Veena’s review of A Covert Affair (Librarian/Spy Escapade, Book 2) by Susan Mann
Romantic Suspense published by Zebra Shout 29 Aug 17
Bollywood meets the CIA in this latest spy thriller from a new-to-me author. Quinn Ellington is a spy in training when a coveted invitation to a showing of rare Indian manuscripts lands her in the middle of a terrorist incident. Stringing together a bunch of random facts and soon she’s winging to India with her CIA boyfriend James to investigate the truth behind the terrorist claims.
As they arrive in bustling Amritsar, home to one of the Sikh’s holiest shrines, the Golden Temple, they start combing for clues, along with a resident CIA spook stationed there. While the author has done a great job of portraying a challenging period in India’s history with a rare sensitivity, I’m amazed that a heroine of Quinn’s caliber, who seems to be one step ahead of everyone in terms of knowledge and research, would actually think that she’s going to be served eyeball curry ala shades of Indiana Jones.
The author has done her research in the telling of the history of the Golden Temple and the events of the 1984 raid on the temple when the militant Sikhs were holed up there. Quinn approaches the temple and Indian customs with a rare sensitivity that is not always displayed by foreign visitors. Good job on the detailed research and history by the author. What are the odds that someone familiar with the history and culture would pick this book to read?
In true Bollywood fashion, Quinn and James make themselves at home in Amritsar, even wrangling a rare wedding invitation to a wealthy industrialist’s son’s marriage. Of course, the downside is that having grown up in India, I would never dare to drive amidst the teeming humanity and drivers gone mad, so I’m impressed or disbelieving of how comfortably James and Quinn move around the city in their little rented Alto.
All in all, a fun romp if you can stop being overcritical about some of the details that don’t hold water.
Grade: C
Summary:
Librarian and CIA agent-in-training Quinn Ellington and her handsome spy boyfriend James “Bond” Anderson find themselves in the middle of an international incident when the Indian ambassador is kidnapped from a Library of Congress event. The key to saving the ambassador is tangled up with a long-lost sacred library, a desecrated temple, and some very modern machinations. At least their cover as blissful newlyweds isn’t too hard to pull off . . .
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
