The Romeo Flag

I'm an impatient mystery reader, but this one was good from start to finish and as a bonus the writing was quite good. I knew nothing of the colony of white Russians who went to Shanghai to escape the revolution. The plot skips to the cold war, the CIA and the KGB. Some of the best mysteries I've read recently have been several published by Felony and Mayhem. I also recommend the Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape.

Felony and Mayhem Mysteries has republished another big winner in "The Romeo Flag." Written just before the end of the Cold War, it nevertheless has a dazzling story line and characters that hold up well nearly 20 years later. The plot revolves around events that took place in Shanghai in the late 1930s as the Japanese were closing in on the city and the White Russian population of the time nervously awaited its fate. A Russian doctor sends and trunk full of memorabilia and art treasures to his infant granddaughter in the United States and 40 years later, it arrives to dramatically change her life and those of dozens of others. Among those others are the hero of the piece, Neil Walker, an ex-CIA operative who is struggling to build a new life after the death of his wife and injurying of his son. Two Soviet spies--both highly placed in the U.S. government--are also threatened by the arrival of the trunk and its contents. Their reactions to the threat set off a series of events that gives the story a major action liftoff. The byplay moves back and forth from the 30s and 40s to the 1980s and involves WWII spying as well as the Cold War dueling between the KGB and CIA. Beyond a terrific story line, "The Romeo Flag" has wonderful characters whose interactions give the book highly credible complexity and interest. Author Carolyn Hougan has written an intelligent thriller which, luckily, is getting a second viewing thanks to the perceptive editors and publishers at Felony and Mayhem Mysteries. Highly recommended.

WoW! I love good mysteries. Helen MacInnes has always been one of my favorites. Carolyn Hougan matches her in talent, plotting, and well crafted prose. My husband and I both found the characters wonderful, and the history instructional as well as entertaining. Since my husband is a history buff of both WWI and WWII, he especially enjoyed and learned from the plotting set in Shanghai.

I picked this book up because it is a spy thriller--a genre which I enjoy. It does not disappoint in that area (if you're not picky about the Cold War being over, and all...).A lovely surprise is the heightening tension produced by how much the reader comes to care about what happens (or might happen) to these wonderful characters! Before boy even meets girl, you want them to fall in love--as much for their problems as their perfections. They need each other. A nicely complicated mystery, a terrifying chase for survival, and a really, really, REALLY sexy love story!

I'll make this short, but I wanted to let everyone know that this is a great book. I couldn't put it down and I loved how the characters came to life. The espionage part doesn't weigh the book down and the history(Russia and Shangai) makes it all the more interesting.