Review of Rage

[OTrain Disene]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Rage" by Leonard Di Gregorio.]

---

3 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Rage is a crime thriller novel by Leonard Di Gregorio. The author is described as a retired airline industry worker who now writes crime thrillers and mystery books. In this book, we follow a retired Mossad agent who is forced back to work when people close to him are under a direct threat from a well organised terrorist organisation in Israel. The book is entertaining, but with nothing much to offer to this genre of spy crime thriller.

The book opens up in a public marketplace in northern Israel. People are preparing their stands. They are getting ready to start with their everyday routine. A man is sitting on a chair, reading a newspaper, while a woman is preparing dough for bread. She brings him tea, and everything seems to be in order. That is until a white van arrives, and people step out of it and start shooting. The man lies in the pool of blood, and it’s mayhem everywhere. In Boston, United States of America, we are introduced to Holly Flynn and her boyfriend, Moshe Kaplan. They are also doing their routine chores at the start of the day until Moshe tells Holly about something he doesn’t like about her friends. Moshe accuses them of being spoilt, rich brats who might corrupt Holly. The argument ensues, but it is disrupted by a phone call. Moshe is told his father is in the hospital after being shot. He drops everything and rushes there.

Moshe doesn’t waste time when he arrives in Israel. He insures his family is doing OK, and tries to investigate this shooting. He finds that people who did this might be looking for revenge because of his role in the Mossad. Moshe puts his energy into investigating with the help of other agents there. Can Moshe run away from his past ghosts? Why are they targeting his parents? What about the bomb? Can he find it and diffuse it before thousands of innocent lives can be lost? How far is he willing to go? Will his relationship with Holly be severed as a result?

The book was OK, really. I didn’t like reading it, and at the same time, I didn’t dislike reading it. I was somewhere in between. It was average at best compared to other spy novels I have read taking place in the Middle East. In this book, the author seemed to be relying a lot on the plot that he overlooked other important features that have the potential to make or break a good story. Like the characterisation, for example.

The plot in itself could be divided into two parts, one was the investigation of the shooters of Moshe’s parents, and the other was of the bomb in Tel Aviv. Both of them were not layered on top of each other; instead, they were detached and followed each other like trains. This took away the plot twist the book was aiming for. This also rendered the plot unbelievable. I was not convinced when Moshe was forced back into the investigation after he said he had retired from Mossad. The whole thing about the fine print in the contract was unbelievable.

The narration and dialogue didn’t balance each other out. The former was the one moving the book forward, while the latter slacked in doing so. The narration itself wasn’t perfect because it made the book unsteady in its pace. Sometimes, it was fast; sometimes, it was not. The book was short, so I could understand the suddenness of it all, but if it ended up making the novel unconvincing, it wasn’t worth it. The descriptions were good because they gave out enough to spark my imagination as a reader. The speeches were short and choppy. Meaning the way the characters were speaking wasn’t typical of people in those professions.

The second part of the plot made for a perfect build-up. I was anticipating a final reveal of how they would solve the mystery because a lot of people in the investigation team were getting killed. But when the conclusion arrived, it was all underwhelming. This betrayed the build-up that was well tailored. I think it would have been awesome if Moshe had taken the initiative at the end.

The book seemed to be professionally edited because I came across a couple of grammatical and punctuation errors. So a fair rating for this book is this one: three out of five stars. If you love novels set in the Middle East, then I recommend it to you. It would appeal to teenagers and young adult readers. This was a book that had its good moments, as much as it had its own flaws.

******
Rage
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Fabbie Woods]

I love how detailed your review is and I believe that this a great book worth reading. Nice review.

[Desola Orimoloye]

Your review is incredibly detailed and thorough, providing a compelling glimpse into the content of the book. It has piqued my interest and left me eagerly anticipating the opportunity to read it. Great job!

[NetMassimo]

I have mixed feelings about reading this novel considering its merits and flaws. More editing might improve it, especially with some help from a professional editor. Thank you for your honest review!