quippe | Entries tagged with david john

The Blurb On The Back:

North Korea and the USA are on the brink of war.

A young American woman disappears without trace from a South Korean island.

The CIA recruits her twin sister to uncover the truth.

Now, she must go undercover in the world’s most deadly state.

Only by infiltrating the dark heart of the terrifying regime will she be able to save her sister … and herself.

Prepare yourself for the most explosive international thriller of the year.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

D. B. John’s timely international thriller uses his knowledge of the North Korean regime to gripping effect featuring two characters wounded by the regime and a plot that’s built around Kim Jong-il’s real-life 2010 nuclear testing programme. However the final quarter, over-eggs the adversity that Jenna and Cho face and I wasn’t wholly convinced by Jenna’s CIA training but the book ends with a set up for a sequel that I will definitely read.

The Blurb On The Back:

August 1936: The eyes of the world are on Berlin, where Adolf Hitler is using the Olympic Games to showcase his powerful new regime. Cynical British journalist Richard Denham knows that the carefully staged spectacle masks the Nazis’ ruthless brutality, and he’s determined to report the truth.

Sparks fly when the seasoned newspaperman meets the beautiful and rebellious American socialite Eleanor Emerson. A superb athlete whose brash behaviour got her expelled from the U.S. Olympic swim team, Eleanor is now covering the games as a celebrity columnist for newspapers in the States. While Berlin welcomes the world, the Nazi capital becomes a terrifying place for Richard and Eleanor. Their chance encounter at a reception thrown by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels leads them into the center of a treacherous game involving the Gestapo and the British Secret Intelligence Service. At stake: a mysterious dossier that threatens to destroy the leadership of the Third Reich.

Drawn together by danger and passion, surrounded by enemies, Richard and Eleanor must pull off a daring plan to survive. But one wrong move could be their last.

Set in America and Europe, David John’s Flight From Berlin is a masterful blend of fact and fiction, drama and suspense. A riveting story of love, courage, and betrayal that culminates in a breath-taking race against the forces of evil, it will keep you spellbound until its thrilling end.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

David John’s debut novel is an interesting historical thriller that marries fact with fiction and is cast against the 1936 Olympics, with a vibrant heroine, some great dialogue and a contemporary feel. Although the pace and tension does slip in the second half, I thought this was an engaging mix of fact and fiction and I’m really looking forward to reading John’s next book.