Happy Reading

Toni's bookshelf: read

The Godfather of Kathmandu (Sonchai Jitpleecheep, #4)
Ape House
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Operation Napoleon
Walking Dead
The Sentimentalists
The Heretic Queen
The Midnight House
Cross Fire
Peony in Love
Absurdistan
Nefertiti
Finding Nouf: A Novel
City of Veils: A Novel
First Daughter
A Place of Hiding
Amagansett
Peter Pan


Toni Osborne's favorite books »
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Wednesday, December 3, 2014

"The Counterfeit Agent", by Alex Berenson

Book #8, in the John Wells series

This latest adventure re-assembles most of the author’s familiar cast of characters and sets them on a race against the clock. This series has taken John all over the world but this time the focus is on Turkey and Iran, where a nuclear plot may or may not be taking shape. The premise in “The Counterfeit Agent” is far from original although Mr. Berenson has given it quite a personal twist and along the way has provided us with a well-crafted thrill ride and a believable act of betrayal.

This novel’s arc takes John through a treacherous twisted world of spies. The author knows how to pace and provide a plausible plot and like the previous books his grasp of geopolitical realities and the murky politics is highly noticeable. We have all the machinations we can imagine coming from Langley and the self-serving professionals jockeying for advantage. John is getting older but still is a killing machine, which has endured torture, been wounded, was injected with poison and yet he manages to pull through to take another mission and save America from going to war. This story is action packed, mimics what we suspect is happening in the real world and is full of surprises. Although many issues are solved, the ending a cliff-hanger leaves us there to find out the resolution…so stay tuned.

Although this book is entertaining, I prefer my story not to leave doors wide open and force my hand to see the outcome. After a strong start and keeping a steady pace the unfinished ending was such a disappointment that I can say this latest was not my preferred adventure and this by far...maybe rehashing the same old theme is getting stale and I need to break free from this in order to enjoy Mr. Berenson again in the future…..

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