Book Review: BLOWN

I really suck at reviewing. Either I rave, or I rant. None of that insightful analytic breakdown --that I'm quite capable of doing in the abstract, or in a critique. Naw, when it comes to reviews I'm all, Squee! or Grrrrr! It's pure emotion baby.

This one is a squee. Before I was even half way through I had 'hand sold' this book to three different coworkers. This book kicks major ass.

I didn't even bother trying to 'guess' the outcome. You had good guys doing bad things for the right reasons, or good things that turned out bad. Or good guys who were really bad guys (by intent, or.... by mistake.... ) and you had bad guys with good hearts, or change of hearts. A lot of twisty/double crosses. But nothing contrived.

There's also a love triangle. It's not developed in great depth, and the 'language' used to convey the romantic moments weren't as well done as what I'm used to (as a dedicated romance reader) but I enjoyed the push/pull.

There's one character who was a little too 'preachy', and the characterization of the cast of players on a whole might not be as deep as I'd like, but the trade off is a thriller that kept me on the edge. Ms. Matthews's is a former CIA analyst, and that verisimilitude runs strong through her well crafted story.

If you liked the Jason Bourne movies--like I did--I'm betting you'll like this book. I'll be checking out her backlist, especially since I just found out that this book picks up from the previous book The Cutout. Needless to say, this book can be read without reading the previous release.

Interesting tidbit: She also writes (wrote?) the Jane Austen Mysteries Series under the aka of Stephanie Barron.


I just checked out the Amazon page for BLOWN. Wassup with the spoilerish Publisher's Weekly description? The back blurb on book reads like this:

It's What Every Agent Fears... Within hours, a terrorist attack of unthinkable proportions wil strike Washington, D.C., and CIA analyst Caroline Carmichael recgonizes the hand of an enemy she's battled for years. She knows the double agent being held responsible isn't a terrorist... because that man is her husband.

The Ultimate Betrayal... Now Caroline must do the most dangerous thing a spy can do--she'll become a target for both sides: the killers she's committed to stopping and the goverment she's sworn to protect.

Now that's a blurb!