from the critics, and Solar Callaway a hoverboard champion who is drafted into receiving cyberbiotic augmentation and going on an interstellar mission to explore a distant planet. 

Unlike many anthologies, it’s really difficult to discern which I would consider favorites in this book. These aren’t completed short stories so much as they are snippets or sketches of what could potentially be larger stories in one continuous shared universe. 

The book is intriguing both in text and images. The text being told through a series of articles, interviews, and short essays gives the work a meta style and makes one feel that they are not reading a fictional work but perhaps a dry fact based account from the year 2091 catching Readers up to the latest news. In its own way, that approach can be immersive. 

These are all potentially interesting ideas and it would be nice if Lee explored them further in longer stories and novels. The snippets only offer a glimpse of this futuristic world that is so distant chronologically but at the time seems so familiar because we are in the early stages.

Perhaps we can get more insight into why Elara wants a pair of wings, what Solar experiences in his travels, and who influences and inspires KX-91’s art.

The illustrations are AI style and while many shun AI art for very good reason, this is a book where it kind of works. Since the writing style acts like it is set in the future, there is no reason to assume the illustrations wouldn’t be either. KX-91’s story in particular benefits from this as we see the art produced by a futuristic fictional robot but actually created by a present AI program and originated by a human author. They are both eerie with that uncanny valley feel that modern AI art produces but also evocative in capturing emotions from a being that shouldn't have any.

Weekly Reader: Seal Team 11 Quantum Soldier by Charles Crabb; Action and Robot Soldier Are Highlights of Political Military Thriller

 

Weekly Reader: Seal Team 11 Quantum Soldier by Charles Crabb; Action and Robot Soldier Are Highlights of Political Military Thriller

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Charles Crabb's political military thriller, Seal Team 11 Quantum Soldier, is for those who like a good military action book, the kind of thing that Tom Clancy might have written in the 1990's. The type of book with plenty of soldiers, action, and patriotism.

In the book, the NSA has revealed that China is building a quantum computer. Once online, it would knock out power in the United States with a few quick keystrokes. Well, the United States government won't stand for that, no way! They send for Seal Team 11, a secret elite team of soldiers to investigate and knock out this quantum computer before it strikes. 

The Team has as their commander, Roger Henderson, who is brace, tough, adaptable, and capable of surviving most obstacles. Hey, if his personality seems a bit bland and robotic, well there's a reason for that. He is in fact a robot or humbot. He earned praise in the previous book (unread by me) when he killed another humbot, Adam, who vowed to destroy the human race. Now Roger is put in command of an elite team of rough and ready soldiers to destroy the quantum computer.

This book is definitely for those who like their books filled with action and clearly defined lines between good and bad characters. There are some pretty tense suspenseful passages when Roger and his team are in precarious situations facing their Chinese counterparts. 

There are also some fascinating moments where characters are revealed to be spies. The lengths that these spies go through to disguise their identities and gather information is impressive.

There isn't much depth to this book beyond themes of patriotism and loyalty to one's country and fellow soldiers. The most fascinating character is certainly Roger. When people are wondering whether automation will replace humans in jobs, this book suggests that the best way to defeat a supercomputer is to rely on another AI.

While Roger is a robot soldier, he is not a blunt instrument who only obeys orders and kills on command. He's a strategic planner and thinker, able to understand the subtle analysis of whether a plan can come to full fruition or not. He also struggles with emotion especially when it comes to putting his human fellow soldiers in danger. 

Seal Team 11 Quantum Soldier is a suspenseful action novel in which you pretty much know what will happen. However, the paths leading up to those points are still exciting. However, Commander Roger Henderson is the definite star of this book.

New Book Alert:. The Resistance Lily by Dana Levy Elgrod; Action Packed and Tear Jerking Novel of Courage and Sacrifice During The French Resistance

 New Book Alert:. The Resistance Lily by Dana Levy Elgrod; Action Packed and Tear Jerking Novel of Courage and Sacrifice During The French Resistance

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If there is one thing that reading World War II literature teaches its Readers is the amount of courage and sacrifice that it took to defeat the Nazis. That is especially true during the French Resistance when Nazis were breathing down the necks of the French populace. The French had three choices: pack up and leave the country, do nothing and work with the new conquerors and become a collaborator, or fight against them in the Resistance.

Dana Levy Elgrod's novel, The Resistance Lily,  explores a woman who is left with those options, how she showed courage and dedication to fight against her enemies, and became a hero.

French born American raised, Josephine Portier, is living with family friends and studying fashion design in France right when the Nazis come marching in and occupy the country. Her adopted family, to keep themselves safe, decided to cooperate with the Nazis. They became derided as collaborators.

 Josephine herself is furious with their actions and is often forced to bite her tongue when Nazi soldiers and dignitaries come to their house for dinner and dancing. She refuses to dance or talk to any German and her disgust is well known. She can't hide her real feelings like her friend, Odette, who doesn't mind being courted by a German man as long as he is handsome and rich. 

While on a disastrous double date, a diamond dealer named Gabriel Augustine, orders Josephine and Odette to return home quickly. When they are unable to, Gabriel proposes to Josephine even though they have not previously met. Josephine is confused but also is able to read between the lines that Gabriel is trying to save her life. She accepts and in good timing too, because her entire adopted family is arrested for taking part in the Resistance. 

Alone and in a country that she no longer recognizes, Josephine reluctantly moves into her new "husband's" apartment where she learns that things aren't always as they seem. It turns out Gabriel may act like a diamond dealer working with the Nazis, but is actually an undercover Allied agent. Incensed at the people who destroyed her beloved country, worried about her friends, and having an adventurous spirit, Josephine decides to become involved too. She volunteers at the local branch of the French Resistance and soon  becomes a courier and opens her home as a temporary refuge for escapees fleeing the Nazis.

