Date: 15 April 2011, 10:40
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Good International Spy Thriller! The Book of Spies is Gayle Lynds' spy/thriller novel, and it is an enjoyable read. The story is based on the Library of Gold which was Ivan the Terrible's collection of original works dating back throughout history which disappeared after his death. The Book of Spies is one of the manuscripts, and it has turned up in Lynds' novel that bears its name. The two central characters of the story are Eva Blake (a library/museum curator specializing in ancient manuscripts) and Judd Blake (a former military intelligence officer). The CIA is interested in The Book of Spies as there is thought to be a link to funding of terrorists, and they need the expertise of someone such as Eva to help them find the connection. They also bring in Blake to help as he has personal reasons to pursue the Library of Gold. The story that unfolds takes readers from North American to Europe and various parts of Asia. The story of the Library of Gold is one that conspiracy theory lovers will enjoy greatly. Using short chapters averaging about 5 pages each Lynds paces the story at a quick pace while walking the fine line between giving too much information and frustrating the reader. At times the plot twists were predictable, but overall I found the story compelling. The thing that I found with this novel that I haven't in a lot of others was that I felt strongly about the good guys and the bad guys. While the characters are not overly developed (but this isn't a character study), there weren't many that I was lukewarm about. Even though there are ties to terrorists, the primary focus of the story is the Library of Gold. The two things that keep this from being outstanding to me are the beginning and the end. The first three chapters covered three years in fifteen pages. The remainder of the main story takes place over a matter of weeks. It would have been nice to smooth this out a little bit as the first chapters form an impression in the reader's mind what to expect. I also thought the end of the story was a little anti-climactic and played out "by the book". All in all, though, The Book of Spies is a very enjoyable read. If you like espionage and conspiracy thrillers, give this a try.
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