THE BOOK FAIR

The multi-layered, engrossing plot unfolds slowly rendering small but crucial tidbits of information: stolen money, a death in the family, a kidnapping, a terror plot, a murder.  The details come together as an in a puzzle, pieces falling into place one by one.  As the story aligns, the plot turns from a mystery into a fast-paced thriller.

Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart, attorney and investigator from Balson’s novel , “Once We Were Brothers”, return to investigate both the missing money and the missing persons.  As Jack Sommers copes with the loss of his wife, he struggles to retake his daughter from kidnappers, his own in-laws, and becomes involved in an embezzlement scheme.  Kayla Cummings, a spy operative intent on catching a particularly evil and determined group of men, works together with Taggart and Sommers to foil the terror plot and snatch the perpetrators.

The story advances quickly with relatively short chapters narrated by the different characters and moves from Chicago, to Hawaii, to the land of Israel.  The novel, infused with history of Israel, from the time of Abraham, to the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict, succeeds to avoid typical character stereotypes.  However, both romantic relationships in the novel become somewhat melodramatic.