Normally, Saturday is a no-blogging day for me, but it’s my turn on the tour for Tricia Goyer‘s latest in the Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War, so I’m writing my review in advance.
Now, I had the opportunity to review the first book, Valley of Betrayal, for the CFBA back in February, so I was glad to be asked to review A Shadow of Treason as well.
The story picks up again with the aftermath of the Guernica bombing that devastated the city, where we find Sophie working in the hospital and her new boyfriend headed back to the front lines. Then the reporter who helped her sneak into civil war-torn Spain comes with the unthinkable: news verifying the dead fiance who betrayed her is alive, after all, and has stolen the Spanish gold that holds the key to who will win the war. And she has to return to Michael if they want to recover the gold.
The novel shares many of the strengths of the previous book: realistic and vivid portrayal of the realities and complexities of war, faultlessly accurate history that’s educational without being dry, and human villains you’ll be hard pressed to hate. Other issues she cleared up nicely: I never lost track of who Deion is or got lost in the subplot with the priest carrying the truth of the bombing to France even though it never intersected physically with the main plot this time. And the over-all quality of the writing was strong enough to make my personal pet peeve–thought-tagging–hardly even noticeable.
Best of all, no cliffhanger! Instead she neatly, albeit a tad quickly, ties up this plot while leaving the door cracked for book three. At this point, my main concern with the sequel, is that by the time it reached my hands, I’d forgotten most of the previous book and when we finally get the answers she spent most of the last book chasing, it’s lost the strength, the power of anticipation. This will be especially true for those who don’t read the first book and get these answers almost right away without the thrill of the chase.
Still, if you’re a historical fiction lover, A Shadow of Treason will “really” take you there.
Andrea, this was a great revew!
Thanks, David. Glad you liked it.
Thanks for the review and for highlighting my novel!