A Thriller Worth Picking Up
937439
This is a series that will put the idea of a thriller in a whole other perspective. This book as well as Don't Look Now will take you on an adventure that will have slight effects of intense nail biting, standing on your toes, yelling madly, and possibly crying. This book would be nothing if it didn't create these emotions that will surely coarse through your body.

Plot: The book continues from where things left off. Noa is on the run and she is on a mission to save children from the grasp of the men experimenting on them. Dangers are becoming more and more present and they are always watching. The book grabs hold of you and pulls you through the chapters

Characters: We still see Peter, Amanda, Zeke and of course Noa as well as other characters from the first book as well as being introduced to new characters as the story continues. The characters create a family bond that I feel is not present in some of the families of our world. These characters are something else. They go through things that children are never expected to go through and we are able to see how strong they are and the maturity overpowers their young age.

Romance: There are a couple things that prove interesting in this category. We have Noa and Zeke and we, as readers, want something to happen but life keeps getting in the way. I have decided to categorize life as a word that I learned through Urban Dictionary: Boonish. Going back...We also have Peter and Amanda who although broke up, still have a fire lit between them. Things will hopefully progress further in the next book but I have to say the ending did kill me.

Ending: This is where the yelling and crying comes in. I knew this might happened and I thought it was going to happen earlier because that is how every author is. They enjoy watching the readers suffer. I have concluded that it is in their nature. It is what it is...

I will keep my eyes peeled for the last book in this amazing series. I invite all readers to check out this thrilling series that will blow your mind apart chapter by chapter. Michelle Gagnon encased me in chills once again and even now when writing this review I peak over my shoulder just in fear that maybe there is someone watching my every moves. Be warned.

I give it 5 bites!
1931555
I liked this book, and I have no real idea why.  I never read a 'thriller' before and would not be attracted by the theme.  It was well written, and carried me along in spite of myself.  The main character attracts the reader, whether you want to be attracted or not, and is complex enough to keep the whole plot rolling along.  The ending is probably not what I would have wanted, but all in all it was an entertaining read and worthwhile giving a go.
2323405
Dun's approach is a new mix of the basic elements. At first I didn't know quite what to make of it. There is a peculiar effort to draw characters in a thriller that are struggling with moral conflict and even beyond that to comment upon national termperments in the context of individual struggles. Although the treatment moral and ethical issues is simplistic, and focuses on just a couple elements of complex issues, it is nevertheless very entertaining at least for some of us. Most thrillers just thrill and don't bother wrestling with any hard issues. Dun doesn't do it in a profound way but he does do it in an entertaining way and for all the failure to approach anything like a literary treatment, he does end up with a piece of swashbuckler and a smattering of social commentary. For example in Unacceptable Risk the French are very self serving, and somewhat duplicitous and extraordinarily susceptible of rationalization sufficient to enable them to sell out the rest of the world for their own ends. That'd the story of a couple French secret service types. Benoit Moreau is a criminal, wants to become good, but resorts to her old evil methods to accommodate her goal. So that she can get out of prison and get to her one true love she prostitutes herself, until its no longer necessary, and so achieves virtue when vice is no longer required. This is not to say that she doesn't struggle valiantly to leave her transgressions behind at the earliest possible moment. But before that moment, she typifies everything she supposedly abhors. Dun presents the dilemna cleverly and we find ourselves rooting for this morally comprised woman who one could say is pretty "good" for an evil character. Dun would have us believe that despite the very rocky road to goodness she more or less arrives on the blissful shores. The journey through these various moral thickets is strewn with constant action and the execution of the suspenseful plot is excellent.
1638009
Colin Harrison writes intelligent thrillers w/o a serial hero, maybe except New York and the wonders of globalization.
I liked the Havana Room a lot, and the Finder has the additional attraction of a China connection. The plot doesn't need to be summarized again, that has been done by Amazon and other reviewers.
CH has the ability to tell a not so unusual story in a fresh and surprising way. He stays away from the cliches and the stereotypes that make me drop many thrillers on similar subjects lost in boredom.
I deduct a star because I am not 100% convinced that the plot driver here would work in real life: the office cleaning company as industrial spy agent who feeds investors half around the world with the info that they need to manipulate the share prices of small startup companies in Wall Street. Well, I don't know. Also, there are some minor blunders about things Chinese, eg his handling of names.
But he hits the right tone for me and his protagonists make sense. Even the Chinese ones, though Li Jin's brother bothered me a bit. He looked too simplistic at first glance (the supersmart but overexposed criminal stock manipulator from a formerly poor family), but then, if you look at the bios of similar real life men and women, they are like that apparently.
And the underworld is remarkably diversified. We also meet the more conventional business models of the Mafia and the Mexican drugring.
The suspense is fueled by more than one line of uncertainty: what is happening to Jin? who is her hero Ray, really? which of the different ethnic gangs is the most evil? possibly the local rich boy?
2773259
I'm glad that the negative reviews on Amazon UK (which set their own standard for unreadability) did not deter me from reading this thriller, which is well-crafted and absorbing. Without giving anything away there are several strands which provide what it's fashionable to call a social commentary; the television expos, the faux psychic, the withdrawn but creative schoolkid, and the soft-hearted thug, to name but four. Of course you can pick holes in the plot if you so choose, but the same is true of Raymond Chandler novels, and I find it significant that the people who criticise on that count never specify just what flaws they've found.
1893580
It would seem that muggers are good guys these days compared to those who would steal our identity. So now we have an even paced sort of thriller that has virtue chasing evil. A deaf woman and her boy friend have both had their identities stolen by a high living thief. Our heroes chug along in their Volkswagen Jetta on the trail of the bad guy in his new Mercedes, following him from California to New York.

