Reviews

I grew up hearing the rumor that Camden, Maine, was the place of retirement for a lot of ex-CIA agents. Apparently, author Tess Gerritsen heard the same rumor because her town of Purity is most definitely Camden.

The home base of this book is a snow-laden Purity, Maine. I’ve mentioned before that I love reading books that are set in my home state, and Maine is a nice contrast to the other locations in this book. What this book does best, what it does so well, is immerse the reader in every location in which this story is set. I was especially taken by the scenes in Bangkok and Istanbul because I’ve have been there, and it was evident Tess Gerritsen has been, too. The atmosphere was so right, and Gerritsen includes references to landmarks and characteristics that are not well-known. I love it when an author knows the locations of their book so well.

I’m not usually a fan of spy novels, but this one was fun and well-written. The one issue I had with the writing was that it was very repetitive. Certdd was in things were mentioned so many times I figure it must have been due to poor editing: We are constantly told about the silver or grey hair of characters. The main character is often feeling lost like she had during a certain part of her life. It got distracting. Otherwise, this was a great read.

emmy_mully's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

kenpaul's review against another edition

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3.0

It seems like this retired spy story has become its own genre now in mystery/adventure fiction. That's the only thing that keeps me from rating this one higher. Just seems like another version of the Thursday Night Murder Club without the humor. Absent that criticism it was a good entertaining read. Not sure I'm interested in the next in the series though.

emd14223's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Solid start of the series, will continue.

kaitwernsing's review against another edition

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4.0

Having never read this author, I really enjoyed her writing! I honestly loved that the main characters were retirees who had been out of work for some 30years or so and they were some badass 60-70 year olds with sharp minds with all the skills they had acquired through their time with the CIA. Looking forward to the next one for sure!

heidihauser's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 stars

booksnake386's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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