Two men, two missions, one conclusion

A recommendation from a friend had me racing through this book and it’s not a short one. It’s billed as a thriller and it is, but there is backstory and reflection. We get to see the events that molded each man’s character and we see their intense loneliness.

Pilgrim is adopted into a wealthy family. His mother reviles him and his father loves him deeply but is tightly bound in a loveless marriage. He works for a hidden, black-ops agency called Division and has successfully completed difficult missions for them.

Saracen is a boy when he witnesses his father’s execution in Saudi Arabia. He dedicates his life to Islam and channels his hatred toward the US as they support the Saudi regime. His next decades are spent laying the groundwork for a bio-terrorism event in retaliation.

Some scenes are a bit gruesome but are in keeping with the sub-plot of a murder investigation. The author appears to be laying the groundwork for successive Pilgrim novels. And as it happens, book two – The Year of the Locust – is now available.

~ June Lorraine