Very good read. I really enjoyed the storyline, layer upon layers, and the characters more than held their own.

Because of his past, Talanov was so careful to avoid becoming too close to anyone and when someone finally breaks throught the walls he had erected around his life and heart, his fears come true... His past finds him and threatens to destroy everything.

Well written and a blast to read, James Houston takes you on an adventure of a retired KGB spy, who defected to Australia when his department disbanded. A wild ride that doesn't let up until it reaches the conclusion.


This was a First-Reads selection. ( )

This is simply a masterpiece on espionage, a very intense thriller, like the good ones from the old days, when John le Carré, Ian Fleming and Frederick Forsyth were the master writers of espionage. Now the world has a new master! The story is superb and the characters very well develop. The plot is simple: an ex-KGB agent (Aleksandr Talanov) lives in Australia with his wife Andrea. During a farewell reception at his home in Sydney (they are planning moving to USA) for friends (ex-KGB agents and more), their guests are murder and he escape with his wife (by accident) and a wild persecution starts. The interesting part is that he has no clue what is going on, until he start linking some pieces together from his past with the help of trusted friends. Is there a second Department Thirteen?

Brilliantly written, this novel is a page turner that you read at the edge of your seat. You get so involved that you easily start cheering for our hero. And the end is superb. Really a masterpiece like I have not read in a long time. And things only get better with the sequel of this book, another masterpiece named "The Greco's Game", even better than this one, if that is possible! Read my review on "The Greco's Game".

This book was written by Mr. James Houston Turner and was published on September 2011. I recommend this book to the permanent library of any reader that loves thriller, espionage and a very well written novel that will keep you entertained for some hours. It took me around 11 hours to read this book.

The author was kind enough to provide me a book for reviewing in electronic format. I was not requested to provide a positive review. Opinion expressed here is my own. ( )

From my blog

So amazing, what a thrilling rush, non stop action, thought provoking and brilliant characters. Talanov, the ex secret agent is my favourite character this year so far, love him. He is like a cat, has 9 lives, this was my only complaint, one to many close calls during his run for life adventure or is it that he is just that good.

I have never read an espionage book that I can think of and thriller is my favourite genre, crazy right. Well, this book had a great opening and did not let up until the last paragraph. Talanov has became the target for assassins but he was a successful spy so he was trained by the best of the best and wasn't going to let him or his wife die without knowing why. He was trained to protect and read people to know what was coming next.

There were many characters but they were all defined and added to the storyline, easy to keep track of. Some were hardcore which included strong females which is always refreshing. I initially thought it would be to many but J Turner executed his characters perfectly. Some were only known as code names, Three and Four, which added to the story as everything and everyone was a cover up.

I love how this story was so intricate, an onion, peeling away each clue, development, the past, who else will die and when, intense brilliance.

This is an unputdownable read for sure. I found myself daydreaming and cheering for Talanov, when I wasn't reading and in my sleep. I highly recommend this to all crime, mystery, thriller fans. One of the best I have read in a long time. If you enjoy movies like Mission Impossible, you will love this one. Need a recommendation for the men in your life, this is it.

And the characters will make you want more and guess what..... James Turner will be giving us more this year September, the next is called Greco's Game.

I usually like to share favourite quotes but honestly this book just had so many memorable scenes it was hard to choose quotes. I suggest you go read it.

My only concern is that there are unbelievable scenes and Talanov should have died but he knows his stuff and when assassins think they have the upper hand and then try to get information also, it all goes wrong, for them........ ( )