Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Book Review: The Eighth Sister by Robert Dugoni

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Today I am reviewing The Eighth Sister by Robert Dugoni for TLC Book Tours. Thank you to TLC and to Thomas & Mercer for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book.

About the book (from the publisher): Former CIA case officer Charles Jenkins is a man at a crossroads: in his early sixties, a new baby on the way, and a security consulting business on the brink of bankruptcy. Then his former bureau chief shows up at his house with a risky new assignment: travel undercover to Moscow and locate a Russian agent believed to be killing members of a clandestine US spy cell known as the seven sisters.

Desperate for money, Jenkins agrees to the mission and heads to the Russian capital. But when he finds the mastermind agent behind the assassinations – the so-called eighth sister – she is not who or what she is led to believe. Then again, neither is anyone else is this deadly game of cat and mouse.

Pursued by a dogged Russian intelligence officer, Jenkins executes a daring escape across the Black Sea, only to find himself abandoned by the agency he serves. With his family and freedom at risk, Jenkins is in the fight of his life – against his own country.

My review: In the spirit of full transparency, I’ve long been a fan of Robert Dugoni’s books. I have reviewed a few of the books in his Tracy Crosswhite Series on this blog; Tracy being a police detective in the Pacific Northwest. Like his other books, this book starts and ends in that same area of the country, where Charles Jenkins lives with his wife and young son.

But the locale quickly changes to Moscow, the Black Sea and other parts of the world, as Jenkins goes on his secret mission for the CIA. Dugoni clearly knows Moscow and his descriptions of that part of the world are evocative. Time and place are beautifully written in all of Dugoni’s books, so the reader feels immersed in the temperature of the air, the surrounding landscape, biting winds, the cold sea water. We are not only caught up in the story, we’re caught up in place. As it should be.

This is a new direction for Dugoni, who has at least three series going: Tracy Crosswhite, David Sloan, and now, Charles Jenkins. I haven’t read any of the David Sloane Series – he’s a lawyer – but he plays a big role in this story as Jenkins’ close friend and lawyer.

Dugoni is a great storyteller. This story has many layers, many twists and turns, and to Dugoni’s credit, I couldn’t put it down. The plot is a complicated one, yet Dugoni deftly guides the reader through it while the suspense builds to a crescendo.

I’ve read a lot of spy thrillers and they can feel a little cold and distant. I’m not sure why – is it the nature of the spy who must do his job no matter what? Who must live a life where he is undercover, precluding any sort of emotional attachments? I suspect so. However, with this book, Dugoni has created a reluctant  spy who has strong emotional attachments to his family and friends, who has a strong sense of morality, and who, despite his reluctance, commits to the mission with honor. He’s fascinating.

A thoroughly riveting and enjoyable read.

I think you’ll like this book. I know I did.

About the author: Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite Series, which has sold more than 3.5 million books worldwide. He is also the author of the bestselling David Sloane Series; the stand-alone novels The 7th Canon, Damage Control, and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, for which he won an AudioFile Earphones Award for the narration; and the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post  Best Book of the Year. He is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set the the Pacific Northwest. He is a two-time finalist for the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. His books are sold in more the twenty-five countries and have been translated into more than two dozen languages.

Good news! I am giving away a copy of The Eighth Sister! (USA and Canada) Just leave a comment on this post (not on the email version of this post) to be considered. On Sunday evening, using the Random Number Generator, I will pick a winner. Good luck!

Happy Thursday.

Oh My

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I got so busy this morning, I forgot to hit Publish! Better late than never!

I know you’ve seen a lot of these tulips, but they’re on their last legs and they’re still beautiful! The texture, the sculptural quality of the blooms, the morning sunlight illuminating them – all so lovely.

I ended up cleaning out my email  inboxes yesterday. Like a woman who was on a mission, I couldn’t stop deleting correspondence I no longer needed to save. I had to take periodic breaks because my right index finger was getting tired. Then Don came home and we headed for a walk on the rail trail, which felt great. We were having such an animated conversation that it went by very quickly. Then I came home and deleted some more.

We watched A Walk in the Woods  with Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, and Emma Thompson last night. I read Bill Bryson’s book when it first came out and Don has read it, as well. Loved the movie.

