Thursday, April 11, 2019

Review: The Eighth Sister by Robert Dugoni


Robert Dugoni has a new spy thriller out and Kerry Hammond, a fan of cold war stories, is excited to give us her review.

The Eighth Sister by Robert Dugoni was released on April 9, in Trade Paperback, by Thomas & Mercer. It is the first in a new series featuring ex-CIA operative Charles Jenkins. Dugoni is the author of over a dozen novels, which include standalones as well as series books. I am a fan of the Tracy Crosswhite series and last year reviewed A Steep Price, which you can read HERE. I love the old spy novels that were written during the cold war, so I was intrigued to see how the author would create a modern day spy thriller in our current political climate.

In The Eighth Sister, Charles Jenkins is a family man running a security consulting business. He’s in his 60s, so the family thing came a bit late considering his son is 9 and he has another child on the way. Owning your own business is stressful and Jenkins is struggling to make ends meet because his clients are late on their payments. When he is approached by his former CIA bureau chief and offered a job that will put him back in the game and send him to Moscow, he doesn’t feel that he can pass it up.

Jenkins keeps the mission from his wife, covers his tracks, and sets out to make contact with a Russian agent who is targeting US spies in Moscow known as the seven sisters. A straightforward mission turns into anything but, and Jenkins soon finds himself double-crossed and attempting to escape the country before he’s caught. He very quickly learns that escaping Russia is the least of his worries.

Jenkins is a great character. He’s likeable, believable, and has a lot to lose. Getting back into the spy game clearly comes at a cost—the welfare of his family—but he feels he has no choice. His age makes him flawed in a way, at least for a high stakes game of espionage; his appearance and the fact that he stands out in a crowd is another detriment to his chances of success. All of these things added up to a great story with an exciting plot. I hope to see more of Jenkins and wonder just how the author will rope him back into the spy game next time.

This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. The review was fair and completely independent.

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2 comments:

  1. My dad would be all about this book because this is his favorite kind of book! I might have to get this one for Father's Day. Thanks for being on this tour!

    Sara @ TLC Book Tours

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  2. This book also came out in hardcover. That's the copy I read. And I loved it. I've read several of Robert Dugoni's books before, and this is his best.

    Charles Jenkins is a minor character in one of Dugoni's other series, the David Sloane series. This Jenkins book is the start of a new series. But Sloane, I'm glad to say, is back, too.

    Descriptions of Russia and Turkey sound so authentic that I wondered throughout this part where and how Dugoni got his information. (Read the “Acknowledgements.”) These details, along with Jenkins’s struggles there, make this the best kind of book, i.e., the unputdownable kind, the kind you have to keep reading, even during lunch and dinner.

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