Although this is not a thrill a minute tale, it is one of great suspense. We really really want this unsavory guy not just caught, but beaten to a pulp. In the last 50 or so pages of the book Mr. Boyle speeds up the action. What happens? Well, of course, I'm not a spoiler  so I won't tell you. I will say, however, that sometimes the commitments we make turn into shaggy dog stories, and sometimes people truly have epiphanies. I know that last sentence doesn't tell you much, but the author makes the ending a somewhat unexpected one.

This novel is somewhat different from Mr. Boyle's usual writing, and he does an excellent job in this genre. An added plus is the character of the deaf woman. Her problems with those of us who hear should make us ashamed.
3094567
This is a thriller about the abduction of a young girl and the woman who surmised that it happened and got involved.  We learn about the woman's own past that has left her 'damaged' and the husband who has patiently helped gain confidence in her relationships.  We also learn about the girl's father who has some demons as well to handle.

I liked the character development and the various twists.  I also liked how the two primary good-guy male characters bond in their pursuit of the abductors and I liked the relationship of the police detectives as they patiently pursue clues and reject suspects and eventually bring in unlikely help.

There are some twists that will throw you off as well as the loss of some of the characters that will surprise you.  I also found how the woman handled her captivity as intriguing and confusing but I came to admire her strategy by the end of the book.  The conclusion was also unexpected but satisfying.
4844601
This author has the wonderful capacity to play intelligently while constructing a compelling thriller with richly developed characters. You don't need to get all the Borges and other references to enjoy this book, but the author's subtle literary conviviality enhances the book enormously.
691956
This thriller is so realistic, you'll have trouble separating the fiction from the fact. The detailed descriptions of life in Cuba, the Cuban expatriate community in the US, intelligence and counterintelligence operations on both sides, geography and the complex military history of the island are sharp and accurate.

The other great virtue of this book is the plot. Like the best thrillers, it draws you in with a subtle puzzle, accelerates quickly to non-stop, taut action and resolves things at just the right tempo, and in a satisfying way.

Unfortunately, there's nothing else. The biggest problem is the characters, none of whom have vaguely plausible motivations for anything they do, and much of what they do is idiotic. Instead of characters evolving naturally to drive the plot, the plot feels prewritten and the characters merely plugged in to read lines at the appropriate times. When a character is not necessary for the plot, he or she disappears from the face of the earth, to magically reappear when needed. A lesser criticism is that none of the characters develop, but this is a thriller, so character development is optional.

Dialog is also a problem. Most of it is directed at the reader, the rest is pedestrian. Good dialog not an essential in a thriller, but bad dialog detracts from the action.

The action scenes are well-thought out and described crisply, but are too abbreviated for the genre. Robbing the government military train deserves three times the words Havana Queen allots to it; and the same goes for the other action as well.

