Paul O\u2019Connor takes a look a thriller rich in international politics and history.<\/p>\n
Reviewed by Paul T. O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n
REIGN OF SECRETS. By James P. Cain. Manhattan Book Group. 326 pages. $39.99, hardcover.<\/p>\n
For more than 1,000 years, Denmark\u2019s royal family has guarded something that dates back to the days of Jesus Christ, something that has protected them from the dangers of the outside world. Now Vladimir Putin, believing that it could vault Russia to world supremacy and make him the planet\u2019s most powerful man, wants it.<\/p>\n
Other than the Danes, no one knows exactly what this \u201csomething\u201d is, however, in James P. Cain\u2019s international thriller, Reign of Secrets, <\/em>published at the end of last year. And the search first to determine what it is and then to stymie Putin\u2019s efforts becomes the challenge facing Whit Ransom, a retired Special Forces colonel now working for the American ambassador to Denmark, and Aisling Kelly, the Irish embassy attach in Copenhagen. (She\u2019s beautiful, of course.)<\/p>\n Ransom and Kelly are drawn into Putin\u2019s world after a Danish prince is murdered off the coast of Key West, Florida, and they quickly connect the killing to nefarious events in Denmark and Ireland. In their investigation, they seek to understand 2,000 years of history that migrates from the Holy Land throughout continental Europe, to Ireland, and then to the U.S.<\/p>\n While reading Reign of Secrets<\/em>, it\u2019s important to remember that this is historical fiction \u2013 not history.<\/p>\n But Cain, a Raleigh lawyer who spent four years as the American ambassador to Denmark, intricately weaves his fictional characters and events through a web of actual history. Read this novel and you\u2019re likely to learn some important real history of Europe, and maybe something about the Bible, too.<\/p>\n Considering his history, it\u2019s not surprising that Cain sets his novel in the world of Copenhagen\u2019s diplomatic community. And, at least among the political thrillers I\u2019ve read, it is unusual in that regard. There\u2019s much less talk of spy techniques than of diplomatic niceties here, and, at times, it can get a little exhausting. Everyone is so insincerely polite.<\/p>\n With his experience, Cain knows that nations act in their own best interests first. Thus, the reader is left wondering who is really on whose side. Are the Americans being fully candid with the Danes, and vice versa? Whose side is Bulgaria taking? And who knew that the Irish and the Danes were such good friends for 1,000 years?<\/p>\n Cain started writing this book in 2016 when the U.S. had very different relationships with its European allies, especially Denmark. When detailing the new American ambassador\u2019s reception in Copenhagen, he must be writing from his own experience of two decades ago. In the book, American Ambassador Conrad Arthur is greeted as a representative of Denmark\u2019s best friend both officially and on the streets. Today, considering Donald Trump\u2019s threats to seize Greenland, a Danish possession, I seriously doubt Cain\u2019s experience applies.<\/p>\n There is a sizeable cast of characters, and they all seem to appear in the opening chapters. There\u2019s no need to remember all of them, however, especially the royalty. The primary characters emerge over time. The important thing is to power on. In time, the thrills emerge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Paul O\u2019Connor takes a look a thriller rich in international politics and history. Reviewed by Paul T. O\u2019Connor. REIGN OF SECRETS. By James P. Cain. Manhattan Book Group. 326 pages. $39.99, hardcover. For more than 1,000 years, Denmark\u2019s royal family has guarded something that dates back to the days of Jesus Christ, something that has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[831,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-thriller","category-thriller-suspense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3530,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529\/revisions\/3530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}