Kensington Roth

A bizarre and fascinating fantasy, it kept me wondering what would be the next surprise. Kensington Roth has a writing style all his own. A slow start that had me wondering what the point was, soon became clear it was setting the stage. Kensington's writing in this stage reads much like a screenplay in the way it describes thoughts, his character's perceptions and the perceptions her colleagues have of Alexandra Fine. For instance, you can quickly tell that Alex has been at the receiving end of bullying in the past, and a form of it in the present. Though smart and beautiful, she has low self-esteem. The importance of this as to her character becomes a pivotal point when the story really gets rolling. Scene settings are also written in the same descriptive yet abrupt sentences. Once set, the flow changes into story-telling mode.

Keeping a black widow spider as a pet may seem ludicrous to some people, but then some people keep poisonous snakes for pets. No one can doubt that Lexi has found a pastime that she enjoys, feeding her pet with insects and watching in fascination how the spider reacts, even to the point of the spider learning tricks such as pushing one insect aside for Lexi to give to her personally at which time the spider gives her a little "love nip". This little game is quite important to the story as it goes along.

Lexi works as executive secretary for the president at an oil trading company, an influential and coveted job that includes assisting at house parties and even hobnobbing with the rich and famous occasionally. She is also the single mother of a teenage daughter, Lindsey, who is absorbed with chat rooms on the internet, much to the consternation and worry of her mother. When she falls prey to one of the cyber-predators and disappears, Lexi understandably becomes distraught, and perhaps this trauma also acts as a trigger to the changes in her character. Whatever she has connected to with Ophelia, the black widow spider with her beautiful red hourglass marking, comes even more to the fore. The black widow spider is notably sexy and draws every male widow to her. So, when Lexi suddenly shows her sexiness, we begin to notice why the details of the spider are important. She also begins to be amazingly strong and develops into a superwoman. The changes in the character are exciting and fun and progress throughout the book.

I have no intentions of ruining the plot for prospective readers, so I will leave these hints and suggest reading the book. What has happened to Lindsey? Is she still alive? Will they find her in time? Who could have taken her? There are several twists and turns, and surprising suspects. The antics of Ophelia and the tragicomic storyline make this a stand-out plot, especially with the timely subject of cyber-crime, a terrible crime against young people that needs to be brought out such as the author has done with this entertaining book. I am happy to give it a good review because the potential for a future featuring this comic but human superhero is fantastic.… (mer)

Able Danger, by Kensington Roth, is a fast-moving novel of spies, politics and international intrigue. The characters travel between the US, China, ToraBora and Italy, with convincing accents and dialog well-rendered, even to the realism of simultaneous conversations and bracketed captions for foreign words. Scenery is carefully described almost like dressing a movie set, and action given in detail. But the novel loses speed during political monologues, when the line between character opinion and authored facts grows blurred, and when the obfuscation of politi-speak weaves its way into the narrative.

The main protagonist, Agent Harrison Court introduces himself in chapter two, with a quick first-person nod to James Bond. Then a third-person narrator takes over. Court, who works for a “nonexistent sector of the CIA,” is heading for a meeting in Hong Kong on his way to meet his intended “China doll” bride. Plot, counter-plot and conspiracy theory intertwine from this first discussion, with fictionalized real-world terrorism coming under curiously confident suspicion. Special effects abound in the threat of super-weapons, high-speed car-chases, and “B-52s bombers landing two thousand pound bombs.”

This is probably not a book for readers who find misused words distracting or prefer to keep their real-world events and opinions separate from the fictional world. The mixture of entertainment and conspiracy theory probably works best for those not overly invested in a different point of view. But the short chapters move fast and the conclusion promises a fascinating direction for the sequel.… (mer)

BOOK TOUR REVIEW by Betty Gelean
"Able Danger" by Kensington Roth

Covert groups, spies on spies-the "Able Danger" series will keep the reader traveling the world. It opens with what appears to be a nice normal American suburban household which is suddenly disrupted in a very peculiar way. The family becomes an unwitting test subject.

Kensington Roth has taken a political debacle beyond its limits. His protagonist is a black-ops spy Harrison Court-006. Roth's book is a very compelling work of fiction that ties into reality very well. The style of writing is very descriptive, and the reader can picture whatever Court sees and encounters. The author's sense of place and time is exquisite, and the characterizations are believable and consistent.

The action grows all the way through the book. Court discovers some kind of super-weapon, Gravvox and must hunt down a rogue ex-CIA agent. The plot becomes a runaway train to locate the ex-agent and to learn the who, what, and when. A plausible scenario with a great and terrible surprise ending. Fortunately Roth is on his toes and the next book "Danger For 2" will be out soon because I can't wait to find out what direction the sequel will take.

by Betty Gelean
Author of "Bagpipe Memories"

Book reviewer on Goodreads, Shelfari, LibraryThing
FrontStreetReviews, and Edwards Magazine.

http://nightreader-blog.blogspot.com/… (mer)