Eye of the Archangel

The operative word here is ‘fun’. An espionage thriller set in the good old days of the Cold War, back when the dividing line between the good guys and the bad guys was strictly political, Eye of the Archangel is a slick tribute novel. Following along the lines of James Bond, author Forrest Devoe Jr. puts in just enough camp to keep his book from being pretentious and silly. Instead, it’s an enjoyable throwback to classic spy novels. The two heroes – freelance operative Jack Mallory and CIA agent Laura Morse – have a nice chemistry, made even nicer by a little sexual tension behind the scenes. The setting: Europe, 1963 (all the fun was happening in Europe then). The enemy: icy black marketeer 'the Dane'. The mission: recover a stolen spy satellite supposedly left over from Hitler’s Project Archangel. (How do you steal a spy satellite? Aren’t those things kinda big?). Result: lots of action, cool gadgets, witty repartee, and a great summer read.