Daniel Silva is my go-to author when I want a well crafted, complex, entertaining, and mind expanding novel. With the coronavirus lock down, it has been good to read some books that have been on the to read shelves for a few years. Because Silva books are not short novels, one needs a block of time to really digest and enjoy them.
In The Other Woman, Silva builds on his previous Gabriel Allon stories. This time he assembles his team to ferret out a mole within the MI6 bureau in London. He pulls in much of the story of Kim Philby, who was a double agent for the British Intelligence. Silva interweaves the fictional characters, including a daughter of Philby into his novel to provide the thrilling escapades of a new mole in the intelligence venue.
The book's premise to aid with the defection of a Russian agent in Vienna ends tragically and Allon is blamed publicly for the blunder. In order to save his reputation and that of the Office, he becomes aware of a traitor who has ingratiated him/herself into the intelligence agency of a foreign service. The key to the operation is an elderly woman, who in Andalusia is writing her memoirs, The Other Woman.
With his sometimes rival Graham Seymour, the two embark on a quest to find the mole that has been supplying the Russians with sensitive information. They set their sites on Alistair Hughes, who was the MI6 head in Vienna. They realize that this was the impression that the Russians wanted to give and so the two plod on. They pour over file after file until they realize the Philby connection. With that knowledge, they launched a plan that would uncover the mole's identity and bring him/her into custody.
As in all of Silva's novels, the twists and turns keep readers on the edge of their seats. He is so gifted in the way that he allows Gabriel Allon to showcase brilliance and resilience. To detail any more of the plot, would be to spoil it for those who want to read it for themselves. The reader sits on the fence between dying to know what will happen and not wanting the book to end. A must read for all spy novel fans.
Sometimes you just need a read that is fast-paced, easy to read, and enjoyable at the same time. During this pandemic time Sunset Beach was just that kind of read. Somewhat reminiscent of Mary Higgins Clark's novels, this book was immediately accessible and engaging.
Drue Campbell, a 36 year old former professional kite boarder, has just lost her mother, Sherri, as the novel begins. At the funeral, her father, Brice, appears and seems to want to reconnect. Without a job, a place to live, and no money, Drue reluctantly accepts his offer of a job in his high profile law firm on the west coast of Florida. Part of the draw was that she has inherited her grandparents' home on Sunset Beach. And so she picks up and moves from Ft. Lauderdale into the cottage, which has been allowed to deteriorate to such a condition that she had to start from square one to make it livable. She tore up carpeting and scrubbed and scrubbed. In the process of trying to stop a leak in the attic, she finds a box of newspaper clippings and files from an account of the disappearance of a young woman nearly 40 years ago. She is intrigued and her curiosity gets the best of her and starts to dig into the disappearance - Plot line #1 of the novel.
When she goes to her father's office, she discovers that one of her friends from high school, Wendy, has married her father. Wendy is intent on making the job stressful for Drue as she is his office manager. Drue is given the responsibility of answering phones and referring solid cases to the lawyers. Nothing Drue does seems to be right or in accordance with Wendy's ways - Plot line #2 of the novel.
One of these phone calls is in reference to a possible murder at a local motel that the firm settled quickly and for a minuscule amount of money. A young mother is found dead while on duty as a maid at the motel. The firm has washed its hands of the case, but Drue finds it heart-wrenching that the woman's mother and child are now living near the poverty line because of a lack of income. Looking into the facts of the death lead Drue to a conclusion that there is more to the case than was investigated and that possibly her father's firm was involved in a cover-up. - Plot line #3 of the novel.
With the intertwined plot lines there are supporting characters that all play a part in the resolution of the plot. Jimmy Zee, best friend of Brice Campbell, is an investigator for the firm and has known Drue since she was born. Drue meets a number of young men who will unwittingly play a role in her detective work - Jonah, Corey, Ben. Are they all out to help?
Along the way there are some plot twists and some disturbing innuendos. All go to keep the novel absorbing and moving along. Drue was a likeable young woman, but sometimes unrealistic in her actions. A great page-turner for enduring pandemic time.
In one of the most complex books that I have read, Warlight is the latest of Ondaatje's novels. I had looked forward to reading it from the time Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures announced Ondaatje was the speaker for the last 2020 lecture. Its subject matter concerned two of my favorite topics - World War II and London.
Narrated by Nathaniel, the book opens with the statement:
“In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals”
It snags the reader in what would seemingly be a tome of young children and their existence in the post war London years. But it, like a good part of the book, is merely a fragment of a puzzle that poses a challenge for those who try to piece it together. When Nathaniel (age 14) and his sister, Rachel (age 16), are left by their parents, to go to live in Singapore where the father has been promoted to run a Unilever office. Their mother, Rose, entrusts their keeping to a friend, Walter, whom the children name The Moth because he is so quiet. With The Moth running some shady business, the children are virtually left on their own. The first half of the novel relates their lives there as they meet and interact with other adults who comprise The Moth's group of acquaintances, including the Pimlico Darter (Norman) and Olive Lawrence who is an ecologist and ethnographer. Despite some criminal leanings The Darter becomes a surrogate guardian to Nathaniel as they smuggle dogs into London for illegal racing as does The Moth to Rachel. The two grow up quickly as they experience life in London, all the time wondering where there mother has gone. Nathaniel works for The Moth at the Criterion, a banquet hall where he meets Agnes, named for the street where she lived and who is first sexual experience. When a kidnap attempt is made on the two children, the realization that there is something more to the disappearance of Rose.
In the second part of the book, Nathaniel, now a grown man, reflects on those years, his mother's whereabouts, and the covert activities that kept her at a distance from her children. Working at the British Classified Archives, he discovers documents that help him discover what Rose's part was. Ondaatje reveals bits and pieces of that action to the reader over the course of the second half chapters. There are clues and innuendoes that need to be assembled before a clear vision of Rose's life is understood. A seemingly unimportant incident of a thatcher falling from the roof of Rose's parents home escalates into a critical time in her life.
Warlight references the light that, even tho dimmed, guided emergency traffic in London during World War II. But it also takes on an added meaning of the secrecy and shrouded surreptitiousness of espionage, smuggling, codenames, and interrogations. This is not a book for the faint of heart, but for those who appreciate the complexities of a nuanced novel that reveals its own secrets in measured increments.