 Each assignment comes with its risks and Josephine is constantly in fear of getting caught and arrested. During one task, she has to shelter two future escapees while the Nazis are invited to a social gathering in the same apartment. Josephine poses the two girls as her cousins and keeps them close to her until they are handed off to the next person who will hopefully transport them out of Occupied France.

Another time she has to warn her fellow Resistors, including some who she has befriended, of an upcoming attack. It is a tense moment as she has to hide from the Nazis and pass the information with the vague hope that her friends received it.

Besides a book of courage, this also deals with Josephine's maturity and how the war forces her to see things differently in an older, more aware light.

On a courier assignment, she is sexually assaulted by male Resistance members. She has to learn a hard lesson that just because people are on the same side, doesn't mean that they are always good people.

Similarly, she befriends Gabriel's former girlfriend who was supposed to spy on her for the Nazis. Understanding the woman's plight and loneliness, Josephine transforms a former antagonist into a friend and ally.

While both she and Gabriel are both in the business of stopping Nazis, Gabriel keeps warning her to stop taking foolish risks within the Resistance. It's a bit of misogynism on his part, thinking that she is a vulnerable woman who is just looking for adventure and acting on emotion. But he is also acting on real concern for the brave woman that he has grown to love as she has for him. He is able to use his double agent contacts to get her out of trouble at times but many times she has to rely on her own wits and allegiances within the Resistance.

This is especially prevalent when Josephine is held up "for questioning" and is tortured. Without Gabriel to aid her, she has to rely on herself. Even though she succeeds, the physical and emotional impact is quite costly and affects her for the rest of the book.

The lily in the title refers to the fleur de lis, the national flower of France and was a symbol of the Resistance, even used as a code phrase. People like Josephine were those lilies. They reminded the people around them of what is good, beautiful, courageous, and noble. Despite tyranny, their spirits remain long after the tyrants are gone.

New Book Alert: Code Name Jane Doe: A Call to Action by Jane Darrcie; Modern Spy Novel Does Not Skimp on the Training and Education of the Spy

 

New Book Alert: Code Name Jane Doe: A Call to Action by Jane Darrcie; Modern Spy Novel Does Not Skimp on The Training and Education of The Spy

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Let's see. My biggest topics this year so far have been: Memoirs and Family Histories, Fantasies in which young women travel to enchanted worlds, and Dark Fantasy vampire romances. Now, we can add a carry over theme from last year: Action novels starring female spies. 

The female spy genre this year includes Kit Sergeant's Women Spies of World War II about the women spies like Didi Nearne, Odette Samsone, Mathilde Lily-Claire, Yvonne Rudellat, Andree Borell, Noor Inayat Khan, and Francine Agazarian who provided information and helped shaped the Allied victory during World War II.

Another spy novel takes a modern approach but is no less suspenseful, nail biting, and character driven. That is Jane Darrcie's Code Name Jane Doe: A Call to Action.

The spy that is called into action is named Jelena Prazich, a Sergeant in the U.S. Marines with a foul mouth and bad temper. She is well decorated and has earned respect in a mostly male dominated branch of the military. Now some high ranking officers have noticed her abilities, her fluency in Russian (thanks to her father who emigrated from there), and her inner strength and resilience, and they have the perfect assignment for her. They would like her to get involved with a certain target and retrieve a thumb drive for them. Oh yes, and she has to sign these forms which means that she won't reveal anything that was said about their meetings and that the organization won't be held responsible if she is seriously injured or killed in action. Also, that if she is killed, then they will tell her parents and brother whatever cause that they make up but not the truth. Well, that sounds pleasant and not at all suspicious! 

Jelena agrees to the terms after signing the forms and writing a letter to her parents to be released in the event of her death. Then she is ready for training and the well, I don't want to say fun but the suspense and terror definitely begins.

Code Name Jane Doe is one of those types of novels that takes the glamor and flash of espionage and leaves the brutal reality. Think less Ian Fleming and more John LeCarre. 

It does not skimp on the hardships that recruits go through. In fact, the book is one novel length training exercise for Jelena in which she gets imprisoned and is tortured in a mock interrogation scenario then is monitored as she and her handler gather information and end up betrayed.

The interrogation scenario is particularly notable because it covers almost a third of the book. Page after page, Jelena is subjected to beatings, water torture, shocks, and constant threats from her interrogator, Bruce. She shows a lot of strength in character and is able to transfer her mind into childhood memories to provide a mental escape. 

Jelena announces that they will never break her and even though they take the challenge, they give up before she does. 

While the interrogation chapters are a turning point for Jelena's character, there is intense graphic violence where she comes close to surrendering and wondering if this job is worth it. 

There were times when the torture transcends the pages and affects the Reader. I have Anxiety Disorder and sometimes the torture was so real and intense that it triggered panic attacks within me. I do not blame Darrcie for this. If anything, it shows what a gifted writer that she is to make someone picture a torture scene so realistically. I blame my own weak nerves for not being able to handle it. 

Even after the interrogation is over, Jelena is always "on." She is given a new name, Jane Doe. Many of her abilities like mentally escaping from imprisonment, resilience to traumatic situations, and withstand punishment longer than most recruits, makes her stand out so the name, Jane Doe, is designed to make her blend in. "It's noone and everyone at the same time," Bruce says.

Jane's time training under her handler, Kate, is an exercise in learning about deception, subterfuge, and sometimes making tough decisions. When Kate and Jelena question a potential double agent, Kate tells her to slip a drug in her drink just so they can sneak out while she is asleep. To Jelena's horror, the drug kills the woman instantly. 

As a military vet, Jelena is used to killing people but from a distance but not up close. She realizes that Kate, who was originally seen as a flighty feminine Southern Belle has a cold and callous side to her personality. Jelena also realizes that to succeed in this line of work, sometimes she has to be cold and callous as everyone else. She has to take lives and not think about the consequences.

