Image of Conspiracy: A Mystery Adventure

Rating:
Summary: Delicious action-adventure mystery
Review: Seattle free lance photographer Maggie Flynn is on assignment in Vancouver when a drunk lurches into her, mumbling some incoherent comment. Before she can react, two thugs take the man away. Later that day, the pair of thugs tries to kidnap Maggie, but she is rescued by the handsome Jonathan Waring, the American Secretary of Cultural Affairs, stationed in Ottawa. He informs her that her failed abductors are two Iraqi agents. The "drunk" was a Russian informant who had information to pass on to the Americans.

Evading the Iraqis, who want her dead, proves to be a daunting task. Even when the two Americans arrive in Maggie's apartment, they find their enemies still after them. An appeal to Washington DC for help only drags the intrepid duo deeper into a cover-up that reaches up to the highest levels of the government.

Margo Power has produced a thrill a minute mystery adventure reminiscent of an Indian Jones movie. IMAGE OF CONSPIRACY is the type of novel that is impossible to put down once started. The book leaves the reader feeling eager for the next installment of what is hoped to be a long series.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: I had fun reading this one.
Review: The last thing that phtographer Maggie Flynn expects to find in a hotel in British Colombia is espionage. But soon after a balding, middle-aged drunk falls against her in the lobby, she's on the run--fleeing from...well, could it be the nice men who have rushed up to help this intoxicated stranger? Or is it the handsome American diplomat who kidnaps her? The reader soon breathlessly accompanies Maggie on a headlong adventure, complete with weapons, wild car and plane rides, and hand-to-hand combat with mountain lions. Author Margo Power has cleverly revived the cold-war espionage thriller in her novella. This time the enemy is...well, figure it out for youselves, but the rationale for who's spying in the current world order is a believable one. Image of Conspiracy offers plot twists galore along with chills and spills, and definitely, romance. This light-hearted, but high-suspense mystery adventure is non-stop FUN. Well-paced death and danger are the watchwords here as a talented writer finds the

Rating:
Summary: Promising but sloppily executed
Review: This book was a pleasant enough little adventure, but it was sorely lacking in suspense. The plot was actually extremely straightforward, which might explain why the book is considerably shorter than your average spy thriller. The few plot twists were telegraphed far in advance, and the supposedly character-driven intrigue fell flat.

The editing was especially weak, with lots of typos, confusing punctuation, and misused words. Considering the author is the former publisher of a fiction magazine, I really expected better.

In short, this read much like a first draft of a novel.