Old, but good, a view of the world of spies after 1917.

books:


	• The Romeo Flag (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries) Carolyn Hougan Felony & Mayhem, 2005 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

And I thought a white Russian was a drink

Once again a great FelonyandMayhem mystery. A truly great mystery,like any book is well written and not only provides enjoyment but some education too. Here a family trunk full of heirlooms is filled in Shanghai in the 1930's and turns up in Maine in the 1980's in between you get a lesson on the last Czar,the murder of him and his family, the White and Red Russians,Faberge eggs and the Casablanca of China,Shanghai. This all gets weaved into a story involving Russian moles in the CIA and the race to protect world changing secrets that the family trunk could reveal.
A fast paced story with characters who both get destroyed and redeemed.
Anyone who enjoys fast paced,well written espionage stories will truly appreciate The Romeo Flag

for more information click here

Best Combination: History and Mystery

I'm an impatient mystery reader, but this one was good from start to finish and as a bonus the writing was quite good. I knew nothing of the colony of white Russians who went to Shanghai to escape the revolution. The plot skips to the cold war, the CIA and the KGB. Some of the best mysteries I've read recently have been several published by Felony and Mayhem. I also recommend the Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape.

for more information click here

The Romeo Flag - An Excellent Read

Very well written and full of good characters I think this is one of the better books I've read in the past year. Hougan uses the language extremely well and I found myself enjoying the book as much for the way it was written as for the plot and the characters.

for more information click here

Rich, complex espionage thriller

Felony and Mayhem Mysteries has republished another big winner in "The Romeo Flag." Written just before the end of the Cold War, it nevertheless has a dazzling story line and characters that hold up well nearly 20 years later.

The plot revolves around events that took place in Shanghai in the late 1930s as the Japanese were closing in on the city and the White Russian population of the time nervously awaited its fate. A Russian doctor sends and trunk full of memorabilia and art treasures to his infant granddaughter in the United States and 40 years later, it arrives to dramatically change her life and those of dozens of others. Among those others are the hero of the piece, Neil Walker, an ex-CIA operative who is struggling to build a new life after the death of his wife and injurying of his son. Two Soviet spies--both highly placed in the U.S. government--are also threatened by the arrival of the trunk and its contents. Their reactions to the threat set off a series of events that gives the story a major action liftoff. The byplay moves back and forth from the 30s and 40s to the 1980s and involves WWII spying as well as the Cold War dueling between the KGB and CIA.

Beyond a terrific story line, "The Romeo Flag" has wonderful characters whose interactions give the book highly credible complexity and interest. Author Carolyn Hougan has written an intelligent thriller which, luckily, is getting a second viewing thanks to the perceptive editors and publishers at Felony and Mayhem Mysteries.

Highly recommended.

for more information click here

Old, but good, a view of the world of spies after 1917.

This takes a while to figure out, but is worth the effort. It begins in the period right after the Russian revolution, and follows the careers of two double agents. Enough mayhem farther in, but a good yarn.

reviews: page 1, 2

Hougan is half the team behind the best-selling thrillers by "John Case" Nicola Ward is a divorced schoolteacher living in Maine, when one day a mysterious trunk arrives, sent to her long ago from China. Inside are family papers, photographs . . . and a Russian diary. To translate the diary, Nicola hires Neil Walker, a burnt-out spy who turned to scholarly research after one too many missions went sour. Neil's past comes in handy, though, when Nicola starts receiving death threats clearly connected with the contents of the trunk. But what stirred up the hornets' nest? The diary, which appears to identify Nicola as the heir to the Romanov throne? Or could something else be pointing the way to a Soviet mole in the U.S. government?

for more information click here

hot