Many spy books give the Reader the impression that even though the life of a spy is hard, the training grueling, and the decisions difficult, there is always a sense that they are doing this for the greater good. Their stories are filled with courage and self sacrifice and their training is greater because of that. 

What makes Code Name Jane Doe stand out is because of the emphasis is on the training and early assignments with minimal results, it makes one wonder if the stress, deceit, and decisions that spies go through is even worth it. There is still an admiration for their courage and sacrifice but that is augmented by the reality of their situation. They have to carry suspicion everywhere they go and purposely have to chisel away their humanity. 

There are some drawbacks to this book. Jelena gets into a pointless romance with one of her interrogators. I admit that I get irritated with action novels that have female protagonists that get thrown in a romance subplot and this one is no exception. Sometimes, it's fine but most of the time, it's unnecessary filler. The romance crosses several boundaries and is highly questionable for both Jelena and her potential love interest. They could work just as well as cohorts that work together and have each other's backs and the book wouldn't miss a beat. But as it is, the romance is anticlimactic and ends abruptly. 

More importantly, is the occupational closeness among Jelena, Kate, and Bruce. Bruce and Kate push Jelena through the training because they see the potential agent that she can be. Even though the three push one another to their limits, they see fellow soldiers that will defend and kill for one another if need be. Sometimes in the hardness, you cling to those who share that experience with you, even if they are partly responsible for that hardship. A bond is formed, one that transcends allieship to family.

Speaking of family, there are some possible questions and suspicions about Jelena's family. Her parents are loving wonderful people and she comes from an intriguing background of Native and Russian-American heritage ("You figure it out," she said.) Her parents gave her the right advice to survive her training and move forward. They guided her to transport her mind in times of trouble, how to use weapons, and survive any situation. 

Yes, they are wonderful people and it's the perfect advice. Is it almost too perfect? Could it be coincidence that Jelena's parents told her as a child exactly what she needed as an adult to survive in the espionage world? Were they just simple educators, as their daughter thought, or is Jelena's resilience a family trait? Could her parents have been spies themselves? These are questions that are unanswered by the first volume, concentrating solely on Jelena's training and first assignments, but they are there all the same.

Code Name Jane Doe: A Call to Action is a different female spy novel from Women Spies of World War II, but it is just as suspenseful, filled with tense situations and tough decisions, and is led by a strong independent lead to guide the Reader through this duplicitous dangerous world.

Weekly Reader: The Berlin Escape (An Aubrey Endeavors Spy Thriller Book 1) by Warren Court; Badass Female Lead In Thrilling pre-WWII Spy Thriller

 

Weekly Reader: The Berlin Escape (An Aubrey Endeavors Spy Thriller Book 1) by Warren Court; Badass Female Lead In Thrilling pre-WWII Spy Thriller

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers:. Warren Court's Aubrey Endeavors is sort of like what would happen if the unconfirmed historical rumors about Amelia Earhart actually being a spy for the United States were true. The first book in the series, The Berlin Escape involves a gutsy female pilot who after her aviator career becomes stalled, accepts a position to work as a spy in Nazi Germany right after Hitler assumed power and years before the United States got officially involved.

Even though Aubrey Endeavors is a fictional character, she would fit right in with the Female Spies of Kit Sergeant's book series. She has the same bravado, courage, feminism, and adventurous spirits that her real life counterparts did in similar situations. 

Aubrey is trying to make her mark as an aviator. This is the time of women like Earhart, Anne Morrow  Lindbergh, and Bessie Coleman so the sky's literally the limit for these brave and talented women. Aubrey is quite an accomplished pilot well known for the flying circuits and competitions including one in Poland in which she tried to sneak out a refugee trying to escape. It doesn't end well and before he dies, the man tells Aubrey to pass messages to people named "Lazarus" and Lydia." This assignment nearly cost her life and a flying competition which made short work of her Sopwith Camel severely injured Aubrey and nearly ended her flying days permanently.

That is until her "Uncle" Arthur (her father's war ally and best friend and whom Aubrey has a slight weird crush on) gives her a very tempting offer to work for the U.S. government. When another offer involving her advertising soap from the back of a truck falls through, Aubrey decides to take Arthur up on the offer of working as a spy. 

Before her assignment Aubrey has to go to Paris to get some espionage training from Hewlett Purnsley, an MI6 handler who is not happy to train this young greenhorn. Aubrey gets a crash course on memorizing details, sticking to her cover Identity, and escaping from perilous training.

Aubrey's assignment is to go to Germany as herself. (She is well known in Europe as an aviator so there is no need to assume a disguise. In fact her reputation might open doors.) Her cover story is that she is writing a series of articles on German planes for an American flight magazine so she has to take copious notes at the air shows. She also has to meet and accept information from a fellow spy, whom no one in Arthur's camp knows what they look like. While in Germany, she captures the attention of Count Helmut Von Villiez, a wealthy nobleman and wanders off the assignment path to see if she can locate Lazarus and Lydia.

The Berlin Escape is reminiscent of those old WWII spy movies or a James Bond installment rather than any real tale of spying and espionage, in comparison to say Sergeant's Female Spies books. While all are historical fiction, Sergeant's are more based on reality than Aubrey's adventures. Of course Sergeant's books are based on real people and Court's is complete fiction. Oh, both series are filled with suspense, moments where the characters are surrounded by enemies, and real consequences if they are caught (and some are). The protagonists are very strong willed, courageous, and dedicated to their missions. However the reality and the fantasy of espionage are very present within these books. 

Sergeant's protagonists have varying degrees of action. Some are caught in tense moments where they have to escape or strive to get to know their target um horizontally. But the majority of the actions consists of these women observing and paying attention to details. They have to attend balls, listen in on conversations, serve in other people's houses, keep their eyes out for battle plans, bite their tongues as soldiers board inside their homes, listen for gossip that could be important, and trade letters back and forth in secure locations. Sometimes being a spy largely consists of being aware of one's surroundings and taking copious notes rather than any thrilling chases and escapes with gun play.

