The Last Raven

Rating:
Summary: Never Say Nevermore?
Review: I grew up on Ian Fleming's Bond, and while Thomas writes nothing like Fleming and Patrick Hyde is no James Bond, I have found my fast-paced espionage-based fix with Thomas and enjoy all of his works.
The Last Raven moves slowly at times, but it's easy to get caught up in the author's generous descriptions of events, detailing the most minute bits of a room perhaps, or a character's nervous movements to the point his works really play out in your mind like a film. The story was not written to merely explain a fictional circumstance, but to guide you rather realistically through the dangers and horrors a man may face in order to save himself and protect his country. Patrick Hyde is a very believeable man too close to the edge, and when hunted by CIA agents, you sometimes wonder if he's already toppled over it. Because Thomas continually updates his readers with what other major characters may be up to in other parts of the world, it's sometimes tempting to skip through and read only those paragraphs pertaining to Hyde or to his boss, Kenneth Aubrey, but even the duller bits help add up the whole, and the book flows along like a mountain stream--with swirls and eddies and exciting white water all leading to the harrowing conclusion. Realistic, intricate, detailed storytelling for true spy-story fans.

Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: This book is good; the characters are well developed and the plot is very good (reminded me of TWA's flight 800 theories). However it misses really linking the Russian part with the rest of the lines of action. It's not tecno at all it's purely espionage. It left me willing to read more from the same author.