Official Review: A Strange Business: A Tale of Intrigue
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- Erin Dydek
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Official Review: A Strange Business: A Tale of Intrigue
Angela Agapov has unknowingly caught the eye of the Central Intelligence Agency. As the wife of a Russian intelligence officer recently stationed in Greece, she is a primary target to turn her husband into a traitor to their homeland. What should be a straightforward operation quickly turns into a standoff between rival intelligence agencies, with the American CIA and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) thwarting each other’s attempts to gather information. But when an unexpected third party interferes, Angela finds her life in danger. Now the CIA and the SVR will have to work together to save the life of the innocent young woman caught up in the strange business of espionage.
A Strange Business: A Tale of Intrigue, by Maury Berthon, is a behind-the-scenes tale of intelligence and counterintelligence operations in a foreign county. Immediately, I loved how this author opened up the book with an exciting scene depicting Angela’s first interaction with the CIA. It was interesting to watch as the author pieced together the roles of various agents and their efforts to make intelligence operations successful in gathering intel or establishing key relationships.
Throughout the story, the author included helpful information about different aspects of each intelligence agency, including background on British Intelligence (MI6), Israeli Intelligence (Mossad), and Greek Intelligence (EYP). The author also provided interesting historical facts about the various settings featured in the book. I enjoyed learning about the different services and historical details, but I wished the author incorporated these aspects more smoothly into the plot. It often felt like Berthon put the narrative on hold to interrupt with information that seemed to break the fourth wall and disrupt the flow of the scene.
I also found it challenging to keep up with all transitions from place to place and character to character, especially with all the ambiguous titles and designations. Overall, I understood what was happening in the story, but I had to watch for switches because the page breaks were easy to miss and sometimes non-existent. For a first-time author, Berthon told an engaging story but has yet to master the seamless transitions that come naturally for a more seasoned writer. Still, I found myself eager to find out what would happen to Angela and how the situation would work out. I was satisfied with the final events leading up to the last chapter, but I was confused with the scene in the epilogue. I did not completely understand what had happened or why and the final pages didn’t serve as a satisfying hook for a sequel.
At just under 200 pages, the book should have been a quick read, but the occasional times I had to backtrack and re-read a scene made it feel like a long read. I loved learning the process of how intelligence agencies conduct their business and how much historical information this author had to offer. Still, it was not enough to outweigh the mixed feelings I had about the ending. As it stands, I give A Strange Business: A Tale of Intrigue two out of four stars.
This book had very few proofreading errors but could use additional formatting and developmental editing. I’d still recommend this book to readers looking for a short book that gives a detailed narrative about espionage and is squeaky clean. The few minor swear words and lack of sexual content and graphic violence make it a good book for even sensitive readers. It was also a pleasure to see the agencies work together to rescue Angela, and I highly enjoyed that aspect of the novel.
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A Strange Business: A Tale of Intrigue
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