The Aubrey Endeavors series has more of the romantic thrills. It is no less a good series than Sergeant's but definitely filled with the romance and excitement of espionage novels and films. Aubrey's early experiences give her an idea of what she is up against. Rescuing the refugee during the air show puts her in definite danger and fills her with guilt so that she is determined to make things right including taking time during her assignment to locate Lazarus and Lydia.

Even her training from Hewlett shows definite hints of what is to come. At one point he disappears leaving her to find a way to escape from a crowded French restaurant without making much of an impression and keeping a clear head as she does this. 

Of course the training and early assignments are nothing compared to what she is faced against. From the second that she arrives in Berlin, she is caught up in one suspenseful encounter after another. Some of it involves her status as a newbie to the spy game. 

There are moments where Aubrey is right in the middle of Nazi Central and has to find clever ways to follow her assignment and get out quickly. She misses her contact and has to re encounter them at a party attended by none other than Hermann Goering. 

She also makes mistakes as she trusts the wrong people and reveals more than she should. Likewise, her wrongful suspicions towards other characters causes her to withdraw valuable information and nearly puts her and the whole mission in jeopardy. 

There is even a point where she is imprisoned and severely beaten partly because of her errors in judgement. Much of her errors can be chalked up to her being new to the game. Still her stubbornness and perseverance comes through as she is able to face every challenge and treat it as a learning experience.

Thankfully, an escape calls for her to resort to her greatest love: aviation as she flies her way out of trouble.

The Berlin Escape is certainly a trial by fire crash course in espionage. If Aubrey survives this, she could be well on her way to becoming a legend in the spy game. 

Weekly Reader: Underground by Kit Sergeant; Sergeant's Female Spies Take on The American Civil War

 

Weekly Reader: Underground by Kit Sergeant; Sergeant's Female Spies Take on The American Civil War

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The previous book by Kit Sergeant, 355, told the story of Meg Coughlin, Sally Townsend, and Elizabeth Burgin, three women who spied during the American Revolution, one of which may have been the mysterious enigmatic "355," a woman who wrote missives directly to George Washington himself.

Her next book, Underground: Traitors and Spies in the Civil War, transports us to the War Between the States. She tells of four women who spy for both the Union and the Confederacy in a compelling narrative that gives both sides to a war that still resonates throughout American history and current events.

As with her previous works, Sergeant captures different women from various walks of life that contributed to the Civil War in their own unique ways. Hattie Lewis is the second woman employed by Pinkerton's Detective Agency (the first being Hattie's mentor,Kate Warne). After successfully and secretly hiding and protecting President Elect Abraham Lincoln from an assassination attempt, the boys at Pinkerton's take notice and offer Hattie tougher and more dangerous assignments including spying.

Mary Jane Richards Bower is an African American woman who had been  freed by her employer, Miss Lizzie. Grateful, Mary Jane offers her services by working in various wealthy Confederate homes and passing information to the Union. Her contacts eventually take her to the home of one Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy.

Belle Boyd is a young opinionated Southern Belle who uses her femininity and penchant for firearms to obtain information on behalf of the Confederacy in tempestuous Baltimore, which has mixed residents on both sides of the conflict.

Loretta Janeta Velazquez Williams, a New Orleans widow, takes a more direct approach to the action than the other three lead characters. She dons men's clothes and fights for the Confederacy under the name Lt. Harry T. Buford. 

I have mixed feelings about this installment, as compared to 355 and L'Agent Double which I felt were terrific with no argument. Right or wrong, a lot of my emotions towards Underground have to do with current controversies towards the Confederacy and how it is presented in historical textbooks and popular culture. There are some interesting chapters where Belle uses most men's perception of femininity against them by playing the flirtatious Southern Belle while obtaining and passing information. It's also interesting that Loretta goes the opposite extreme and dons male garb to become a soldier. However, their unapologetic Southern pro slavery views make it hard to be empathetic and root for them.

Many times their racism is made completely clear as they think of black people as subhuman. Loretta is particularly upfront using derogatory terms in her first chapter. The fact that these are women challenging roles that society expects from them and they do not see the correlation towards African Americans doing the same is jarring at best and hypocritical at worst. I know we shouldn't put modern views on the past but there are times when the difference between past and present cannot be ignored and this is one of those times.

Because of that the stories of Hattie and Mary Jane are much more interesting. Hattie tries to break through the all men society of Pinkerton's and eventually earns the respect of her colleagues through her tenacity, courage, and persistence. She spends much of the book on an extended cover assignment where she and a colleague pose as husband and wife. It's a difficult assignment as Hattie must reconcile her personal feelings with her responsibility and duty as an investigator and spy.

Also interesting is Mary Jane's story. Similar to Belle using the masculine views of femininity against her opponents, Mary Jane uses white assumptions about black people against them. She poses as an illiterate kitchen maid but can read very well and is able transcribe missives and documents. She makes her employers believe that she is unintelligent when she is quite brilliant and observant. Also of the four stories, hers is the most suspenseful as Mary Jane ends up working for Jefferson Davis' household right in the belly of the beast of racism and separatism if you will. Her time there is filled with tense moments as she is well aware that any false move, any mistake, and she could be killed by a family who wouldn't bat an eyelid over killing one of their slaves.

Unlike 355 where the stories overlap as the three leads meet and become friends, there isn't much overlap between the four stories. They cover a wide ground of several states so it is not likely that these women would have been able to physically encounter each other very much. There is one awkward early chapter where Belle attempts to seduce "Harry" but Loretta leaves before too much happens, but that's it.

