Saturday 9 February 2013

Read in 2013 - 5: The Dead Saint

A true page-turner which I was lucky enough to find on Amazon's Kindle store for free (at the moment, it is listed at $ 10,80).

Marilyn Brown Oden starts the book with a quotatin from Charles PĆ©guy:
"Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics."
Since I had never come across his name before, I had a quick look at Wikipedia to find out who he was: a French poet, essayist and editor who lived from 1873 to 1914, socialism and nationalism being his two main philosophies. When he turned Catholic, his new-found faith strongly influenced his works.

Back to the story: The heroine, Bishop Lynn Peterson from New Orleans, witnesses the assasination of a friend, New Orleans Saints kicker Elie Darwish. She is sure that she can link the sniper to the mime who stood on the pavement right up until the shooting, and is equally sure she sees the same man again on a streetcar the next day.
Around the same time, the bishop and her husand, Galen, are invited to a dinner with the Vice President. Galen has to leave early after an emergency phone call, and Lynn is asked to ride to the airport in the Vice President's limousine. There, she learns that the President (in this book, a woman named Helena Benedict) wishes her to hand a confidential letter to a friend in Europe, where Lynn and Galen are scheduled to travel anyway.
Lynn doesn't know why the President needs to make use of her as an unofficial channel of communication but accepts the task, not even telling Galen about it.

And indeed she hands the letter over to the man it is addressed to - only to see him shot dead as soon as he gets off the plane. In the ensuing chaos, she manages to get hold of the President's message again, and this is where the real "fun" begins for Lynn: she is drawn into a whirlwind of political intrigue, not knowing whom she can trust; her and her husband's lives are in danger, a Secret Society's symbol crops up in the most unexpected places, hotel rooms are exchanged for safe houses, more men lose their lives soon after she last spoke to them, and all that is going on while Lynn and Galen are on a frantic itinerary of conferences and meetings throughout the Balkan countries.

The story quickly picks up speed, and while the amount of activities packed into one day of Lynn's tight schedule is amazing, it is not unbelievable. She as a character is likeable, and while the identity of her nemesis is soon revealed to the reader, it remains a mystery for her until almost the very end of the book. Lynn rises to the challenge of finding out what is actually going on and who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes. I was not surprised by the ending, but my attention was really captured right to the last page.

With the main character being a Bishop, religion and faith are of course frequently mentioned, but not to the point of getting in the way of the story. In fact, it takes until chapter 21 for Lynn to be shown praying. Having read on the author's home page that Marilyn Brown Oden has first-hand experience with the places and people described in the story made it all the more interesting.

8 comments:

  1. Sounds like an entertaining read. I like that the protaganist is a woman. Often in these action mysteries that role goes to a man.

    I went and read the sock knitting maniac post. Ha ha. You two are funny. That is a lot of socks! It is nice that her passion results in things that others can enjoy. She had a good point about accomplishing something useful during wasteful time like tv watching. I posted a photo of my grandaughter in her little wooly cap today. Soooo cute.

    Have a great weekend Meike!!

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    1. Thank you, Janice - both for reading the "maniac" post and for posting a picture of your granddaughter with the woolly hat my Mum made! It really looks very cute on her.
      Yes, it was interesting to read how the female character dealt with everything in the book, and how the secret assignment affected her relationship with her husband.

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    2. Thanks Meike she really looks cute in that hat.

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  2. Starts off in my original home town, eh? That i will have to check out.

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    1. Never been there myself, but especially at the beginning, New Orleans features a lot, and the jazz funeral of the Saints kicker is described in some detail.

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  3. I'm not usually one for the The Da Vinci Code sort of story but I did enjoy The Da Vinci Code and this one sounds equally intriguing. It has just crept onto my list.

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    1. Dan Brown is not an author I recommend, although I must admit "The Assassin" (or some similar title) was quite gripping. This book manages to hold the reader's attention without going into every gruesome detail, which is how I prefer it.

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    2. I agree with that about those kinds of stories which are overly focused on every little detail. It is distracting.

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