Rules of Deception by Christopher Reich
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Book Reviews of Rules of Deception
Book Review: Quick Intense Read
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed reading this book and read it fairly quickly. However. I decided to give it four stars instead of three because it kept me going and entertained. Here are some of my observations:
1. The book reads like a Dan Brown or Ludlum novel. Very short chapters, moving from one key player to another and back again. We see things happening simultaneously from three or four different perspectives. However, there are some surprises thrown in and some long pauses between some of the characters that didn't quite work timing wise. The boogeyman is always there ready to jump out and kill him and yet sometimes, he keeps his distance and we forget about him.
2. Like in a Ludlum novel, the main character, Dr. Jonathan Ransom, is constantly confronted with shocking and crazy things that plunge him deeper and deeper into a maze that seems like he will never find his way out. Can you imagine being in love with a wife who is actually leading a totally provocative second life?
3. So the plot thickens, the world is about ready to experience world war three, while Jonathan is dodging bullets, gets lucky over and over again and escapes death and being arrested by the Swiss police, all while having just lost his wife in a skiing accident. A little too much Hollywood here. And yet, like Hollywood, it's fun. That said, I would enjoy it even more if he'd read a little LeCarre or Len Deighton and incorporate more plot plausibility, a little subtlety, a little more real spy stuff and a little less harrowing and exaggerated story lines. Not that the story lines themselves are bad. But they're too quickly put together and too immediate and I felt, too unbelievable, which makes the story not quite as gripping as it could have been.
All and all, it's worth the read, and like "Da Vinci Code," moves along quickly and in short readable chapters with characters you like and care about. It's a great airport novel but with a little work, could have been even better.
Book Review: Is this well-crafted Christian bashing?
Summary: 4 Stars
Reading Christopher Reich's Rules of Deception, I was very impressed with how he could write such an artfully-crafted story. By far, it is the best written work of fiction that I've read in a very long time. Excellently executed. The story line was engaging -- if not captivating. The skill in the use of language could set the standard of how language should be used in fiction. It was masterful.
However, besides how skillfully Christopher Reich constructed this book, the thing that stood out to me after finishing it was that, in a book filled with assassins, terrorists and rogue spies, the only truly, thoroughly, absolutely evil character in the book -- the only person beyond redemption, in some manner -- was an evangelical Christian. This perplexes me.
Admittedly, some of the most horrendous things done since the beginning of time were done in the name of Christ. Truly awful things have been done for the sake of a twisted apocalyptic vision. But, for the life of me, I can't explain the absolute evil of this book's main bad guy except in terms of simple Christian bashing.
I am a Christian, but I can readily see why some people don't like Christians. I'm not very sensitive or thin-skinned on the subject. Whatever bad things anyone has to say about Christians, I could probably find more points of agreement than not. But, it just seems over-the-top to make "the Christian" of this story the only purely evil character. I can see how "the bad guy" had to be a Christian (can't say more without giving away the story), but did he really have to be Evil incarnate?
So, despite how skillfully this book was written, it left me with a rather sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Book Review: Good book, but human rights quibble
Summary: 4 Stars
Jonathan Ransom is on a ski trip with his wife in the Swiss Alps when she is injured. When he returns with help, she appears to have fallen to her death down a crevasse in the ice. In mourning back at his hotel room, he receives a note to pick up two packages at the train station arriving for her. When he picks up the packages he's assaulted by two men who also want them. Jonathan escapes with the packages, but inside finds evidence that his wife had more than one identity and was not at all who she seemed to be. He is now on the run from various groups, with each new thing he finds out deepening his knowledge of his wife's duplicity.
This is a fast read with an enjoyably complicated plot. The NYT review made it sound like the best thing since sliced bread, but I wouldn't go quite that far. At the end I almost felt inclined to go back and look over the events again in terms of how they meshed together for believability, but that might ruin the fun. A slight opening was left for a sequel; if there ever is one, I'll be inclined to read it.
I do have a specific problem with the book, which is somewhat political. Considering we have an administration (soon to end) which uses fiction as an inspiration for how they do things (ie. getting ideas from the tv show "24" as referenced in Jane Mayer's The Dark Side) I don't think it's responsible to portray extraordinary rendition or torture as useful ways of getting accurate information or keeping people safe. That is a fiction.
Book Review: Following the "Rules"
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the first book I've read by Christopher Reich, and it is very good. I was prompted to buy it by all the critics and famous authors who compare it to Ludlum, Follett, Forsyth, Trevanian, etc.--all my favorite writers of globe-trotting espionage. RULES OF DECEPTION closely follows the formula set down by those masters, with the idealistic doctor/mountain climber being drawn into a frightening, ever-growing conspiracy and racing the clock to find his enemies and beat them, with plenty of fights, chases, and surprise revelations along the way. I read the book in a matter of hours, and I think most thriller fans will, too.
My one reservation that keeps this from being a 5-star recommendation is the fact that RULES seems to resemble a lot of other big thrillers a bit too much--Reich never quite seems to make this material his own. He has clearly been "inspired" by EYE OF THE NEEDLE, DAY OF THE JACKAL, THE EIGER SANCTION, and the complete works of Robert Ludlum. But, hey, that's a small complaint from a reader who counts all those as faves. If you're looking for a fast, satisfying summer read along these lines, RULES follows the rules as well as any book I've read in a long time. Try it.
Book Review: Amusing thriller fluff
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this book on the basis of a positive review in the NY Times. I couldn't put it down, in other words it is a compelling read.
The more problematic aspects have to do with characterizations (or lack thereof) and plotting. You don't necessarily expect a book in the thriller genre to have subtle and well thought out characterizations, so I'll let that pass. But there are a couple of implausibilities in the plot that are, as my wife likes to put it, "big enough to drive a Mack truck through."
I can't go into details about these gaffes without being a spoiler, but they were problematic enough to degrade the reading experience for both my wife and myself. Suffice it to say: you are warned. If you buy this book (a) you won't be able to put it down; and (b) after reading it you will wonder why the author wasn't more careful with some of his premises, and also why he didn't connect the dots in the plot a bit better.
BTW - the prose is servicable but not elegant, and the James Bond style travelogue stuff (a necessity in a spy thriller) excellent.
Bottom line: I'm giving this book four our of five stars for its keep-me-awake-and-distracted readability.