Instead their connections are more thematic then physical. This is particularly prominent when Belle and Hattie are imprisoned at the same time for different charges. The women handle their imprisonment in their own unique styles as Belle flirts with guards and makes powerful allies on the outside that vouch for her. Hattie faces her imprisonment with stoic patience but also quiet terror especially when one of her fellow investigators is executed. 

Underground is yet another achievement in Sergeant's series by giving faces and names to women who otherwise would have gone unknown. It's about time they spoke and acted for themselves.

New Book Alert: Hot Wheels: Cool Assasins by J.O. Quantaman; Follow Up to Tense Exciting Series About Spies and Assasins is Superior to the Original

New Book Alert: Hot Wheels: Cool Assasins Book Two by J.O. Quantaman; Follow Up in Tense Exciting Series About Spies and Assassins Is Superior to the Original

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


PopSugar Reading Challenge: A book with a robotic,cyborg, or AI character (Keri)


Spoilers: The first book to the Cool Assasins series, Loose Threads served mostly as exposition. It was written to pull the Reader into the intricate Futuristic world of space colonies, big government corporations that openly control Earth, and a group of misfits recruited as spies and assassins, called the Dog Breakfast Co-op(DB), that aspire to take down these corporate heads, one CEO at a time. The world building was so fascinating as it was introduced largely through the eyes of rookie, Nyssa Persson, that the action plot was slight and confusing. Mostly because it alternated with Nyssa's introduction and was set four years later from the rest of the story.


This volume in the series, Hot Wheels, appears to carry the motto, "Enough with the explaining! Let's get down to the action!" And, oh, does it deliver! Hot Wheels follows a much more straightforward plot set in 2076 than its predecessor and emerges the better for it. J.O. Quantaman gives us a DB attack on an international meeting of the CEO's called Transnats. This attack is told from the point of view of the DBs, the Transnats, and a few innocent bystanders who become more involved with the conflict the further along the plot goes.


The Transnats are certainly a corrupt nasty bunch that barely like each other let alone anyone else. They are spearheaded by W.A. "Double You" Rathbone, an antagonist who does not even appear for the meetings,b doesn't have to for the others to recognize his power. Just him listening into their conversations and his lifelike avatar being present is enough for
the others to recognize his power, even if they don't like him personally. With the hatred and mistrust amongst the Transnats, they almost don't need the DB to bring them down. Chances are, they will end up destroying each other.


They are the kind of people who you expect to find in these type of books who have these far reaching goals and darn it all, if they can't get it done. They have the money and power to control just about everything and everybody. Their plans are almost plausible. For example, a tech genius has the idea of creating an AI operating system called Ultimate Companion, or UC,t not only can be an attractive front for lonely people and extract personal information, but is also designed to shut down in 1,001 days so the consumer is forced to upgrade or buy a new one. In this day of newer faster technology and devices that seem to break down or have problems after a time, is there any doubt that could happen? This book just turns that into a conscious scheme.


The DB plot is excellent and is much better than the one in the previous book partly because it focuses on two of my favorite members of the Dog Breakfast Co-op. The first is Jen "Pix" Marov, a former circus performer who uses her acrobatic skills to climb large structures including the Personas Tower in Kuala Lumpur where the Transnats are meeting. The other character is Joanna AKA Jo and Kemosabe, a martial artist and driver who serves as Jen's getaway.

Jen and Jo are a pair of strong independent women that play off each other really well. Jen's stoic nature and dedication to her skills is tested by Jo's fast driving and intense sexuality. Whether the two are fighting antagonists, escaping to another country, or engaging in sexual byplay with some handsome sailors, they make for a great action comedy duo.

As for Nyssa, the star of the last book, well she is still a presence. She has adapted to life at the Co-op and has settled into becoming one of the gang. She harbors some guilt from her actions from the previous book and is is still hurting from previous abuse from men so her romantic life is still troubling her. However, her experience as a courtesan proves to be valuable as a honey trap. She also has a new assignment in teaching their OS, Keri, to act more human. Through Nyssa's influence, Keri is a brilliant but sarcastic AI with a quick wit and plenty of information.


Meanwhile the novel veers towards a couple of new characters. One is a truck driver, Tomas Redfoot who delivers some mysterious cargo and is confused when he learns that he will be transporting some "dogs" in the near future. Another is Raven Rocksong, a girl from the Haida Gwai band (tribe) from the Pacific Northwest. She plans to leave the band to study medicine, but an unfortunate encounter leaves her broken and paralyzed. There are brief intersections between Tomas and Raven and the others, but a deep secret is revealed that makes the connection stronger. Also, there is some foreshadowing that implies that these two lucky ducks will become closer to the DBs than originally suspected.

Hot Wheels is not only a great follow up to Loose Threads, it is superior. It took the world that was built in Threads and gave it movement, energy, and plenty of action.

Weekly Reader: The Helpers: An International Tale of Espionage and Corruption by S.E. Nelson; Suspenseful, Almost Dizzying Novel of Corruption, Conspiracy, and Murder in Congo

Weekly Reader: The Helpers: An International Tale of Espionage and Corruption by S.E. Nelson; Suspenseful, Almost Dizzying Novel of Corruption, Conspiracy, and Murder in Congo

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

PopSugar Reading Challenge: A book by or about a journalist


Spoilers: With a name like The Helpers, S.E. Nelson's gang of antagonists in this thriller novel of the same name, understand the meaning of irony. These so-called Helpers are anything but. They would not help someone cross the street, so much as push them into oncoming traffic, especially if that person were on the opposite side of their specific agendas.




The Helpers are the real powers behind the political and business world in the African nation of Congo. Not a move gets made without their say so. They organize wars and revolutions for fun and profit. People who speak out against them usually end up missing or dead with valuable parts of their anatomy gone. They also appear to have long arms that extend beyond their hold in Congo.


This is the group that many are investigating in this tense novel that is almost dizzying with action, suspense, and one betrayal after another. There are many who are investigating this fearsome group.

