July 2017 – Page 21 – What Cathy Read Next…

WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too? Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

Currently reading

A Reluctant Warrior by Kelly Brooke Nicholls (review copy courtesy of the author & Xpresso Book Tours)

When Luzma’s brother, Jair, unwittingly uncovers the plan by Colombia’s most notorious drug cartel to smuggle an unprecedented cocaine shipment into the US, it puts their family in grave danger. Jair’s kidnapping by the cartel forces Luzma to go face to face with vicious paramilitary leader, El Cubano, and General Ordonez, ruthless head of the military – men who will stop at nothing to protect their empires. But for Luzma, nothing is more important than saving her family – not even her own life.

Court of Lions by Jane Johnson (review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus)

Kate Fordham, escaping terrible trauma, has fled to the beautiful sunlit city of Granada, the ancient capital of the Moors in Spain, where she is scraping by with an unfulfilling job in a busy bar. One day in the glorious gardens of the Alhambra, once home to Sultan Abu Abdullah Mohammed, also known as Boabdil, Kate finds a scrap of paper hidden in one of the ancient walls. Upon it, in strange symbols, has been inscribed a message from another age. It has lain undiscovered since before the Fall of Granada in 1492, when the city was surrendered to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. Born of love, in a time of danger and desperation, the fragment will be the catalyst that changes Kate’s life forever.

Recently finished

Dark Dawn over Steep House by M R C Kasasian (review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus)

London, 1884: 125 Gower Street, the residence of Sidney Grice, London’s foremost personal detective, and his ward March Middleton, is at peace. Midnight discussions between the great man and his charge have led to a harmony unseen in these hallowed halls since the great frog disaster of 1878. But harmony cannot last for long. A knock on the door brings mystery and murder once more to their home. A mystery that involves a Prussian Count, two damsels in distress, a Chinaman from Wales, a gangster looking for love and the shadowy ruin of a once-loved family home, Steep House…

Did You Whisper Back? by Kate Rigby (review courtesy of the author & Neverland Book Tours)

Set in the nineteen-seventies, Did You Whisper Back? begins with Amanda Court’s longing to be reunited with her estranged twin sister Jo. Following a false lead, Amanda leaves her Merseyside home and family and goes to Devon to work as a chambermaid where she believes Jo now lives. Gradually it emerges that Jo is, seemingly, just a figment of Amanda’s imagination arising from distorted childhood truths. Did You Whisper Back? is a psychological novel about family secrets and a disturbing portrayal of the fragility of the mind.

Citizen Kill by Stephen Clark (review copy courtesy of the author)

When a devastating explosion kills the new President’s young son, her administration seeks to finally end the war on terror. CIA black-ops agent Justin Raines is among the recruits in a new program that targets for assassination U.S. citizens suspected of radicalizing Muslims. Haunted by a botched assignment overseas, Justin is determined to redeem himself through the program. But when he is assigned to kill a mysterious Muslim educator that he believes is innocent, he grows disillusioned. Now he must find a way to prove her innocence and derail the program before they both are assassinated.

What Cathy (will) Read Next

Revenants: The Odyssey Home by Scott Kauffman (review copy courtesy of the author)

A grief-stricken candy-striper serving in a VA hospital following her brother’s death in Viet Nam struggles to return home an anonymous veteran of the Great War against the skulduggery of a congressman who not only controls the hospital as part of his small-town fiefdom but knows the name of her veteran. A name if revealed would end his political ambitions and his fifty-year marriage. In its retelling of Odysseus’ journey, Revenants casts a flickering candle upon the Charon toll exacted not only from the families of those who fail to return home but of those who do.

About the Book

Format:	Paperback	Publisher:	WiDo Publishing	Pages:	274
Publication:	4^th July 2017	Genre:	Thriller

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com ǀ
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Citizen Kill on Goodreads

My Review

The author has created an exciting story based around the contemporary issue of Islamist terrorism, how to respond to and prevent it. In response to a bombing outrage at the Presidential inauguration in which the President’s young son is killed, the President is persuaded the way to prevent further outrages is to extend the CIA’s focus beyond suspected terrorists to the suspected influencers of terrorism. Those on the list will be ‘neutralized’ by a select team of trained assassins – there will be no trials or judicial process. The program is named Operation Prevent which will be ironic to UK readers as the UK government’s anti-radicalisation programme is called ‘Prevent’ and certainly does not include ‘neutralization’ of its citizens (as far as we know).

Emotionally scarred from the loss of his fiancée during an overseas operation that went wrong, and languishing on administrative leave with too much time to dwell on past events and hit the bottle, Justin Raines is assigned to the program. Initially unquestioning about the morality of his assignment, Justin begins to have doubts about the guilt of the people he has been sent to ‘neutralize’. These doubts about what he is being asked to do become absolute certainty when he encounters his next target, Zahra al Sharif, the female founder of a Muslim school. Influenced by his growing personal feelings for Zahra, Justin embarks on a path that will bring him up against everything those in government who sponsor the program can throw at him. He turns from assassin to target and will need to draw on all his craft if he and Zahra are to escape with their lives. But in situations like that, who can you trust?

Given recent events, I found the premise of the novel quite chilling; the idea that a secret program could be operating beyond the bounds of the laws that we trust to protect us. I was pleased the author cast a woman as President although I would have liked her to play a more central role. I thought Zahra was a really believable character and the suspicion that fell on her simply because of her religion, family background and educational establishment highlighted the current issues that many Muslims must face. The speed with which her relationship with Justin developed was a little less convincing for me – not quite ‘instalove’ but pretty close. However, I liked the fact that she didn’t play a passive role in the action.

I enjoyed the book, especially its topical theme, and would place it in my ‘plane, train and automobile’ category. In other words, it would definitely keep you well entertained on a long plane or train journey – the time would just fly by. I thought this was a very promising debut – fast-paced, action-packed and entertaining.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of the author in return for an honest review.

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In three words: Topical, action-packed, chilling

Try something similar…Brilliance by Marcus Sakey

About the Author

Stephen Clark is a former award-winning journalist who served as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and as a politics editor for the Washington, D.C. bureau of FoxNews.com.

Stephen grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and now lives in North Jersey with his wife and son. He has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Arcadia University and a master’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University.

Connect with Stephen

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