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Blood from a Shadow
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I've added it to my list, but I think I'll forego the challenge. I might surprise myself by getting quite a few, but getting all fifty is probably a feat beyond me.
Gerard, you probably should think of a better marketing strategy. :) This one doesn't seem to be working. :(
Katherine, thanks for your inane advice. You probably should think of a better use of your time.
Deadline is 31st July 2013
Anybody I have already supplied the reference list is excluded (and I know who you are!)Blood from a Shadow
From the review by DR JOHN L MURPHY, Prof of Humanities, L.A. - AMAZON TOP 500 REVIEWER:
There's an astonishing amount of references--on cultural, political and what's intriguingly a personal level for the author--packed into its pages. I found this considerably denser in its telling than the genre typically presents, once I noticed character names and places. This intertextuality may overwhelm some readers but entice others, as such dogged, clever, "Easter Egg" construction tends to do. A love of the Irish form of excessive delight in the detail and ramble helps.
Other allusions, to Rostram and Sohrab of Persian lore, to the Peacock Angel of the Yazidi Kurds, owls and crows of Celtic shapeshifting, Columbus, the Crusades, and the 69th Fighting Irish of the US Army--from the Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom--show Gerry Cappa's wide-ranging interests, as he deftly incorporates them into the espionage and thriller genres.
He aims at a diverse readership. One that demands a page-turning violent saga, and another that savors a more polished gloss.
It can be, as with fast-paced thrillers, hard to keep up with. So much bloodshed can take its toll on a reader as well as its cast of spies, turncoats, and avengers. A cinematic flair in the settings and set-ups that gain vivid depiction shows Cappa's skill. It eases the labyrinthine, disruptive, often dialogue-driven and quicksilver-unpredictable story structure.
Red herrings abound, and false leads. The Turkish sections become markedly intricate, so the busy plot demands patience amidst the threats and mayhem, as in the midst of rapid movements and conversations with which I sought to keep up. Similarly, its New York scenes turn as energetically as a quickly edited sequence from a film such as "The Bourne Identity."