4 out of 4 stars
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The Lost Identity Casualties is a crime fiction written by Kim Ekemar. It is the first book in the Callaghan Septology. It contains 231 pages and was published by Bradley & Brougham Publishing House in 2018. This book is divided into two parts. The first part talked about Matthias Callaghan's history: his grandfather, Matthias Callaghan I, his father, Matthias Callaghan II, and how he found himself in his present predicament. The second part of this book was purely about Callaghan's revenge scheme against his enemies.
Matthias Callaghan III woke up in a Swiss hospital with no idea of who he was, what happened to him and how he got to the hospital. His face was fully swathed in bandages. Trying to raise his hands, he realized they were strapped to the bed. In his confused state, he pleaded with the doctors and nurses to let him know what had happened to him but his efforts proved to be futile. A beautiful woman, Julia, presented herself to him as his wife. He didn't know if he could believe her, but he liked how beautiful she was and how she kept him company, taking care of him. After a while, Matthias began remembering his past until he regained his lost memories. Matthias, heartbroken, set out to get his revenge.
The plot of this book was well-paced from scene to scene. It was very suspenseful with well-developed ideas. The subplots were all tied together to give a realistic and satisfying ending. This book touched on many themes that included terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal immigration, human trafficking, corruption, impunity, money laundering and many other tragic events that happen in the world today. These themes are powerful and memorable.
The dialogues in the book were interesting, realistic, and tense. I like how I could feel the tension gather up in me when Callaghan decided to go after his enemies. The characters were intriguing and well-developed. Although this book has many characters, it wasn't difficult to follow the progress of the story. Each character had a particular role to play, making the characterization altogether superb. This was one of the major strengths of this book.
There were many true historical events mentioned in the narrative: the Iron Curtain countries, Internet frauds, the fate of the London Bridge, the criminal Kray twins, and the ever-changing landscape of the competing Mexican cartels and their capos. All these events showed that this book was thoroughly researched.
Instead of chapter titles, the author used specific dates to narrate the story of each character and the role they played in the life of the protagonist. The events were in chronological order. There's an overview of characters with their background information at the end of the book. This was done to ease the referencing of each character in case of any confusion.
I didn't like the double spacing after each paragraph. It made the book look awkward but I got used to it eventually. I didn't notice any typos or grammatical errors. The spacing issue is not enough to deduct a star from my rating. Therefore, I give The Lost Identity Casualties a 4 out of 4 stars rating. I would recommend this book to readers who like crime thrillers, stories of vendetta and unpredictable plot twists. I won't recommend it to readers who don't like gory scenes, stories that involve prostitution, human trafficking, and murders.
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The Lost Identity Casualties
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