Rules of Deception by Christopher Reich
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Book Reviews of Rules of Deception
Book Review: Excellent Intro to Vengence
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very good book to escape with but please read it before you read Rules of Vengence which is an outstanding read. If you read Rules of Vengence first it will totally spoil this book. Both are fun, well written and I'm looking forward to the follow-up.Book Review: "Alias" rediscovered
Summary: 4 Stars
Certainly more plot twists and turns here than in an episode of "Alias" (one of my all-time faves), with the reader asked to suspend their disbelief many many times. But why not? Great escapist fun. Looking forward to reading the sequel.Book Review: super evil bad guys
Summary: 4 Stars
Another really fast read full of amazing good guys and super evil bad guys. It has been so long since I read his others I'm not really sure where I would place it among them.
Book Review: A decent espionage novel for the Post-9/11 world.
Summary: 3 Stars
Christopher Reich's "Rules Of Deception" is the first novel in a new series that features Dr. Jonathan Ransom and his wife, Emma. They work for an internationl medical aid organization called Doctors Without Borders and travel the world providing free medical care to those in need.
While on a ski trip in the Swiss Alps, Emma Ransom has a tragic accident and is killed when falling into a large crevasse on one of the mountains. While beginning to mourn, Jonathan receives a note at their hotel intended for Emma that contains what looks like baggage claim tickets. So starts the adventure as Jonathan slowly begins to realize that his wife was not who he thought she was and the he is now, unwittingly, in danger for his life and caught in the middle of an international crisis involving the Middle East and U.S.
There have been many stories with this similar plot-line --- man or woman discover their spouse is not who they thought they were. But Reich's novel takes things a step further by making Emma Ransom a top-flight Secret Agent whose deadly agenda is beyond anything Jonathan could have imagined. The pace is break-neck and the action continous. Not up to the standards of Ludlum or even David Stone --- but an intriguing espionage novel, notwithstanding. I still think Reich raised the bar too high for himself with his previous novel, the classic "Patriot's Club" that I hope has a movie forthcoming. The sequel to this novel, "Rules Of Vengeance", is now available --- and I'm eager to see what the Dr. Ransom has in store for readers next!
Book Review: Where's the deception?
Summary: 3 Stars
There are genres of books but some carry several subgenres which are never fully specified. Such is suspense, and Rules of
Deception falls in that category. The type of story is overdone to the point that it is almost immediately tiresome, boring, totally unreal. The protagonist is an innocent, totally lacking in all qualities necessary to counter the forces brought to bear upon him/her and it is up to the author to try to rescue him/her from them. What forces are brought to play, how the protagonist avoids being killed or rendered inoperative is what arouses interest in the book, the more believable or the more realistic it is the better the book. Reich fails, he tries to write the approved form in which the protagonist encounters more and more conflicts in which he becomes more deeply entangled until it seems he can find no way out then the climax occurs, the path opens up and all is resolved hopefully in a believable manner. Reich changes the makeup of his supporting characters, gives them whatever is necessary to solve any dilemma confronting the protagonist no matter how it transforms these charaters, puts them in any spot necessary to save the protagonist, makes no attempt to make it believable, and sails on to the end of the book. I have no interest in reading any of his other books, and hate to admit I even read this one. Why did I rate it so highly? The beginning is interesting before the writing falls apart.