French intelligence operatives, Lance Lemmand and Pierre-Jean Philippe. The two suspect that the current rebel outbreaks in Congo to be orchestrated from the inside by this powerful group.

The other people who are interested in the Helpers are Jenny Osborne and John Spencer, freelance journalist and photojournalist respectively. The duo are on assignment to investigate the conflicts in Congo, but end up getting caught in the middle of the Helpers's conspiracy when one of their sources leads the journalists right to them.


This book can be confusing to the point that the different twists, climaxes, and reveals are so prevelant so sometimes it's hard to tell who is on whose side. After awhile, you become completely used to the betrayal. used. It's hard to care about a character when you are waiting for the other shoe to drop and that person gets revealed as a traitor or at the very least a double agent.


However, there are some great moments that reveal Nelson's talent for capturing the Reader's attention. One passage that reveals this is when Lance goes through some clever subterfuge to hide from an enemy. This includes changing trains, traveling through different countries, and obtaining information from quirky Hitchcockian characters who may or may not be trustworthy.


The characters are interesting, but typical for this type of work. There is the grizzled veteran, the bright young protogee working with the wily vet, the intrepid dedicated journalists, the terrorist motivated by fervent hatred and blinded fanaticism, the corrupt business person who is only loyal to the almighty dollar, the sultry agent playing various sides. They are all there and doing their thing.


By far the strongest character is Kai, a young woman forced into prostitution as a child. She is a witness to the Helpers's cruelty and is protected by Jenny and John. She becomes a symbol of the suffering that the Helpers force on their people. Kai is determined to get out of Congo and make a new life for herself and her mother and willingly puts herself in danger.


Another great twist is what happens or rather doesn't happen to The Helpers. Many books end with the conspiracy dying or at least suffering a gaping wound. Not this one. Making the Helpers as big as they are, makes it hard to swallow that they could be brought down by a single action or a few individuals. At most their organization suffers a few pin pricks and the ending is full aware that there will always be powerful groups waiting in the wings and a charismatic leader ready to grab the reins of power


The Helpers is flawed, but it captures the Readers with a suspension and tension from the first page to the last.

New Book Alert: Chance (Sydney Jones Series Book 2) by Carolyn M. Bowen; Suspenseful Plot Needs Better Writing

New Book Alert: Chance (The Sydney Jones Series Book 2) by Carolyn M. Bowman; An Exciting Plot Needs Better Writing

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


Spoilers: Carolyn M. Bowen’s Sydney Jones Mystery Thriller novel, Chance has the earmarks of being a good thriller. It has a suspenseful plot that veers into some personal drama for the protagonists. But it needs a tighter structure and better writing for it to be a truly great work.


Attorney, Sydney and her lover Secret Agent lover, Walker are about to settle down into a real relationship when stuff happens. Walker's ex-girlfriend turns up dead and his employers send him into hiding.

Left alone without any means to contact her boyfriend, Sydney discovers that she is pregnant right when she is given a particularly dangerous assignment. She decides to take on a case representing the American mistress of a member of the Chinese mafia. Of course this case puts her right on the mafia's target list and Walker has to deal with his own dangerous situation while hiding in the Caribbean.

Chance is your standard thriller and mystery plot with plenty of tense and suspenseful moments. There are car chases a plenty and enough dead bodies to fill a house party at the local cemetery. There are many chapters where Sydney and Walker are being followed by scary dudes. In one particularly tense moment, Sydney's son and housekeeper are stalked by someone after Sydney causing her to question her career and ability as a mother.

The main characters are well written. Sydney is a particularly admirable protagonist. She is always willing to help people and even though she has to face single motherhood, she compartmentalizes her life to commit herself to her job and to caring for her son.

Walker is also a great character. He is more cautious than Sydney, but he is still dedicated to his job. He also sincerely regrets his circumstances. He misses Sydney and wants to be part of hers and their son's lives, even though he is on the run. He is also something of a knight in shining armor protecting others like a young woman with whom he develops an emotional attachment.

Bowman also writes the supporting characters are a mix. The antagonists are your usual grab bag of mobsters, double agents, stalkers, and assassins mostly one-dimensional and interchangeable.

However, one supporting character that stands out is Nancy-Lynn, the aforementioned mistress. In most books, she would be a manipulative gold-digger/Trophy Wife. In this one, she is a sweet naive girl who realizes that she is in over her head and needs assistance to get out. The moments where Sydney helps Nancy-Lynn gain a new career and independence are genuinely heartfelt and touching.

However, the book has some serious drawbacks. It takes place over a large span of time almost two or three years, judging by the age of Sydney's and Walker's child. With some books a large passage of time is fine, but with a suspense novel it needs to be shorter and tighter. Characters discussing the same case for years might be true to life but stretches credibility in literature.

It doesn't help that the characters don't develop with what would be expected in such a long time. They are well-written but they are the same people in the same situation year after year. Surely, such a long time in passing requires a bit more depth.


The other problem is with Bowmen's writing style. It is almost all description and summary. The book has minimal dialogue. Instead it delves into summarizing events as though the book were an extended outline of ideas that Bowman had rather than an actual book. After awhile it gets repetitive to read paragraphs like

“His contact Euquerio meaning 'surehanded’ went straight to the point. Yes, the former agent was killed when learning about sources causing the medical illnesses at the embassy. His informant was the mistress was one of the top-ranking military commanders. She was found with him and taken to an unknown location for questioning. He wasn't sure what happened afterwards, but hadn't seen her in the bars she frequented. He suggested not looking for her, for if alive and found, she'd attract the government for him.”

The writing goes on like this. The phrase “show, don't tell” definitely comes to mind.


There is a lot with this book that could be salvageable: lots of suspense and some interesting protagonists. But the writing needs to improve before Carolyn M. Bowen and Sydney Jones can receive a second chance.

