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This is Pavone’s third published novel and the second with Kate Moore as the leading character. His theme, as were his previous two, is about citizens of one country living and working in another as overseas executives or agents or in some other representative capacity. These people make a life for themselves and family in a land foreign to them and do it consciously as a career choice.

As a definite plus to the novel, the author indicates that he set up a long term residence in Paris, explored the city, learned about the real life of the citizens and while there wrote a good part of the novel. His depiction of the city is better than any travel book might be.

Kate is actually the chief of station for a division of the CIA and runs a large group of operatives and agents while her husband Dexter makes investments. In what or how is left quite nebulous, but than again neither Kate nor Dexter really know what their partner is actually doing. A strange setup to believe is actually the case between a man and his wife.

A strange event galvanizes everyone. A man walks into a public square in Paris with a suitcase and reveals that he has a bomb attached to his vest which he can set off anytime he wants to. There are also threats of other bombers in action in other European cities. Kate must keep headquarters in the US advised of what is happening and at the same time muster the personnel she is in charge of to possibly help the French police deal with the threat.

In examining the situation, Kate comes to the realization that the bomb threats are really just scare tactics and are meant to cover up something else that is going on. If true, than what really going to happen and why? This is the real story being told and unfortunately leads the author into many over rapid descriptions of events and more than a little confusion on the part of the reader to follow the plot and events taking place. I felt that the overabundance of confusing parts detracted from what should have been a fascinating novel about a different world for most people. I would express the hope that Pavone would take this into account in his succeeding books.

5/19 Paul Lane

THE PARIS DIVERSION by Chris Pavone. Crown (May 7, 2019). ISBN 978-1524761509. 384p.

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Sheldon was a prolific writer of novels, plays, TV shows and motion pictures. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2007, but his family made arrangements with Tilly Bagshawe, a British author and one with her own stellar reputation, to continue his legacy. She has already written several successful books under the joint name of both writers. The Silent Widow is her latest continuing the tradition of engrossing works in the style of Sidney Sheldon.

The beginning of the novel concerns a young woman that has traveled to Mexico to become the summer au pair of a wealthy family living in Mexico City. At a point ten years prior to the opening of the story, she disappears with no trace and cannot be found. In a decade from this event, a series of murders are committed in Los Angeles. Psychological examiner Nikki Roberts is seemingly involved with all of these since the deceased were her patients.

Nikki is going through her own set of trauma since her husband was killed in an auto accident and was at that point riding with a woman that fingers point to as her spouse’s lover. Nikki does a bit of background checking on the murders via hiring Private Detective Derek Williams, who coincidentally had worked on the missing girl’s case from ten years ago.

A good story is enhanced even further by bringing in ties to both the Mexican and Russian Mafias and their battle to take over the drug trade in Los Angeles. The permutations and complications of the factors involved keep the reader glued to the book trying to tie the loose ends together. Two policemen assigned to investigate the murders have ties to the events going on in addition to working to solve the crimes.

Action is the keynote from start to finish and the combination of Sheldon’s guidance and Bagshawe’s literary abilities make for a mesmerizing read guaranteed to make the reader returning for more. A well done book.

5/19 Paul Lane

SIDNEY SHELDON’S THE SILENT WIDOW by Tilly Bagshawe. Crooked Lane Books (May 7, 2019). ISBN 978-1643850931. 393p.

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Lam has written a novel taking place today, and also in the past when the United States committed a crime against its own citizens during World War II. He uses the characters of Daniel Tokunaga and his father Ray to bring the events to life.

Daniel is a world renowned heart surgeon who has been estranged from his father for many years. What the problem was that fomented the distance between them is really the crux of the matter.

Daniel and Ray are Japanese Americans and Ray and his family were among the thousands that were rounded up due to an edict from president Franklin Roosevelt and sent to internment camps for the duration of the war. Most of these people were completely Americanized and could not understand the harsh treatment at the hands of the government even with their former country – Japan – at war with the U.S. To prove to the U.S. government that they were not traitors, many of the young men enlisted in the army and eventually melded into the 442nd regimental combat team used only in Europe against the German army. As an aside, and an important one, Lam indicates that the 442nd became the most decorated unit in the history of U.S. warfare in history.

Ray enlisted and served at the front. Returning home he became withdrawn and almost a tyrant to his sons, Daniel and his brother.
The book tells the story of Ray passing away and Daniel unearthing the real story about his father and the facts of the incident that made the man a hero winning the second highest military honor that can be bestowed on anyone. It is a poignant story beautifully touching on real human emotions and the relationship between father and son. The ending is certainly real enough in scope to leave a lasting impression on the readers. It obviously brings to life the crime against Japanese Americans when both German and Italian Americans were not thought of as anything but citizens of their adopted country.

Note from the BookBitch: It is a little known fact that there were Italian-American internment camps and that many Italian-Americans were forced to register as “enemy aliens” with the government. Lisa Scottoline’s brilliant legal thriller, Killer Smile, was inspired by her grandparents’ registration cards and her subsequent research on the topic.

5/19 Paul Lane

REPENTANCE by Andrew Lam. Tiny Fox Press LLC (May 1, 2019). ISBN 978-1946501127. 308p.

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