May 2025 – nigeladamsbookworm

Espionage fiction at its best.

When a high ranking KSB Official sends one of his thugs to steal gold from the bank of one of the new rich it tips the first domino in a long and twisting line.

The gold is allegedly being taken back for the people, but why is it this one family is being targeted above the other newly rich and elite making a fortune since the end of the soviet era.

Anna is the daughter who can see her family fortune being taken and has to do something about it., as her father is arrested and jailed.

Vadim is her husband, from the Russian elite and in reality a husband in name only. The wedding was arranged. He’s riding on the success of Anna’s father and is heavily involved in Rushfarm, a stable in the wilds where Anna’s dad runs his empire. He is a violent, greedy egotistical thug.

When Anna starts to follow the trail of the missing gold she finds a lawyer, working in England is helping create off shore accounts where the gold, which has been converted to cash, ends up.

Sia Fox is the Lawyer, and a low level operative for the CIA who are also keeping tracks on the off shore accounts.

When Artemis Proctor, a CIA Station Chief who is serving time in the “penalty box” posting of Moscow X gets a sniff of what is happening she sees an opening to destabilise the Russian Government, and more importantly its President.

But utilising Sia, and another low level operative, the Mexican Max, to create chaos in Russia is a risky plan.

But risk it she does, and so the dominoes continue to tumble.

This book has one main thread it has been knitted into one hell of a plot.

The second book of four in the series it is equally as good, if not better, than the first, Damascus Station.

The only character shared between the two books is almost a bit part player in both books, Artemis Proctor, so this book could easily be read as a stand alone.

Set in modern day Russia I think Anna may be typical of some of the Russian society. She is used to the freedoms previously not associated with the country. She’s independently wealthy and hard working. She’s aware of the anti Russian feeling following the invasion of Ukraine. But she doesn’t want to destabilise the government, yes she doesn’t like the president but she does want him disposed of.

All she wants is to be treated fairly. She doesn’t seem to mind how her father made his money , she just wants revenge on the man who is targeting him.

What will happen if Proctors plan works. Can the world live with a Russia that is unstable.

Will Sia and Max be able to come out of this in one piece.

The one thing I’m learning about David McCloskey’s writing is rule nothing out. He doesn’t mind hurting his characters, he doesn’t mind things going badly wrong, and just like in real life, no matter how careful you think you’ve been, things never quite go as planned.

Bring on book 3 The Seventh Floor.

Pages: 460. Publisher: Swift Press. Available now. Audiobook length: 14.38 hours. Narrator: Andrew B Wehrlen

My occasional foray into other genres has taken me back to the latest reading fad that seems to have struck over the last few years.

And it’s becoming somewhat of a guilty secret. I’m certainly not the target readership, either by age or gender, but I do enjoy these books.

The thing that initially peeked my interest in this series was that the first book is set in New Orleans. It’s one of my favourite cities, and as a place to set a book, in whatever era, it has loads to give.

Secondly the gumph on Amazon suggested an element of New Orleans occult, another subject that has pricked my interest over the years.

So I decided to read Phantasma, an I enjoyed it that much I was straight into Enchantra. Here’s my thoughts

Phantasma is a really good story, When Tess Grimm dies suddenly her gift as a necromancer passes to her eldest daughter Ophelia.

It’s not long before Ophelia finds out mother was hiding other secrets and that her, and her sister Genevieve are about to lose their home.

One thing leads to another an Ophelia finds herself inside a mansion that manifests into the city to hold a deadly competition.

Tasks based on the nine circles of he’ll are played out on a daily basis. The reward for wining is high but once in the competition there are only three ways out, forfeiting, dying, or win the whole thing.

Ophelia forms an unlikely alliance with a Demon who is also to escape eternally being held in the tournament.

Things get very spicy between the two, this is definitely not a book for younger teens, and the will they won’t they is more about, will they fall in love, more than will they get it on, which they definitely do.

The Second Book Enchantra has Ophelia’s sister as the main character.

Following on a few months after the end of Phantasma Genevieve is in Italy looking to unlock more of her mother’s secrets.

Disappointingly the story gets very familiar very quickly. A deadly game of hide and seek in a mystic mansion, a will they won’t they relationship with a Demon and a fair bit of spice.

The story in the two books is so similar it made me think did the author have two settings for the same story and just went ahead and wrote both versions.

It’s a shame really because the first book showed a lot of promise