**** Complex and enjoyable story with a slightly slow start
This
novella is the first book in a series of thrillers whose main character is
Frank Bowen. Although it is a short text that is often offered for free to
encourage the reading of the following one, it is completely self-conclusive
and works well as a single book. Furthermore, the text is very good. I haven’t
noticed typos or other errors (if there are any, they must be just a few).
The
story takes place in the 90s in the period before the return of Hong Kong to
China, while media attention is focused on the war in Iraq. The quite varied
and well-described international environment and the details of the intrigues
and procedures involving the various intelligence agencies are a sign of a
considerable research effort that almost amazed me, since it is such a short
text.
The
plot is not overly original and there are some fairly predictable aspects,
including the ending, but it has some unexpected twists, which keep the
interest alive, and well-described action scenes.
Some
parts are perhaps a bit slow. The beginning in particular isn’t exactly
compelling and doesn’t make you want to go on in the story. If it hadn’t been
such a short book, I would have probably abandoned it immediately. But I’m glad
I didn’t do it.
Finally,
I admit I had some difficulty in remembering the various characters, perhaps
because they are many and are showed quite quickly. In my opinion, in this book
there was material to write something much longer, which would allow the secondary
characters to develop better, making them more interesting and memorable. This
would have improved the whole story.
However,
it was a good read that I can recommend.
False Flag on Amazon.
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