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[Following is a volunteer review of "Escape" by Belle Ami.]

This is a review of the book Escape – Tip of the Spear Book One by Belle Ami, which is available in Amazon under ‘Romance’ category.

‘Lydia' travels to Dubai with her boyfriend when they are kidnapped from a Dubai restaurant. While her boyfriend escapes to the United States using his parents’ influence, Lydia is brought to Iran and is imprisoned. ‘Cyrus’, a deep cover Israeli agent in Iran is asked by his Iranian boss ‘Jalal’ to take Lydia out of the prison and keep her in safety. Cyrus takes Lydia out of the prison. But he receives a strange order from his Israeli command to rescue her out of Iran. To complicate the matters, he also falls in love with Lydia. The reader is motivated to explore whether Cyrus manages to escape from Iran along with Lydia in this fast-paced story.

Cyrus’ effort to rescue Lydia nicknamed ‘Operation Adam and Eve’ moves at a rapid pace. At one side is Lydia’s father who is worried about her daughter so much as well as the Israeli government which is anxious to get Lydia out of Iran. On the other side is Cyrus with his deep feelings towards Lydia. Cyrus’ initial confusion when he receives the note from his Israeli command to escape from Iran with Lydia is well narrated. Lydia’s attraction towards Cyrus in spite of her scepticism towards him is also well described. The reader could feel Jalal’s seething anger when he finds out about who Lydia is and who is helping her to get her out of Iran. Cyrus’ reasoning to Jalal about why he chose to be an Israeli agent is also well narrated. The fight between Jalal and Cyrus is breathtaking.

There are several things that the story introduces beautifully to the readers – the ‘Stockholm syndrome’, Persian architecture, Persian civilization that existed long before the Islamic conquest of Iran, Iran’s landscapes, its borders, a few details about the latest treaty between the USA and Iran, Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, Iranian rugs, etc.

The author’s command over English is good. The writing style is rustic. The pace of the story is okay. The story is unnecessarily prolonged at the end. The characters are built strong. The story flow is pretty nice except that there are too many narrations of lovemaking that slow down the flow and tend to make the story outright boring. The story plot is probably familiar with many of the readers like a beaten track. The reader finds very little suspense in the happenings. The formatting is okay. This reviewer did not find any spelling mistakes in the book. The word usages are appropriate. There are a couple of grammar errors and punctuation issues.

Overall, this book is a nice candidate for a weekend read. There are several good points about this book – its action-filled story, the feelings expressed by the characters, a great narration of Iran, its borders, landscape, architecture, etc. This reviewer could have easily rated this book a 3 out of 4 stars based on the positive points. But because of the familiar plot with little suspense, too many narrations of lovemaking that slow down the flow and the unnecessary dragging of the story at the end, this reviewer gives this book 2 out of 4 stars.

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Escape
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Like va2016's review? Post a comment saying so!

Looks like this book is a run-of-the-mill romantic thriller, but the narrations about the Persian culture, civilization and architecture makes it a good read after all.

rs1977 wrote:Looks like this book is a run-of-the-mill romantic thriller, but the narrations about the Persian culture, civilization and architecture makes it a good read after all.

Your assessment is absolutely correct! I laud your ability in judging a book by its review,
or may be my review is very clear

Yes, the description about Iran is good in this book, but not in too much of a detail.

Yes, your review is very vivid and I am able picture the book in my head.

You have mentioned that there are too many narrations of love making, are there action scenes in the book and how are they narrated?

rs1977 wrote:Yes, your review is very vivid and I am able picture the book in my head.

You have mentioned that there are too many narrations of love making, are there action scenes in the book and how are they narrated?

Action scenes are narrated quite well. But it's the protagonist's escaping from the always following tails
that makes the story exciting. If you can just skip through the lovemaking scenes, I think this book
will make an interesting read.

