Review of The Date Farm

[Li Zapata]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Date Farm" by Jack Winnick.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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The Date Farm by Jack Winnick is a book about Laura and Uri, two CIA agents who are on a mission to put an end to the ongoing terrorist attacks performed by certain religious groups in Iran. There is espionage, multiple kidnappings, and even murder. The events of the book, while fictional, take inspiration from real historical events like 9/11. In fact, one of the main antagonists in this book is one of the main leaders of that attack.

It was well written with no noticeable grammar or spelling mistakes. I enjoyed the descriptions and characters were all recognizable upon mention. Unfortunately, I felt that none of them were truly memorable. The same goes for the plot. Most of the conflicts, while written to be high stakes, felt low stakes. The solutions to each of the problems encountered felt slightly too convenient. I would’ve appreciated the stakes of the situations our characters were in if they had any actual troubles or weaknesses.

I will give this book the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the pretty flat characterizations of our main characters. It seems as though this is the fourth book in a series centered around them. My lack of appreciation for the stakes might also be affected by my lack of knowledge for the other books in this series. Unfortunately, I have not and will not be reading those. I did think the relationship between our main duo was cute. I think it would be cuter if I had the context of the other books as well.

One big complaint I have is that I wish the main antagonists were at least slightly able to be empathized with. I am a true believer in the idea that well written characters are able to be empathized with, including villains. Our antagonists were true and unsympathetic evil though.

Personally, I did not enjoy this book, but I think it was written fairly well. I will say that if you enjoyed the author’s other books in this series, you will probably enjoy this one as well. Overall, I rate The Date Farm by Jack Winnick a 3/5 stars and 2/4 stars.

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The Date Farm
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