This is a potentially great thriller in need of a co-author.
4346133
I enjoyed this thriller about executives at a week-long seminar in a secluded West coast setting.  Though there was quite a bit of corporate/business jargon that went right past me, the author did a good job of establishing an interesting set of characters -- some in depth and some kept mysterious until later in the story -- and setting an atmosphere filled with tension.  Three executives at a Seattle ad agency are attempting to buy out their boss's interest in the company, and he tells them he will do so IF they all complete a seminar that he regards highly.  Right away you wonder if the seminar is legitimate, what the boss has planned, etc.  As the seminar progresses you, like the participants, begin to wonder what is real and what is staged, and who you can trust and who you can't.
The writing and plotting are very well done and I, like other reviewers, stayed up late so I could finish it -- which is the mark of a successful thriller, right?  I thought the ending was somewhat less than satisfying, but certainly exciting.
I would recommend this book to a friend who enjoys thrillers, especially if they're an MBA.
802131
I've been wanting to read this Nick Heller thriller for quite some time, and I'm glad that I picked it up. The plot was tight, the characters were great, especially the villain. And of course, it couldn't be a Joseph Finder novel unless there was a plot twist, right? However, there were several well-placed twists which kept you guessing throughout the story. I'm looking forward to Finder's next epic thriller.
2543754
This was a pretty decent thriller with an ending that you definitely won't suspect. I really enjoyed it.
3811661
A better than average  thriller with  twists and turns along the way. Notwithstanding a few missing details  to escapes and pursuit, Mr. Tigner stiches together a great story line with the kinds of heroes one can readily root for. Recommended  for any lover of cloak and dagger  types of thrillers. It moves quickly and will not disappoint.
4885822
Frankly, I don't read much fiction anymore.  I am tired of the gloomy life-is-awful sex-besotted atmosphere in much of it.  Too much of it accepts modern attitudes that America is the source of all evil and pain in the world, that traditional values are really evils, and narcissism is the only true source of meaning in life.  This book, however, is very much worth reading.  Not only is it a solid and entertaining spy thriller, the authors also value America and they remember the values that built our nation.  No, the heroes aren't all perfect or the villains all evil, and there is ambiguity about which side some of the characters are on.  But no matter how complicated and compromised things get you know what values the characters are being measured against, even in their own minds.  Even when the characters fall short of their stated ideals I found it interesting to see which ones knew they were falling short, which were oblivious, and which are cynically manipulating their situation.

The title of the book, like most titles, has multiple meanings.  Stewart Banquo is a master spy who runs his own office under the loose direction of the CIA.  But he has an amazing level of independence because he knows where all the skeletons are and is able to self-finance his operations.  While he has some reliable staff, he never simply trusts them, nor does he fully submit to the agenda set by the CIA masters.  He knows what he needs to accomplish even if we don't always know where he is headed.  The Ghosts are both his memories and the spooks (spies) who work for him.

One of the people Banquo is developing as an asset is Peter Johnson.  Johnson is a sort of Peter Arnett kind of liberal journalist who works for "The Crusader" which is published by one of his ex-wives.  The magazine is sort of like "The Nation" meets "The Huffington Report".  He loves his daughter Giselle from one of his other wives.  After 9/11 Johnson begins to doubt his liberal verities and Banquo and company see an opportunity.

I don't want to give away any of the story because in a thriller like this following the events in the story is at least half of the fun.  The authors do engage in some little games like giving two female FBI agents the names Smith and Wesson.  Yeah, I know.  Just go with the flow and enjoy it.  Games with names is a fine literary tradition, right?

On the serious side, I do think the book does offer a perspective on the War on Terror (using the now banished term) that illustrates in practical (if fictional) terms the issues of spycraft, politics, torture, and the nature of the threats we could really be facing from the Jihadists.

A good book that I hope you take the time to read and enjoy.  Heck, I think it could make a very entertaining movie and would like to see Banquo and his team back in another novel.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
3283884
A thriller that takes mind games to a whole new plane
4755851
Jack Wilson, in "The Devil's Kiss", has written an engrossing thriller, one that you don't want to end. I liked the interplay between politics and global intrigue and the way he developed the rise of local amoral opportunists to positions of national influence. The style of writing is a mix of hard hitting action and an intricate weave of American politics and foreign affairs, done in a smooth and flowing manner. Looking forward to a follow-up book that will continue the tension filled suspense that Wilson depicted in this fine debut novel.
802211
Good, taught thriller, with many twists, the last one I didn't see coming. The subject is up-to-date and presents some intriguing possibilities of what might happen (or be happening now) with so much technology being used that most users do not understand. I found the book a bit slow to start but after the first twenty-five or thirty pages (I think, I wasn't tracking progress that way on my Kindle), I was entertained through to the end.