Clark Zlotchew's Blog - Posts Tagged "international-intrigue"
Review: Christopher Reich, Rules of Deception
Rules of Deception
by Christopher Reich
Clark Zlotchew's review
Aug 30, 11 · edit
Read from August 17 to 28, 2011 � I own a copy
BCID: (generate)
Christopher Reich, in Rules of Deception, outdoes himself. The action of this espionage/thriller starts on the very first page. The reader has no choice but to keep following the action. All the action is set in Switzerland, but has ramification around the world. There are, in addition to exciting action, very complicated connections between characters, and more twists and turns than a labyrinth. It is fascinating the way in which Reich leads you to believe that character X is a "good guy" only to find that he is not, or in the case of character Y, you think he's a villain, then "realize" he is on the right side, only to find he is a villain after all. Several characters have more than one identity. It is fascinating to see how the male protagonist, who has no experience in foreign intrigue and is connected to no intelligence or counter-intelligence agency (he is a doctor with Doctors Without Borders), gets sucked into an extremely complex (and dangerous) set of circumstances and unwittingly turns into a major player in this life-and-death chess game.
by Christopher Reich
Clark Zlotchew's review
Aug 30, 11 · edit
Read from August 17 to 28, 2011 � I own a copy
BCID: (generate)
Christopher Reich, in Rules of Deception, outdoes himself. The action of this espionage/thriller starts on the very first page. The reader has no choice but to keep following the action. All the action is set in Switzerland, but has ramification around the world. There are, in addition to exciting action, very complicated connections between characters, and more twists and turns than a labyrinth. It is fascinating the way in which Reich leads you to believe that character X is a "good guy" only to find that he is not, or in the case of character Y, you think he's a villain, then "realize" he is on the right side, only to find he is a villain after all. Several characters have more than one identity. It is fascinating to see how the male protagonist, who has no experience in foreign intrigue and is connected to no intelligence or counter-intelligence agency (he is a doctor with Doctors Without Borders), gets sucked into an extremely complex (and dangerous) set of circumstances and unwittingly turns into a major player in this life-and-death chess game.
THE CAUCASIAN MENACE
In this novel, the break-away Republic of Dagestan has nuclear warheads left over from the Soviet Union. The democratically-elected president has been ousted in a coup, and the usurper is intent on selling some of the warheads to Iran and/or terrorist organizations. He also holds a Russian nuclear physicist whom he intends to sell as well. To prevent interference with his plans, the usurper has nuclear missiles trained on key European capitals.
Neither the U.N. nor NATO will take action. The United States, wishing to avoid a nuclear disaster, cannot take any overt action. CIA operatives Baker and Gold are assigned to help the Loyalist army eliminate the usurper and help the Loyalists to recover the reins of government, while avoiding a nuclear confrontation. They must also rescue the scientist and prevent the sale of nuclear warheads to rogue states or terrorists.
Complicating matters, Baker’s wife had been tortured and murdered years before by Thorne, the sadistic mercenary now employed by the usurper. Gold fears that Baker may have killing Thorne as his top priority, rather than capturing him for questioning. Meanwhile, William Bell, their immediate superior, has been selling information to the usurper that could result in failure of the mission and the deaths of Baker and Gold.
Dagestan, in the real world, has been the scene of violence, much of it spilling over from neighboring Chechnya, but some of it internal. There are 36 different languages and dialects in this mountainous region, and the ethnic groups associated with those languages. The republic is part of the Russian Federation, and news from this republic as well as from the entire North Caucasus Region is tightly censored.
Clark ZlotchewThe Caucasian Menace
Neither the U.N. nor NATO will take action. The United States, wishing to avoid a nuclear disaster, cannot take any overt action. CIA operatives Baker and Gold are assigned to help the Loyalist army eliminate the usurper and help the Loyalists to recover the reins of government, while avoiding a nuclear confrontation. They must also rescue the scientist and prevent the sale of nuclear warheads to rogue states or terrorists.
Complicating matters, Baker’s wife had been tortured and murdered years before by Thorne, the sadistic mercenary now employed by the usurper. Gold fears that Baker may have killing Thorne as his top priority, rather than capturing him for questioning. Meanwhile, William Bell, their immediate superior, has been selling information to the usurper that could result in failure of the mission and the deaths of Baker and Gold.
Dagestan, in the real world, has been the scene of violence, much of it spilling over from neighboring Chechnya, but some of it internal. There are 36 different languages and dialects in this mountainous region, and the ethnic groups associated with those languages. The republic is part of the Russian Federation, and news from this republic as well as from the entire North Caucasus Region is tightly censored.
Clark ZlotchewThe Caucasian Menace