Okay. Here’s how crazy our weather is. Today, it’s going to go up to 62 degrees, with the humidity dropping and high winds in the afternoon, resulting in a brush fire warning and wind advisories. Tomorrow: High of 53, low 29 (below freezing again.) Friday: High of 39 degrees, low of 37, with rain and snow.

What the heck?

I told you April was crazy.

Don may be able to get out and take some pictures this weekend. I know he’ll be very happy if that happens, as he’s really missed it.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments yesterday. It’s clear that we’re all trying to practice self-care, to draw a line of protection, while staying aware. It ain’t easy! I appreciate all that you shared. I think we can help each other as we try to find a new normal that works. Great discussion.

Happy Wednesday.

 

Potpourri on Tuesday

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• A base coat of white for the rehab project.

Today, I’m going to open up the kit that Barbara sent me. I need to find those pieces, like the door, that are missing. I also need to fill in some holes. Those slots you see on the left and right are for the porch, but my vision doesn’t include a porch, so they need to be filled.

And all these rooms need a base coat of white, as well. Not the floors, but the walls and ceilings. I’m going to go with a different color for the shingles and I’m trying to remember if I did a base coat of white for the shingles on Hummingbird Cottage. I’m betting I did. Once I’ve done all that painting, I’ll start in on the exterior stones.

I’m starting to make lists, which is a good sign that I’m finally engaged with this project.

Why is it that I am suddenly into this project when I have lots of work to do outdoors? Couldn’t I have ‘scheduled’ this for the winter months?

Oh, Claudia, your ways are mysterious.

• It’s sunny today. The temp went down to 25 last night. So it’s still cold. By next week, the nighttime temps should be in the forties and I will no longer have to shuttle the Boston fern back and forth between the porch and the living room. The only thing I’ve done outside is to move two chairs back to the funky patio. The Adirondack chairs and the wire shelves are still at the storage space. In the meantime, I can start raking some of the Item 4 back onto the driveway; a tedious job, but it must be done.

• We watched a beautiful movie last night. It’s on Netflix. It’s Our Souls at Night, starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. Don watched it last year when he was staying in the city and kept urging me to watch it. We finally did. It’s simply lovely – a story about loneliness, being of a ‘certain age,’ and finding love when you least expect it. Such fine actors. This is the fourth movie Fonda and Redford have done together and you can tell they like each other, that they’re comfortable with each other. If you haven’t seen it, do watch.

We find ourselves craving simple, quiet films that concentrate on characters, that explore the everyday. This one is like that. So is Paterson.

• Don and I have been talking a lot about quality of life, of what we want this time in our life to be. Much is this is generated by the constant assault of this administration, the 24-hour news cycle, and the challenge of what we should let into our lives and what we should shut the door on. Just as we wouldn’t let just anyone into our house, I think we have to do the same thing with our consciousness. We’re trying to find the balance between taking action when needed and the peaceful, quiet life we want to lead here in the cottage. Though I don’t do organized religion, so to speak, I do believe in a Higher Power, God, Divine Intelligence, whatever name you might use. I’m very spiritual. I try to live a life that is not based on my ego, but oh, do I miss the mark – and frequently. I have so much to learn. Don is on his own spiritual journey.

All this is to say that we want to live a peaceful, loving, and joyful life as we move forward. We’d like to travel more. We want our cottage to be a haven, not a place where we are constantly expressing anger or outrage or feeling anything akin to hatred – all of which I have felt during the past two years. I no longer want to give someone else power over me. And that’s entirely my choice.  It’s my responsibility. And that goes for the small annoyances and interactions, as well, even tiresome comments on this blog. They’re extremely rare, thank goodness, but I just need to let them go.

I’m rambling here, but it’s been on our minds a lot lately. How do we do what is right, what we believe is morally right, and come from a place of love, while still acknowledging the cruelty or reprehensible nature of the action? How do we protect our lives here at the cottage? How do we move forward in peace? I don’t want this portion of my life to be fraught with anxiety. Neither does Don. Changing that seems daunting at times.

It’s an ongoing process, but a necessary one.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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