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Connecticut River Valley, New England, United States

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Paris in the Dark--Anarchy and World War ! Before the US Entered the Fray

Paris in the Dark (Christopher Marlowe Cobb Thriller, #4)Paris in the Dark by Robert Olen Butler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

By page 14 when the hero decides he likes Head Nurse Pickering, I decided that I liked her, too. But, perhaps more importantly, I liked Kit Carson, reporter. As the story unfolded and other characters emerged, Kit's double identity--everyday reporter and American spy ---became fascinating. The streets of Paris and its clubs, the aura of war and the terrible toll it was taking on combatants as well as those who cared for them, were all interesting and written in a way to keep the reader involved. Until the revelation of the true villain, that is. Once that was evident, for some reason, I found the story less intriguing and began to become bored. There seemed to be too much political ideology and a preachy tone emerged and I almost gave up.

Still, I wanted to know how this was all going to end and so I continued on through this murky slow paced section and emerged into a methodical procedure for trapping the culprit before more damage could be done. This is not a James Bond heart pounding gadget wielding tale. It is pavement pounding rush to preserve the reputations of France and the US and an effort to solve an embarrassing crime so that the hope the US will join Europe in defeating Germany in the Great War will come to fruition. It is not until the very end, when our hero finds himself in the Catacombs, claustrophobic and racing against the clock, that there is a bit of heart racing and fingers crossed tension until the almost last page. That one is reserved for a bit of personal tension relief for our hero and that nurse that he found he liked at the very beginning. I'm glad I persevered along with Kit and his bosses and allies. This review is of an uncorrected proof provided by Goodreads for that purpose.

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