Official Review: Betrayed by Daivd Van Zummeren

Lovely_Ink · Post by **Lovely_Ink** » 26 May 2014, 10:21

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Betrayed" by Daivd Van Zummeren.]

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‘Betrayed” is a fast past action crime thriller by David Van Zummeren. The globe is the playground for a government operative determined to end political corruption and a string of killing by one man, simply known as “The Ghost”

The TRD, a new office of the CIA, was set up to recover stolen technologies. Some of the best agents in the field were hand-selected to be a part of the new, highly exclusive team of agents combating corruption and crime across the globe. Cameron Mathews, our main character, is an integral part of this team. “Betrayed” follows Mathews and the team across the world as they work to thwart the overthrow of a country’s government and catch The Ghost.

Cameron Mathews is a man of great conviction. He prides himself on doing his job with integrity and handling his relationships with the honest conviction that is signature of his Christian faith. In the field he is known as ‘The Machine” for his attention to detail and thorough, almost mechanical, execution of assignments. In his career he has never lost an asset, until now. As Cameron sifts through the details of his most current case, he begins to uncover a conspiracy that will rock not only the political landscape of the country but also the entire infrastructure of the TRD. At the center of the mystery is the one person that Cameron has chased for years, The Ghost.

There is no way to tell how or why The Ghost has so much first-hand knowledge of the events taking place in Japan’s political arena seemingly as they unfold. How is he able to know what the TRD is working on and who they are working with to stop the imminent political unrest? These are the questions that plague Cameron and his team. Every time it seems as though they are ahead of the ball, The Ghost pops up a half step ahead of them. Through all of the back and forth, bodies are piling up and political destruction is getting nearer and nearer.

This book is full of action and intrigue. As soon as you think you have a clue as to who the culprit is, a plot twist will come and make you reconsider. Van Zummeran does a good job of developing characters that you feel empathetic toward and crafty villains that make you cheer at their demise. He successfully makes The Ghost a master of disguise who readers will be shocked to learn the identity of in the end. The story line takes you across continents and into the lives of people who live under varying codes of morality and integrity. At the conclusion of the story you are left wanting more.

I was pulled into the story from the early pages. The flow of the story was consistent and the overall writing not too bad. There are a couple of areas toward the end where it seemed like less time was spent on editing but it did not detract from the overall understanding of the story. I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars. Hopefully there is a continuation of this story line in the works for a future book.

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ALRyder · Post by **ALRyder** » 09 Jun 2014, 20:55

The fact that you're hoping for a second book tells the readers of your review a lot.

Lovely_Ink · Post by **Lovely_Ink** » 10 Jun 2014, 09:04

I think it depends on how you read my review. There are a lot of stand-alone stories out there that I think have a story line that can pick up in a related or continuing book and never go further than the one book.

-- 10 Jun 2014, 09:04 --

ALRyder wrote:The fact that you're hoping for a second book tells the readers of your review a lot.

I think it depends on how you read my review. There are a lot of stand-alone stories out there that I think have a story line that can pick up in a related or continuing book and never go further than the one book.

ALRyder · Post by **ALRyder** » 10 Jun 2014, 23:11

Ah, I just meant that it tells us that it was good enough that you would want to read the next one. It shows that this book may be on the higher end of 3 stars for you. There are a few books I've rated 3 stars that have been decent enough that I know others will like it, but I probably wouldn't continue with a series myself.

davidvan1973 · Post by **davidvan1973** » 10 Jun 2014, 23:50

Thank you very much for the review Lovely_Ink. There is a sequel in the works

Lovely_Ink · Post by **Lovely_Ink** » 11 Jun 2014, 10:06

ALRyder wrote:Ah, I just meant that it tells us that it was good enough that you would want to read the next one. It shows that this book may be on the higher end of 3 stars for you. There are a few books I've rated 3 stars that have been decent enough that I know others will like it, but I probably wouldn't continue with a series myself.

Ah, understood. I didn't want to mislead anyone with a review promising something that might not happen. It was a good book though.

-- 11 Jun 2014, 10:07 --