Review "Devil's Move," by Leslie Wolfe, is a political thriller that kicks off with a bang and doesn't slow down until the very end. The protagonist, the jack-of-all-things-spy-related, Alex Hoffmann, finds herself caught up in an elaborate Election Day terrorism plot. The plot, set in a variety of locations, is filled with twists and turns. There is plenty of action and suspense throughout the novel, although plenty of time is devoted to developing the characters.
Wolfe does an excellent job of creating a strong female protagonist in Alex, a character that you root for from start to finish. The political elements of the story are well-done and draw you into the world of shadowy diplomacy and secret plots. This is a great book for anyone who likes political thrillers!
Review "Rat Island," by Jay Kaplan, is a thriller/suspense novel about a terrorist plot to detonate a bomb at ground zero. A group of highly trained SEALs is determined to foil the plan, using every tool in their arsenal to figure out everything they can about the plot and defuse it.
"Rat Island" is a fast-paced book with each chapter beginning with a place and a time e.g. 12:00 AM, July 23rd, Outside a factory in Gdansk. You really get to see the progress of the terrorists, which builds the tension as the SEALs race to stop them. I loved reading about the various settings.
Recommended for anyone who wants to read a thriller about a terrorist plot! More Information Buy this book on Amazon
Review Tomas Byrne's Skin in the Game is a political thriller that follows two protangoists as they investigate the link between a finance firm and a terrorist organization. The plot is set into motion when the brother of the protagonist, Professor Joe Hawkins, disappears. The deeper Hawkins looks into the situation, the more convoluted it seems, and eventually Hawkins finds himself in a sticky web of money laundering, terrorism, and conspiracy. The other protagonist is Dr. Kate Farrow, a psychiatrist tasked with getting information from an amnestic terrorism suspect. To complicate matters, she must obey her superiors, although she often disagrees with their methods. The various subplots of Skin in the Game ultimately weave together to form a riveting story that'll delight anyone who likes an intellectual thriller. One of the things I like about Byrne's writing is that he adeptly uses perspective changes to progress the plot. I've read a number of thrillers where the author seems so bent on giving the reader a ton of different perspectives that he/she ends up getting the pace of the plot off-step -- not the case with Skin in the Game. The plot does get fairly complex as the novel continues, but the amount of details were manageable. Byrne spends a fair amount of time developing the characters, my favorite being Kate. She's in an interesting situation because, although she is clearly more intelligent than her superiors, she's bound by the nature of the hierarchy. Overall, I'd recommend Skin in the Game to anyone who wants to read a political thriller with a complex plot and a financial theme. More Information Buy the book on Amazon Visit the author's website