So I gather that this book is a romantic action thriller which is fast paced with interruptions in the form of narrations on love making. I hope there is nothing gory in the action part. If that is so then I can grab this book for my 4-hour travel.

rs1977 wrote:So I gather that this book is a romantic action thriller which is fast paced with interruptions in the form of narrations on love making. I hope there is nothing gory in the action part. If that is so then I can grab this book for my 4-hour travel.

There's nothing gory in the action that a mature adult cannot handle. So, yes, you may try this book for your travel

Good review...gives a clear picture of what to expect.Thanks for the suggestion!

Sarda Mohan wrote:Good review...gives a clear picture of what to expect.Thanks for the suggestion!

If you like geography, landscapes, architecture and culture, you might tend to like this story!
Thank you for your comment, and hope you enjoy the book if you choose to read it!

This si a clear and detailed review. I appreciate honesty to state why as a reviewer you like or do not like a story. I had read another review from a person wo loved the story, and that person liked the story for more or less the smae reasons you do not like it. That is why I appreciate honesty, because that is what gives readers a clearer idea of what the book is about.

Pilar Guerrero wrote:This si a clear and detailed review. I appreciate honesty to state why as a reviewer you like or do not like a story. I had read another review from a person wo loved the story, and that person liked the story for more or less the smae reasons you do not like it. That is why I appreciate honesty, because that is what gives readers a clearer idea of what the book is about.

Thank you for your valuable comments and feedback. Inputs from authors and reviewers like you are great tonic for my continuous review improvement and motivation. Thank you!

Interesting review! I myself have never really gone for the romance genre, either in writing or in movies, but you described the plot well and you were honest in your judging. It does seem like this is a bit of the kidnapper-falling-in-love-with-his-victim sort of story, but it does have a rather historically-current setting.

I found it interesting that you justified the fight between the two men breathtaking. I am in no way calling you out on your word choice, only that I've never heard a fight called that! One might call an intricate dance--say of martial arts--a breathtaking fight scene, but can you expand on what you meant?

I hate to be a bummer but I probably won't read the book because it's mainly romance and I'm more of a sci-fi or fantasy girl, but nonetheless I think you did the book justice!

If you get a chance, check out my review of (Ways to) Lucena. I don't recommend the book, but you'll have to read my review to see why.

Rebecca Henderson wrote:Interesting review! I myself have never really gone for the romance genre, either in writing or in movies, but you described the plot well and you were honest in your judging. It does seem like this is a bit of the kidnapper-falling-in-love-with-his-victim sort of story, but it does have a rather historically-current setting.

I found it interesting that you justified the fight between the two men breathtaking. I am in no way calling you out on your word choice, only that I've never heard a fight called that! One might call an intricate dance--say of martial arts--a breathtaking fight scene, but can you expand on what you meant?

I hate to be a bummer but I probably won't read the book because it's mainly romance and I'm more of a sci-fi or fantasy girl, but nonetheless I think you did the book justice!

If you get a chance, check out my review of (Ways to) Lucena. I don't recommend the book, but you'll have to read my review to see why.

Thank you for your valuable comments!

Regarding the fight, I said its breathtaking in a figurative sense, (maybe I should have said
'no pun intended' ), because I felt every blow in the fight hit me ! And each blow took
my breath away! Hahahaha

If you like fantasy and sci-fi, you should take a look at my review of 'Roan', if you have not
already! I think you will love it!

I will check out Lucena. Thanks again!


love it.

Interesting review. I also gave 'Escape' a rating of 2 out of for stars. However, I found the romance to be rather 'lukewarm'. The 'action' was a bit more more thrilling for me. I found others very excited about this story but I personally could not see myself giving it more than 2 stars

Peta2017 wrote:Interesting review. I also gave 'Escape' a rating of 2 out of for stars. However, I found the romance to be rather 'lukewarm'. The 'action' was a bit more more thrilling for me. I found others very excited about this story but I personally could not see myself giving it more than 2 stars

Thank you for your inputs! Honestly, I felt it's a run-of-the-mill story.