Review by Uche Okwuoha -- Escape by Belle Ami
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Uche Okwuoha
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- Latest Review: "Escape" by Belle Ami
Review by Uche Okwuoha -- Escape by Belle Ami
[Following is a volunteer review of "Escape" by Belle Ami.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Escape by Belle Ami is the book one in the 'tip of the spear' series.
Layla Rose Wallace, a Harvard Art history student decides, against her father's wishes, to travel to Dubai with her rich Saudi Arabia boyfriend, Zamir. The two get kidnapped from their hotel room in Dubai and taken to Evis prison in Iran. Zamir gets ransomed by his family while Layla was left behind.
Cyrus Hassaini, an assistant to the deputy director of Oghab2 -Iran's Secretive Intel Organisation, gets ordered by his boss, Jallal, to rescue Layla from the prison. Cyrus' timely intervention saves Layla from rape by a despicable prison guard, Mohammad. Unknown to everyone else including Layla is that Cyrus has another order from another source to either take Layla out of Iran or kill her.
Will Cyrus and Layla escape the hunt of a devious power hungry politician long enough to explore the powerful attraction they feel for each other?
Even though Escape by Belle Ami is a work of fiction, the author did a great job of touching on real life issues. This statement made by Cyrus; "lines for gas in an oil-rich country - what a joke. I wish someone could explain to me why we haven't built adequate refineries and why an oil-producing nation is importing sixty thousand barrels of gasoline per day?" is too real for me as an individual. He literally took the words from my mouth. Also,the power tussle between powerful nations is also real.
The story line is well organised, well detailed and very captivating. The sex scenes were great, straight to the point and there was no unnecessary repetition of caresses. The foreplay were not overly prolonged and the sex occurred at different locations. I liked the fact that Cyrus and Layla didn't jump into bed and have sex immediately even though they had good reasons and the perfect setting to do that.
The characters in Escape are very interesting : I liked the character of Cyrus throughout the book. A man who lived in the shadows for so long and didn't allow himself to feel any emotion especially love until he met Layla. I liked the way he went extra miles and bent every rule and principle he's lived with, in order to rescue Layla; Jallal Rahimi, Cyrus' boss, was not able to have children, so he took Cyrus under his wings and treated him like a son. I expected a different reaction from him when he later found out he had a daughter; Aleck Wallace, a professor at MIT and Layla's father, who would do or give anything including his unique and powerful invention, in exchange for his daughter's life.
The first few pages of Escape bored me due to the lengthy and overly detailed description of the processing of Uranium. Also, the Muslim prayers that Cyrus engaged in when he arrived Qom, was too detailed for my liking. I would have preferred it if the author had mentioned that he engaged in the Muslim prayers and moved on. Although I later realised that his devoutness as a Muslim was detailed in order to show the length he went to in order to hide the fact that he is a Jew. Again, I didn't like the way the book ended. I expected Layla and Zamir to meet again in this book after the disastrous way they parted. I was also looking forward to Cyrus' reconciliation with his family. Anyway, since Escape is the book one of "tip of the spear", I will watch out for the other books. Hopefully my expectations will be met. Despite these few negatives, I really enjoyed reading Escape by Belle Ami.
For it's many interesting and captivating parts, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Readers who enjoy good romance mixed with suspense, this is the book for you.
******
Escape
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Escape by Belle Ami is the book one in the 'tip of the spear' series.
Layla Rose Wallace, a Harvard Art history student decides, against her father's wishes, to travel to Dubai with her rich Saudi Arabia boyfriend, Zamir. The two get kidnapped from their hotel room in Dubai and taken to Evis prison in Iran. Zamir gets ransomed by his family while Layla was left behind.
Cyrus Hassaini, an assistant to the deputy director of Oghab2 -Iran's Secretive Intel Organisation, gets ordered by his boss, Jallal, to rescue Layla from the prison. Cyrus' timely intervention saves Layla from rape by a despicable prison guard, Mohammad. Unknown to everyone else including Layla is that Cyrus has another order from another source to either take Layla out of Iran or kill her.
Will Cyrus and Layla escape the hunt of a devious power hungry politician long enough to explore the powerful attraction they feel for each other?
Even though Escape by Belle Ami is a work of fiction, the author did a great job of touching on real life issues. This statement made by Cyrus; "lines for gas in an oil-rich country - what a joke. I wish someone could explain to me why we haven't built adequate refineries and why an oil-producing nation is importing sixty thousand barrels of gasoline per day?" is too real for me as an individual. He literally took the words from my mouth. Also,the power tussle between powerful nations is also real.
The story line is well organised, well detailed and very captivating. The sex scenes were great, straight to the point and there was no unnecessary repetition of caresses. The foreplay were not overly prolonged and the sex occurred at different locations. I liked the fact that Cyrus and Layla didn't jump into bed and have sex immediately even though they had good reasons and the perfect setting to do that.
The characters in Escape are very interesting : I liked the character of Cyrus throughout the book. A man who lived in the shadows for so long and didn't allow himself to feel any emotion especially love until he met Layla. I liked the way he went extra miles and bent every rule and principle he's lived with, in order to rescue Layla; Jallal Rahimi, Cyrus' boss, was not able to have children, so he took Cyrus under his wings and treated him like a son. I expected a different reaction from him when he later found out he had a daughter; Aleck Wallace, a professor at MIT and Layla's father, who would do or give anything including his unique and powerful invention, in exchange for his daughter's life.
The first few pages of Escape bored me due to the lengthy and overly detailed description of the processing of Uranium. Also, the Muslim prayers that Cyrus engaged in when he arrived Qom, was too detailed for my liking. I would have preferred it if the author had mentioned that he engaged in the Muslim prayers and moved on. Although I later realised that his devoutness as a Muslim was detailed in order to show the length he went to in order to hide the fact that he is a Jew. Again, I didn't like the way the book ended. I expected Layla and Zamir to meet again in this book after the disastrous way they parted. I was also looking forward to Cyrus' reconciliation with his family. Anyway, since Escape is the book one of "tip of the spear", I will watch out for the other books. Hopefully my expectations will be met. Despite these few negatives, I really enjoyed reading Escape by Belle Ami.
For it's many interesting and captivating parts, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Readers who enjoy good romance mixed with suspense, this is the book for you.
******
Escape
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Like Uche Okwuoha's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "Escape" by Belle Ami