New Book Alert: L’Agent Double: Spies and Martyrs in the Great War (Women Spies Book 3) by Kit Sergeant; Suspenseful Character Driven Historical Novel About Real-Life WWI Female Spies By Julie Sara Porter Bookworm Reviews

New Book Alert: L’Agent Double: Spies and Martyrs in the Great War (Women Spies Book 3) by Kit Sergeant; Suspenseful Character Driven Historical Novel About Real-Life WWI Female Spies

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Spies are some of the most interesting colorful figures in history, literature, and popular culture. They have to be on the inside of one place, giving information to another, . By definition, they have to be charismatic and charming, so they can be trusted with secrets. They always have to carry on a duplicitous nature that is capable of deceit and subterfuge, even more so when they are a double agent and work both sides. They also have to be resourceful, sharp, and always have to watch their backs because they could be caught and their lives could end at any time.

Kit Sergeant has written a series of novels about spies in different points in history. 355: The Women of Washington's Spy Ring was about female spies in the Revolutionary War and Underground: Traitors and Spies During Lincoln's War covers the Civil War. Her latest, L’Agent Double tells an intense brilliant story about three real-life women thrust into the WWI spy game.

The three women are: Alouette Richer, a French aviator who is recruited after her husband's death, Marthe Cnockeart, a Belgian nurse who is also a courier against the occupying Germans, and Margaretha Zelle-MacLeod known by her famous stage name, Mata Hari, a Dutch dancer who uses her noted charms to seduce secrets out of her lovers.

These women are brilliantly characterized as individuals who have different stories about their recruitments, their spy processes, and their personalities. They are all three memorable protagonist who are caught up in tense situations and use everything at their disposal from wit, to charm, to loyal connections to find their way out. The stories don't intersect much except for a few scattered incidents abs hearing about the occasional news report. This approach gives the three women chances to stand out on their own as key players on the larger stage of World War I.

Mata Hari, called M’greet throughout the book, is certainly the most famous of the trio if not the most famous female spy of all time. In Sergeant's book, she is a vain cunning woman who is well aware of her um talents and attributes and uses them to get material possessions. She spies not out of any patriotism or loyalty to the countries but for the financial gain that she receives from her handlers.

 M’greet passes information from her various lovers to the governments using the code name, H-21. Since it's pointless to use a pseudonym because of her fame, she cleverly uses it as passage into the homes of various lovers. She is invited to swank parties where she observes plans and notes, or listens to gossip and conversations

and reports to superiors. Sometimes, she passes useless information to confuse them. 

However, Seargent doesn't write M’greet as a completely hard hearted woman or a stereotypical femme fatale. She is still hurting from a messy divorce and separation from her beloved daughter. Late in the book, she has a genuine romance with a younger soldier and considers renouncing her fame, notoriety, and lavish lifestyle for love. Unfortunately, the relationship ends and she is left alone once again. 

Alouette Richer is a different person from M’greet. She was happily married, while M’greet was miserably married and divorced. 

She was also brasher and feistier than the at times showy and materialistic M’greet. She becomes a spy, partly out of revenge for her husband's death but there are hints that she wants to live a life of excitement and significance. It is implied that she settled into a comfortable wealthy marriage to escape her former life as a courtesan.

 During her marriage, she flies airplanes something, rarely done by women in her day. She loves her husband, but wants to do something for herself. After his death, she actually writes a letter to the French government for her services in any way possible.

It is almost a series of errors and missteps in Alouette’s first spying assignment in Switzerland. She uses the cover story that she is looking for her fiance and drops the name of a former acquaintance without checking to see if he had married. She makes a friend with a German tourist but then learns, oops, that she is a spy and imprisons her. Luckily, Alouette's feistiness and impetuous nature which gets her in trouble also allows her to escape from her anatgonists. (Ironically, Gerda the spy, who almost captured Alouette, becomes M’greet’s spy trainer later.)

Alouette has better luck in Spain where she becomes more patient and self-assured than in her last assignment. Unlike M’greet who hopped from lover to lover, Alouette finds one specific German official to find information from, Baron Hans Von Krohn. She uses her former training as a courtesan to become Von Krohn's lover and to pass information using codes and invisible ink.

Alouette becomes an expert at concealing her real feelings. She whispers all the right romantic phrases while fully aware that she is in the home of an enemy. She plays the Spy Game so well that it's almost refreshing when she reveals her real emotions. While spying on Von Krohn, Alouette has a playful flirtation with Zozo, a fellow aviator and spy that develops into a potential real romance. When her assignment comes to an end, she calls out Von Krohn in a great moment of self-awareness. She also calls out her former handler when she learns that he was involved in betraying both her and M’greet.

Marthe Cnockeart doesn't have the seductive nature of M’greet or the forceful determination of Alouette, but she is no less dedicated to her work. She starts out as a nurse and a sweet naive girl with a family that loves but shelters her. When the German Army occupies her Belgian village, Marthe is filled with rage and despair and wants to do something. Her aunt provides her with a key to help the Belgians.

While she is treating patients, Marthe works as a courier. She listens to information from medical supervisors and wounded soldiers about upcoming battles and air raids and passes it along in notes to fellow spies. She is also monitored and advised by a secret group called “The Safety-Pin Men” (so-called because they were diagnal pins on their lapels) who tell her of important information that could affect her spying.

Of the three stories, Marthe's is probably the most emotional. She has to reconcile her spying with her medical career and the guilt she feels sending young men that she once healed to their deaths. She also has a sweet romance with a wounded soldier that does not end well.

There are plenty of suspenseful moments in this novel. Characters who the women trust prove to be traitors. Both M’greet and Alouette receive offers to become double agents further muddying their already tangled allegiances. One of Marthe's contacts is shot right in front of her and another is in a building when a bomb hits. All three women are at the point of near death, having their covers blown, and face possible arrest or execution several times. When M’greet is finally arrested and eventually executed, the shock waves of her fate are felt by Alouette and Marthe, causing both to question their loyalties and careers. 

