Review by Tanja Swan -- Escape by Belle Ami

[Tanja Swan]

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

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2 out of 4 stars

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Escape by Belle Ami is a mix between a love story and a thriller. The heroine, Layla, is an American student kidnapped by Iranian Revolutionary Guard because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luckily for her, her father is a nuclear scientist, who happen to know the Israeli Prime Minister and is of interest to Israeli nuclear program. Her escaping ticket is Cyrus, an assistant to the deputy director of Iran's secret organization, but he is also a deep-cover Mossad agent in Iran. His orders were to get her safe out of Iran of kill her and he is having a moral dilemmas about his orders. While Cyrus's boss is trying to prevent them from getting out of Iran, Layla and Syrus are trying to escape and save their lives. They are also developing attachment to each other, although they come from very different backgrounds and cultures.

I liked the multi-layered of the story. There is an individual level, and political level, particularly the relations between Iran and Israel and America. The story is educational because the reader can learn about the situation of women and homosexuals in Iran, about Iranian geography and religion, about the relationship between secret services around the world, etc.

Unfortunately there are some psychological failings in the story that are the most disturbing. As a psychotherapist, I find it hard to believe that Layla had a boyfriend for a year and had not had sex with him, even though she wanted it, because of promise to her mother to remain virgin. And then, in a matter of three days she is ready to violate that same promise with Cyrus. Also, she was almost raped three times in three days (I do not understand writer's obsession with raping, it is really too much) and she was more than ready to have sex with Cyrus AND she has no PTSD symptoms (impossible in real life). It is also almost unbelievable that she got pregnant after only one sexual intercourse. Only children at the level of magical thinking would be able to believe that it is enough for someone just to wish something (in this case pregnancy by Cyrus) and it to happen.

I liked witty communication between the main characters. And Cyrus is convincing as a hero. What I did not like is Lyla helplessness. I love powerful heroines. Layla had behaved most of the time as a helpless child. She was not able to even warm herself up (for example, start the fire when she is freezing) let alone deal with numerous attempts to be raped and attacked. I also did not like black and white display of Iranians and Israelis spies (Iranian spies are all according to writer rapists and bullies). Writer is obviously biased, on the side of the Jews and Israel. It is possible that some readers will have problems with this black and white view of two nations and religions.

That's why Escape deserves, in my opinion, 2 out of 4 stars. There were not too many grammatical or typo errors. Let's mention just one (it should be corrected). The Russian word for thank you is spasiba not spasibo (I do not speak Farsi but I do speak Russian language).

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

[Milicarad]

Great!

[Donatelloo]

I have read this novel and rated it 4 out of 4 . So, I guesseit depends upon everyone's taste. But I enjoyed your review? . I would like to invite you to read mine one and share your views https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewt ... 14&t=44862

[Tanja Swan]

Thank you Milicard and Darakhshan Nazir. Love to hear your opinions.

[SosilicaLatica]

Super Tanja, vrlo interesantno ?

[Tanja Swan]

Hvala SosilicaLatica... Poljubac