The Iraqi Provocation (Eric Berg Mysteries)

Rating:
Summary: Master storytelling. Complex main character.
Review: A great mystery by a master storyteller. The Iraqi Provocation moves fast, always keeping the reader engaged. The main character, Eric Berg, is a complex and interestingly flawed university professor who may be misunderstood unless one focuses on the conflicts in his personality. Two female characters shine in the book - a detective who works with Berg, and a secret service agent. The Iraqi Provocation realistically explores human foibles, adding to the fun of the read.

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Eric Berg Mystery!
Review: Another compelling, quick-paced mystery featuring the complex college professor/detective Eric Berg. Iraqi Provocation gets going on the first page and keeps the reader engaged. Its timely plot spans the subjects of espionage, counterintelligence, academia, and theology. My fellow mystery fans are in for a treat.

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Eric Berg Mystery!
Review: This is a terrific read - fast-paced, very readable, and exciting. Soderquist leaves you with the sure knowledge that he really knows how such investigations would be conducted, and that you are getting a peek into the operations behind the operations. Berg is a delightful - if somewhat naughty! - hero, and his relationships with the various women keep the book's spice level high. I finished it in one sitting - the story is compelling and the characters are entertaining. If you like to feel you have "insiders knowlege" of government agencies, this is a great book for you!

Rating:
Summary: Not very mysterious, but very sexist
Review: This was my first Soderquist book. The pacing of the book is quite fast, so much so that it seems he was pressed to get this book out when it became apparent that the war with Iraq was inevitable. The ending in particular is so rushed that it takes all the sparkle and interest out of it. And considering it was supposed to be a mystery, I didn't find it to be very mysterious at all. Nothing really surprised me, except maybe Soderquist's need to have all the charcters in the book feverishly copulating. The worst part of the book by far is the sexist attitude of the main character. He looks at all women as if they are possible bed-fellows. Not very classy for a supposed Man of the Cloth. The protagonist's (Berg's) infidelity both in his mind and in his deeds becomes truly sickening after a while. Soderquist seems unable to introduce a new female character without describing her breasts or the way her hips wiggle. I really didn't feel any connection to the main character because he came across like such a pig. And the women's responses to Berg's advances are laugh-out-loud ludicrous. Soderquist really seems to have no real concept of how women act or think. Therefore, if you are a woman planning to read this book, consider yourself forewarned!