Book Review: The Coil

Reviewed By: Webspinner - RAM

The Coil     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Gayle Lynds
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Espionage   Government Agency   Thriller
St. Martins; Apr. 2004; 448 pp.

Liz Sansborough has built a new and happy life in Southern California, where she’s a university professor, specializing in the psychology of violence. She’s so opposed to violence that she won't even carry a weapon. She has left her past and her work with the CIA behind her and prefers it that way.

When her look-alike cousin, Sarah, is kidnapped, Sarah's husband Asher [a CIA operative] is severely wounded, attempts are made on Sarah's life, and those around her are killed, Liz is on the run - first to France. Her primary objective is to rescue Sarah, but fulfilling the kidnapper's request requires her to go looking for something she did not believe existed - - her dead father's files on the assasinations he carried out. A clandestine international organization, based on a real-life one, will risk everything to find those same files. With the help of another cousin and left out in the cold by her old employer, Liz must try to unravel an increasingly complex cast of characters.

Gayle Lynds has written a tight, dizzying thriller that caused me to lose a lot of sleep; she has picked up where Robert Ludlum left off and Clancy sometimes falls short. Even with the clues strewn throughout the book, this one will keep you guessing page after page. Well done, Gayle! [and be sure to read about the research that led to the book when you're done!]

Webspinner - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Webspinner - RAM