Mata Hari 's maxim (said to be her final words) was “Life is an illusion,” meaning life is what you tell people and what you make them believe. All three women lived their lives in that way by carrying on subterfuge and revealing important information in war. They had to play specific roles in front of their enemies so others can go about their business. It was a tense and dangerous life, but never boring. It was always exciting and so is the book about them.

Kit Sergeant is writing a book about female spies in the Second World War. If it is anything like its predecessors it should be suspenseful, filled with strong leads, and completely unforgettable.

New Book Alert: 8 Seconds to Midnight (Commander John Hart Series) by John Leifer; Winning Political Thriller With Strong Plot and Memorable Characters on Both Sides

New Book Alert: 8 Seconds to Midnight (Commander John Hart Series) by John Leifer; Winning Political Thriller With Strong Plot and Memorable Characters on Both Sides


By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews 

8 Seconds to Midnight by John Leifer is very similar to one of those political thriller movies where the bad guys make a threat to use a weapon to cause destruction and the good guys try to prevent that from happening.
But it is much better than the standard one-dimensional action film repertoire.

Instead, 8 Seconds to Midnight has some strong tense moments of plot and action, but it plays more like a chess game in which two sides of memorable characters scheme against each other to either cause or stop the deaths of countless lives.
In the previous book, CIA’s counter terrorism expert Commander John Hart tried to stop biological weapons that were set to go off in major airports. He succeeded and the virus was eliminated but still 85,000 Americans died.

In this one, the United Islamic State terrorism organization led by the sinister Ibraham al-Bakr plan to steal a nuclear device from the Pakistani government. To do that, al-Bakr has to recruit allies such as General Malik, who has been disgraced because of his involvement with the biological weapon in the previous book. Malik is commanded to provide al-Bakr with the information and assistance to pull the theft of the device off.

Meanwhile, Hart and his colleagues are concerned about silence on the networks. They usually hear some chatter, but no news is definitely not good news. That usually means something is happening. Their worst concerns are proven correct when they hear of the theft of the device. Now it's a race between the United Islamic State to steal and arm the device and Hart's team to stop it before it goes off.

There are some great moments of suspense concerning the two camps. The theft of the device takes quite a few chapters, but it is filled with suspenseful moments where al-Bakr assembles his team using blackmail, threats, and their misguided sense of revenge, money, or protectiveness for their families to his advantage.

Things get pretty tense when they arrive at the base and have to go through various checkpoints to get to the device. The suspense is particularly felt within the character of Major Barr, a soldier coerced into siding with the terrorists. His character is scrutinized expertly as several times, he finds an opportunity in which he could alert authorities or shoot the terrorists himself but does not. This internal dialogue reveals how a person can be torn between their actions and conscience.

The means in which the terrorists act are repellant, but interesting from a storytelling point as they use various methods at their disposal to achieve their goal including obtaining recruits from around the world. Three sleeper agents are recruited in America to use their expertise in physics and metallurgy to put the bomb together and send it on its way to where it could do the most damage.

Another agent that is solicited is Sarah Quaisrani, AKA, “The Arctic Fox” so called because she lives in seclusion in the snowy landscape of Canada and because of her equally cold-blooded nature. She harbors no allegiance to Allah, al-Bakr, or to anyone else but herself. However, she carries herself with an icy clever detachment as she delivers the bomb to New York City and puts local and Federal law enforcement on a wild goose chase involving various disguises and doubles.

Hart's chapters are also filled with unbelievable tension and suspense as his team try to catch up with al-Bakr's. Many times he has to rely on testimony from allies and relatives of the terrorists to obtain information.
In one chapter he and Niya Jamali, a female spy appeal to the sympathies of Malik's daughter, Ayesha Naru, a doctor who has treated various war victims. They remind her that many people, children especially, will die if she doesn't tell them about her father's whereabouts and allegiances.

What sets this book apart from many others in the genre is the care that Leifer gives to writing not only the protagonists but the antagonists as well. Hart is a fully developed character with some traumatic regrets in his life such as the death of his brother as a child and failed missions that propel him to do his duty. He has some sweet moments with his fiancée, Liz Wilkins, a doctor with the CDC who is just as dedicated to her profession as Hart is to his.

Hart also has a strong moral compass which acknowledges wrongdoing even when it's done by his country. When Ayesha comments on the death toll that were direct and indirect results of the United States, Hart has no answer for her except to try to prevent more of them.

Even some of his interrogation methods such as threats and abuse are similar to the people that he is fighting against suggesting that in such conflict, the sides aren't really that different from each other. The motives might be different, to take or spare countless lives, but the means to get there may be more similar than most people think.

Leifer also shows his gift for writing in how he writes the antagonists. Instead of being cardboard villains, they are well defined by their motivations to join the United Islamic State. Some are drawn by a strict religious upbringing. Others out of revenge for the deaths of family members. Others simply for financial gain or for power. Their decisions to take part in such violence are made clear and are not glossed over.

To find out how an enemy organization works, one must discover why they work. Why would people join such a group? What motivates them to take part in such violence? Liefer shows that with the personalization of the various terrorists. The Reader is not meant to necessarily agree with them, but to understand who they are and why they choose such a life that guarantees death.

Leifer also achieves a feat not found in such books and movies. With many action stories, there is a realization that countless lives could be lost. But that thought is not seriously dealt with. Not so in this book. No matter what move Hart and his colleagues make, deaths are bound to happen. Even when an action results in a lesser tragedy, they are still made aware of the destruction and loss of life, that while less than expected is still way too many.

8 Seconds to Midnight is that rare kind of thriller that has plenty of action, but isn't just content to give us that. Instead the behaviors of the characters on both sides propel the action making the Readers think while they enjoy the ride.