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4.0 out of 5 stars
War Crimes, Romance, Coincidences, Love, Fear and Suspense, April 10 2002
This was a great book by David Morrell, in fact a double book as it had two distinct halves, one almost mirroring the other. The story begins in Bosnia during the violent years of the mid-nineties. Professional, award-winning photographer, Mitch Coltrane, is hiding in a pit, three feet wide, seven feet long and three feet deep which smells of loam, mold and urine. He has already been waiting 36 hours and is prepared to wait longer . His aim is to photograph the evil Bosnian Serb leader Dragan Ilkovic exhuming bodies of innocent victims from a mass grave for removal and disposal elsewhere. The photographic evidence, should he succeed in getting it without being caught, should enable the International Courts or War Crimes Commission to convict Ilkovic and lock him away for a very long time. Eventually Coltrane's patience is rewarded as Ilkovic arrives and the horror of the subsequent events leaps out through the pages. The story then takes on a more sedate theme, giving the reader time to relax and enjoy the book as Coltrane begins a fascinating photographic project back in California with the help of his beautiful girlfriend, Jennifer. However, the tension, suspense and horror gradually return, accelerating through the chapters, to another climax and the conclusion of the first "half" of the book. In this section, the detailed knowledge of author Morrell of cameras and photography is evident and he weaves this technical thread through the story without in any way confusing or boring the reader - in fact the very opposite. As the second "half" of the story unfolds, our hero Coltrane becomes fascinated with, entranced by, obsessed with and ultimately seduced by the irresistible new heroine Tash. The unstoppable development of their relationship and the vivid descriptions of the inner and outer beauty of Tash are described in the most convincing way. It is excellent imaginative writing of the highest calibre. It is not long before terror and fear return, becoming an overwhelming backdrop to the saga. More and more, the second half of the story mirrors the first half in a coincidental but nevertheless believable manner. It is a very clever book in structure, style, content and presentation. It captures the reader's attention from start to finish and leaves you wanting to read it again for another helping of imagination, romance and fear. Nothing less than true escapism.
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