“Puja Guha is a writer who knows the world of international finance, politics, and intrigue in a way very few have understood it before. But it’s her writing that shines above all else.”
– Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times Bestselling author of WHERE IT HURTS
SPY GAME meets A RUSSIA HOUSE with terrorism.
Former spy Petra Shirazi is forced to work with her nemesis the Ahriman, a retired Iranian assassin, to stop a terrorist plot against international commerce in Washington DC.
After the events of AHRIMAN: THE SPIRIT OF DESTRUCTION, Petra Shirazi settles into a life in Paris under the alias of Ana Zagini. Her new world comes crashing down after a visit from a former Agency colleague forces her back into fieldwork. As they race to stop a mole that has infiltrated the Agency, they uncover an insidious plot to destroy the leadership of the International Monetary Fund and place it in the control of a corrupt Russian politician. The investigation spirals downward and she is forced to enlist the help of the Ahriman, now in hiding and presumed dead by most intelligence sources. Together they must face their demons to stop a conspiracy that threatens to bring global commerce to its knees
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In a sentence? I lost the plot very early on. I still can not make up my mind, what this book was about: love story with too many lovers, spy suspense novel a-la Cold War or a terrorism suspense novel of post-2001 fame.
I honestly do not know what to make of it. The book was too long. There were too many unecessary details, dialogues and descriptions. There were too many characters as well.
Was it about a mole in the Agency…. Well, the mole was way to predictable, if you ask me.
I have not read the first novel in the series, but one does not have to in order to understand characters and relationships between them in the second novel. It’s a mess anyhow.
What cracked me up is the audacity of the author to pain ‘big bad Russian wolf’ without giving any proper details as to what FSB does or how they do it. Never underestimate your enemy. Why on earth would an author paint a picture of such a stupid, under-developed and limited Russian Secret Service? Does she really think that there is noone and nothing better than Americans? Really? Not even British? Very short-sighted and not-interesting.
If the author has tried to paint a picture of spy life as being not too glamorous, she succeeded. ‘This life isn’t worth it. The price is too high’ runs throughout the novel in one way or another.
All in all, I found this book very long and exhausting. Author does know a lot about various things and it shows in her writing. However, she failed to make it interesting and suspensful.
If you are looking for a one-dimensional spy novel where good guys are pretty and bad guys are ugly and stupid, give this one a go.
I am done though.
Svetlana Tishchenko 