Customer Reviews

The Romeo Flag

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

WoW! I love good mysteries. Helen MacInnes has always been one of my favorites. Carolyn Hougan matches her in talent, plotting, and well crafted prose. My husband and I both found the characters wonderful, and the history instructional as well as entertaining. Since my husband is a history buff of both WWI and WWII, he especially enjoyed and learned from the plotting set in Shanghai.

I'll make this short, but I wanted to let everyone know that this is a great book. I couldn't put it down and I loved how the characters came to life. The espionage part doesn't weigh the book down and the history(Russia and Shangai) makes it all the more interesting.

I picked this book up because it is a spy thriller--a genre which I enjoy. It does not disappoint in that area (if you're not picky about the Cold War being over, and all...).

A lovely surprise is the heightening tension produced by how much the reader comes to care about what happens (or might happen) to these wonderful characters!

Before boy even meets girl, you want them to fall in love--as much for their problems as their perfections. They need each other.

A nicely complicated mystery, a terrifying chase for survival, and a really, really, REALLY sexy love story!

Once again a great FelonyandMayhem mystery. A truly great mystery,like any book is well written and not only provides enjoyment but some education too. Here a family trunk full of heirlooms is filled in Shanghai in the 1930's and turns up in Maine in the 1980's in between you get a lesson on the last Czar,the murder of him and his family, the White and Red Russians,Faberge eggs and the Casablanca of China,Shanghai. This all gets weaved into a story involving Russian moles in the CIA and the race to protect world changing secrets that the family trunk could reveal.

A fast paced story with characters who both get destroyed and redeemed.

Anyone who enjoys fast paced,well written espionage stories will truly appreciate The Romeo Flag

Very well written and full of good characters I think this is one of the better books I've read in the past year. Hougan uses the language extremely well and I found myself enjoying the book as much for the way it was written as for the plot and the characters.

Neil Walker used to work for the internal security department (OS) of the CIA but, after his wife died in a car accident that left his eleven-year-old son physically disabled, he called it quits and became a professional genealogist, using the research skills and contacts honed during his career as a spy to put together family trees for those willing to pay for his expertise. However, when the OS goes looking for a highly placed Soviet mole, nicknamed Dante, in the U. S. government, Neil is summoned to answer questions about an interrogation he conducted of a defector, now in the CIA protection program, who has just been murdered.

Nicola Ward is a divorced schoolteacher living in Maine with an anorexic daughter, Kate, on the verge of no return. When Nicola receives a trunk from her uncle's estate in England addressed to her from her deceased Russian parents then living in Shanghai, she is delighted to discover the lost remnants of her past along with photos of her grandfather and parents. The trunk also contains valuable Russian antiques that, if genuine, will help Nicola climb out of the financial hole that threatens engulf her and Kate. When she takes her inheritance to a respected New York auction house, they decide to hire Neil to research the history of the items, which include a Faberge egg. But the investigation takes an unexpected and dangerous turn when one of the photos turns out to be that of the cell members of a group of Russian agents operating in Shanghai, China, in 1941. Dante does not want anyone connecting the dots that lead straight back to him, and he will do anything to stop the investigation now codenamed DANTE.

"The Romeo Flag" transcends the gender barrier that often divides readers of the thriller genre. With a complex plot revolving around Russian-Chinese history, spies and agents from both sides of the fence provide heavy doses of danger and intrigue for everyone, including hapless neighbors. Balanced against this action is the growing attraction between Neil and Nicola and the difficulties they have as single parents trying to help their children overcome trauma and illness. Hougan's characters are finely drawn with a story worth reading.

Felony and Mayhem Mysteries has republished another big winner in "The Romeo Flag." Written just before the end of the Cold War, it nevertheless has a dazzling story line and characters that hold up well nearly 20 years later.

The plot revolves around events that took place in Shanghai in the late 1930s as the Japanese were closing in on the city and the White Russian population of the time nervously awaited its fate. A Russian doctor sends a trunk full of memorabilia and art treasures to his infant granddaughter in the United States. Forty years later, it arrives to dramatically change her life and those of dozens of others. Among those others are the hero of the piece, Neil Walker, an ex-CIA operative who is struggling to build a new life after the death of his wife and injurying of his son. Two Soviet spies--both highly placed in the U.S. government--are also threatened by the arrival of the trunk and its contents. Their reactions to the threat set off a series of events that gives the story a major action liftoff. The byplay moves back and forth from the 30s and 40s to the 1980s and involves WWII spying as well as the Cold War dueling between the KGB and CIA.

Beyond a terrific story line, "The Romeo Flag" has wonderful characters whose interactions give the book highly credible complexity and interest. Author Carolyn Hougan has written an intelligent thriller which, luckily, is getting a second viewing thanks to the perceptive editors and publishers at Felony and Mayhem Mysteries.

Highly recommended.

I'm an impatient mystery reader, but this one was good from start to finish and as a bonus the writing was quite good. I knew nothing of the colony of white Russians who went to Shanghai to escape the revolution. The plot skips to the cold war, the CIA and the KGB. Some of the best mysteries I've read recently have been several published by Felony and Mayhem. I also recommend the Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape.

I stumbled in to this book at a super store checkout circa 1990. Since then I read it every three to five years. I love the characters and the history. The complex development of plot combined with spy vs spy is thrilling. The children and their role is engaging and humanizes the story. While the political intrigue keeps you guessing - even knowing how it ends I can't remember all the detail that Carolyn wraps into the book, For me it is electric liquid entertainment - I can't let the book rest - of the many books I re-read this was the first.

If you like spy novels - this is a must. If you have an interest in history from 1900 to 1990 also a must. If you want to be engaged by two people thrown together this it. Please read this book if for nothing else as a tribute to a great writer. You will not be disappointed.

I just finished reading it again on a trip to Maui in 2011 - It still is as fresh today as it was the first time I read it. I was sadden to learn the author passed away in 2007. She will live on for me as Nicola Ward.

This book lived up to all of the reviews. It really is an enjoyable story. Rich with romance and intrigue. That said, its greatest strength is its characters; the reader falls in love with them. I also loved the history, learning many interesting things along the way. I wish there were a sequel!!!!