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jiayuanc's review against another edition
I should have known from the Acknowledgements page that this was not going to be for me.
Palmer thanks his fellow colleagues in the Foreign Services Office for all their hard work to advance the interests of the United States. I should have just stopped reading there but I gave it a chance.
The prologue begins with Alex Baines over promising to Sudanese refugees that his peace keeping mission in Darfur would be able to protect the tribe against the Janjaweed militia. Alex doesn't have the authority to promise this sort of thing, then gets upset when the one who does have this authority refuses, citing that this would go against their mission, as stated by the UN résolutions that brought them to Darfur in the first place. Alex is upset and blames the Chinese for negotiating a tough resolution on the UN security Council. Hypocrisy abounds.
The one piece of nice symbolism was the part of the Janjaweed leader's white horse riding into the camp. I had just begun to think about what a nice symbol this was (the pale horse bringing Death) when Palmer literally has his character Alex quote the exact lines from Revelation.... Please I am begging authors everywhere to just trust your readers will understand the reference. And even if they don't, that's OK!!! The imagery of the white horse against all the darkness and chaos is a cool one regardless!!!!!
The rest of the book once the only female character is introduced seemed very predictable. After reading the first two chapters I predicted to my husband how the story would end and from skimming the remainder of the book i can happily say that I was right.
DNF and should have done so after hearing that Palmer got Madeleine Albright to blurb his book.
Palmer thanks his fellow colleagues in the Foreign Services Office for all their hard work to advance the interests of the United States. I should have just stopped reading there but I gave it a chance.
The prologue begins with Alex Baines over promising to Sudanese refugees that his peace keeping mission in Darfur would be able to protect the tribe against the Janjaweed militia. Alex doesn't have the authority to promise this sort of thing, then gets upset when the one who does have this authority refuses, citing that this would go against their mission, as stated by the UN résolutions that brought them to Darfur in the first place. Alex is upset and blames the Chinese for negotiating a tough resolution on the UN security Council. Hypocrisy abounds.
The one piece of nice symbolism was the part of the Janjaweed leader's white horse riding into the camp. I had just begun to think about what a nice symbol this was (the pale horse bringing Death) when Palmer literally has his character Alex quote the exact lines from Revelation.... Please I am begging authors everywhere to just trust your readers will understand the reference. And even if they don't, that's OK!!! The imagery of the white horse against all the darkness and chaos is a cool one regardless!!!!!
The rest of the book once the only female character is introduced seemed very predictable. After reading the first two chapters I predicted to my husband how the story would end and from skimming the remainder of the book i can happily say that I was right.
DNF and should have done so after hearing that Palmer got Madeleine Albright to blurb his book.
fudgeelizabeth9's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
adammp's review against another edition
3.0
Good and entertaining but maybe a bit too conspiratorial. The ending redeemed the book however and I look forward to Palmer's future novels
mamanaja's review against another edition
1.0
The plot was interesting but the characters were too one-dimensional to enjoy.
arcookson's review against another edition
5.0
Likely a 2014 favorite read. Palmer's plot is fast paced and meaty, weaving mining, diplomacy, K&R, the US Foreign Service, and the politics of developing countries like the DRC into an engrossing and entertaining novel. Half way through, I added Palmer's next book to my to-read list.
fudgeelizabeth9's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rosseroo's review
3.0
Although I enjoy a good thriller, I find most contemporary ones I pick up either completely generic, or wandering too far off the deep end of reality. (For a frame of reference, I think my all time favorite thriller is still The Day of the Jackal). I picked this up because it revolves around a career US Foreign Service officer in Africa -- and I grew up in a Foreign Service family.
The book opens with a prologue set in Darfur, where the hero is the American rep on the ground who can only stand by impotently as a refugee camp is annihilated by raiders. We then meet him three years later as he works the consular desk in Conakry (a city my grandparents served in), suffering from PTSD and with his career in tatters. His mentor, who is the US Ambassador in the Democratic Republic of Congo calls him up with an unexpected job offer and carer resurrection, which he gladly accepts.
What ensues is a competent thriller involving a large international mining company trying to relocate a village sitting on top of rich mineral deposits, a beautiful engineer trying to fight them off, a charismatic rebel warlord, a despotic strongman dictator, a secret society, villains that will surprise no one, two allies who might surprise, and all manner of close escapes, gunfights, and even a nighttime parachute drop. If elements of the plot are somewhat predictable, and aspects of the story somewhat cheesy, these deficiencies are somewhat offset by the authenticity of the material. It's hard to say more without getting into spoiler territory, but for example, the book does a very good job of explaining the background of Rwandan forces in Congo and incorporating them into the story.
I guess while the Foreign Service Officer makes a nice break from your typical CIA/FBI/NSA thriller superhero, and there are some interesting details about embassy life and procedures, and a welcome foray into the DRC's complex history, it doesn't elevate into "must read" thriller territory.
The book opens with a prologue set in Darfur, where the hero is the American rep on the ground who can only stand by impotently as a refugee camp is annihilated by raiders. We then meet him three years later as he works the consular desk in Conakry (a city my grandparents served in), suffering from PTSD and with his career in tatters. His mentor, who is the US Ambassador in the Democratic Republic of Congo calls him up with an unexpected job offer and carer resurrection, which he gladly accepts.
What ensues is a competent thriller involving a large international mining company trying to relocate a village sitting on top of rich mineral deposits, a beautiful engineer trying to fight them off, a charismatic rebel warlord, a despotic strongman dictator, a secret society, villains that will surprise no one, two allies who might surprise, and all manner of close escapes, gunfights, and even a nighttime parachute drop. If elements of the plot are somewhat predictable, and aspects of the story somewhat cheesy, these deficiencies are somewhat offset by the authenticity of the material. It's hard to say more without getting into spoiler territory, but for example, the book does a very good job of explaining the background of Rwandan forces in Congo and incorporating them into the story.
I guess while the Foreign Service Officer makes a nice break from your typical CIA/FBI/NSA thriller superhero, and there are some interesting details about embassy life and procedures, and a welcome foray into the DRC's complex history, it doesn't elevate into "must read" thriller territory.
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