4 out of 4 stars
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Devil in False Colors, written by Jack Winnick, begins with a vicious massacre that leaves five children dead at a Jewish preschool in an upscale suburb in California. The country and the world are shocked by what seems to be a hate crime perpetrated by Arabic speaking terrorists. Israeli national Uri Levin, “one of the most famous of Mossad's assassins,” travels undercover (as Uri Cohen, a businessman) to aid Lara Edmond of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in the investigation. To spice things up, Uri and Lara have worked together and had a romantic involvement in the past, and this new investigation rekindles their feelings.
In my opinion, the geopolitical outlook is this novel’s best feature. Although it is a work of fiction, the author states that “it has strong ties to historical events that are not fiction,” and he does a great job of weaving these elements into the plot.
Some of the best passages in Devil in False Colors are related to pressing issues such as religiously motivated international terrorism, Iran’s nuclear threat, and Russia’s shady role in it. I enjoyed the author’s depiction of these historically and politically nuanced backgrounds. Winnick cleverly presents themes like the creation of the State of Israel, anti-Israel sentiment, and the prejudice against Jews. He also outlines the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims, as well as some of Hezbollah’s underpinnings.
Additionally, I thought the characters were nicely developed, and I particularly liked Lara. This FBI agent who grew up in a farming community in Ohio is “fiercely independent and capable in every way, both physical and mental.” Among other skills, her mastery of computers helped build her reputation as one of the best resources to deal with threats to national security.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. However, due to a few politically charged points of view, it might displease some readers with controversial remarks like the following: “Liberal elements in society had pushed through legislation that brought much of the data-gathering to a close, tying the hands of the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the JTTF, while doing little to maintain privacy and security within the general population.”
Lastly, I give this novel 4 out of 4 stars. Overall, it is a well-written and well-edited book; I only found minor punctuation and hyphenation errors. It was an enjoyable and fast read that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys thrillers with a touch of international affairs. There was nothing I disliked about it.
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Devil in False Colors
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I like how the author sit and explain what was going on and not just a half fast job like most books now a day. You will get so into it then it cut off. This was great
