If you are completely willing to suspend any belief in reality, this was a very exciting thriller. Craig Page, run out of the CIA by his politically connected and corrupt boss, is making a new life for himself in Europe when his daughter, who is an investigative reporter, stumbles on a hot story that gets her killed. Craig is determined to find out who killed her and get revenge. He is assisted in his quest by his daughter's boss Elizabeth Crowder who quits her job as a newspaper editor to help Craig in his quest.The villains are all larger than life in this one from the venal Kirby who heads the CIA but who is totally under the thumb of his venture capitalist father to General Zhou who is the head of the Chinese military and who is planning a rogue action that can throw the world into a US-China war. The story is composed of many short chapters that switch viewpoints from Craig, to General Zhou, to Kirby. The action is non-stop and so is the violence. Everything moves at break-neck pace and leaves little time for character development. And danger is apparently quite an aphrodisiac as evidenced by the half-page sex scene that was really good for both Craig and Elizabeth and seems to come out of nowhere. Topol did surprise me. He had a secret villain that I didn't see coming. The story was very readable and the action was non-stop. If you are looking for a thriller for a beach read, this book will fit the bill. Since it is also the first book of a trilogy, more action is also in your future. The Spanish Revenge is coming soon.
