Rules of Betrayal by Christopher Reich

46. – 559.) Rules of Betrayal by Christopher Reich – I am ambivalent about the thriller. The primary characters are intriguing – the beautiful Emma Ransom, a former Soviet agent working for the Division a secret American spy agency not part of the CIA and the handsome Dr. Jonathan Ransom, a surgeon working for Doctors Without Borders. The twist is that they are married though separated. Each is caught up with the issues of Islamic fundamentalism. Emma is involved in a plot to assassinate a terrorist financier, Prince Rashi, while Jonathan is taken prisoner by the Taliban to treat an ailing leader in the mountains. Their stories start coming together when a nuclear cruise missile is identified as intact near the peak of a mountain in the Himalayas. In the middle is international arms dealer, Lord Balfour, an Indian living in Pakistan who never heard of a deal from which he could not make a profit. My ambivalence starts with the go it alone, cowboy mentality, of the Division. When dealing with a potential missing nuclear weapon it is hard for me to believe that every branch of the American military and spy agencies would not have been involved. Great thrillers can suspend disbelief but only so far with nuclear bombs. Reich is a smooth writer whose actions sequences are gripping. Overall the book read like the cartoon aspects of current Hollywood action movies. It is too predictable. When the good guys and girls are all great looking and brilliant I start with some disbelief. You always know the result but the story was just too predictable. The characters are not as one dimensional as Hollywood but Reich’s writing skills could not compensate for the plot. Paperback (Dec. 16/10)