North from Rome [Mass Market Paperback]

Helen MacInnes (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Crest (1967)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000AXTQ66
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 Stars...For Nostalgia's Sake, July 11, 2008

By 

Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: North from Rome (Mass Market Paperback)

I was weaned on the suspense novels of Alistair MacLean, Jack Higgins, Robert Ludlum, Colin Forbes, and Frederick Forsyth. The rare one in the bunch, Helen MacInnes was a female who dared to challenge the "big boys" at their espionage game. She wrote with deeper characters, lusher settings, and a keen eye to the feel of her locales. I still remember scenes from "The Venetian Affair," "Snare of the Hunter," and "The Double Image."

I found "North from Rome" in a used bookstore, and, for nostalgia's sake, decided to try a MacInnes I'd never read--one of the few. Right away, I was drawn back into this author's keen sense of people and place. Her dialogue, despite being written fifty years ago, still seems believable for its time. Bill Lammiter is a successful writer who has just lost his fiancee to another man. Depressed and confused, he plans to leave Rome after a long month, but gets caught up in local--and international--intrigue, when he sees a beautiful woman being forced into a car outside his hotel.

From that point, however, the story dragged through the first few chapters, and I had to force myself to keep going. Eventually, Lammiter's digging around leads to trouble and to a better understanding of love. In the end, the pace picked up and I was reminded why I used to be a big MacInnes fan.

Although I still pine for the days of some of these old favorites, I'm glad to have some new favs--including, Daniel Silva, Harlan Coben, James Lee Burke, and Joseph Finder. When it comes to female writers with that old-world feel, I'd say a new favorite of mine is Tricia Goyer.