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The Puppets of Washington #1
Washington DC: The Sadir Affair
FINDING OUT THE TRUTH AND MAKING JUSTICE, COULD BE MORE THAN A CHALLENGE WHEN THE TRUTH IS FABRICATED BY A MIND AS CALCULATIVE AND RUTHLESS AS THE PUPPETEER’S
Secrecy, traps and manipulation at a secret service level are used to cover the shooting of Talya Kartz, and on the other hand to help the man that pulled the trigger, agent Samuel Meshullam, run away through half the world. Where are all this ploys and maneuvers coming from?
In the meanwhile the CIA tries hard to save their collective asses by covering up an operation that saw kilos of drugs exchange for U.S. faulty armaments from a Texas warehouse destined to land in the hands of the Israeli forces in Gaza.
Secrecy, traps and manipulation at a secret service level are used to cover the shooting of Talya Kartz, and on the other hand to help the man that pulled the trigger, agent Samuel Meshullam, run away through half the world. Where are all this ploys and maneuvers coming from?
In the meanwhile the CIA tries hard to save their collective asses by covering up an operation that saw kilos of drugs exchange for U.S. faulty armaments from a Texas warehouse destined to land in the hands of the Israeli forces in Gaza.
450 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 28, 2015
173 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 14, 2016
Book without ending.
Start reading this book with great expectation, it was recommended. When I got confused, started writing down names, jobs and where they were from, but names started to change. Countries from Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa to Canada to USA. Mussad, CIA double agents, Saudi Prince to trial in U.S.A. Last third of the book is trial and story ends without a resolution.
Start reading this book with great expectation, it was recommended. When I got confused, started writing down names, jobs and where they were from, but names started to change. Countries from Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa to Canada to USA. Mussad, CIA double agents, Saudi Prince to trial in U.S.A. Last third of the book is trial and story ends without a resolution.
August 4, 2015
I found Washington DC to be a very long and rambling story of secret agents and political intrigue. In many ways it felt rather naively written with many curious expressions and cliches that felt out of place sometimes. The book could probably be shortened by about a third since it contained much verbosity that became annoying after about ten of the 86 chapters.
Lavina Giamusso has included a lot of very interesting “inside” information about Mossad and the CIA which fortunately kept my attention most of the time. I found it quite confusing when on the same, or subsequent pages, there were three characters whose name were so similar that I had to keep going back to check which part in the story they were playing. They were Sam; Samuel and Samir, so when another character called Sadir appeared I became even more frustrated with “who was who?”.
There is much to commend the majority of this thrilling story and I feel sure that with some skilful pruning Ms Giamusso has a successful novel on her word-processor. But for me it was too long and had too many unnecessary explanations and expressions.
Lavina Giamusso has included a lot of very interesting “inside” information about Mossad and the CIA which fortunately kept my attention most of the time. I found it quite confusing when on the same, or subsequent pages, there were three characters whose name were so similar that I had to keep going back to check which part in the story they were playing. They were Sam; Samuel and Samir, so when another character called Sadir appeared I became even more frustrated with “who was who?”.
There is much to commend the majority of this thrilling story and I feel sure that with some skilful pruning Ms Giamusso has a successful novel on her word-processor. But for me it was too long and had too many unnecessary explanations and expressions.
August 8, 2015
The Sadir Affair
I liked this story...I think. To be honest there were so many characters it was difficult to keep them separated. For example Dams was Deputy Director of the CIA but Damas was a lowly technician for the CIA; Sam was a Canadian agent, assassin and spy while Samuel was a Mossad assassin and spy, meanwhile you have Samir a Saudi Prince and CIA and Canadian Intelligence (CSIS) contributor and Sadir a CIA agent, providing secret info to the Mossad. Many of the characters were double agents working for Mossad and the CIA.
Just to say it was confusing is an understatement. Meanwhile everything that is occurring or has occurred makes you think that you have missed a book or a prequel to the story and if you had it then you would have the secret pieces to the puzzle to "get it". I was so convinced there was a "prequel" that I had missed that I kept checking the Amazon store. Finally, I found not the prequel but actually Book 3 in this series which purports to cover the beginning. A little late from my perspective currently but may make more sense when I get there.
Nonetheless, the story did keep me interested as I bravely dove through the mysterious layout of international political espionage and intrigue along with high profile drug cartels and assassinations with government approval. Interesting view if you can hang on.
One other problem not as large as the name similarities and other confusions was that editing job wasn't of a very high caliber. Just because a book is e-published is no reason to be lax on presenting a grammatically correct work that you have at least used spell check on. Poor editing in my reviews always results in at least a one star deduction.
It is worth the read and I'm holding on to hope as I begin my stoic journey through Book 2 in this series. Stay Tuned!
I liked this story...I think. To be honest there were so many characters it was difficult to keep them separated. For example Dams was Deputy Director of the CIA but Damas was a lowly technician for the CIA; Sam was a Canadian agent, assassin and spy while Samuel was a Mossad assassin and spy, meanwhile you have Samir a Saudi Prince and CIA and Canadian Intelligence (CSIS) contributor and Sadir a CIA agent, providing secret info to the Mossad. Many of the characters were double agents working for Mossad and the CIA.
Just to say it was confusing is an understatement. Meanwhile everything that is occurring or has occurred makes you think that you have missed a book or a prequel to the story and if you had it then you would have the secret pieces to the puzzle to "get it". I was so convinced there was a "prequel" that I had missed that I kept checking the Amazon store. Finally, I found not the prequel but actually Book 3 in this series which purports to cover the beginning. A little late from my perspective currently but may make more sense when I get there.
Nonetheless, the story did keep me interested as I bravely dove through the mysterious layout of international political espionage and intrigue along with high profile drug cartels and assassinations with government approval. Interesting view if you can hang on.
One other problem not as large as the name similarities and other confusions was that editing job wasn't of a very high caliber. Just because a book is e-published is no reason to be lax on presenting a grammatically correct work that you have at least used spell check on. Poor editing in my reviews always results in at least a one star deduction.
It is worth the read and I'm holding on to hope as I begin my stoic journey through Book 2 in this series. Stay Tuned!
May 20, 2017
Honestly? This book would have been awesome had the story been consistent. The names were all over the place, the locations were confusing and the grammatical errors! My God it was so distracting I couldn't enjoy the story because every other sentence had either a spelling error or a sentence structure error in it!
Looking past all the errors this story had the makings of a good thriller.
Looking past all the errors this story had the makings of a good thriller.
December 22, 2015
20% into this book and I was lost and got bored. Too many characters and convoluted relationships involved in unexplained events. Reads like there should have been a prequel.
May 2, 2019
Dr. Aziz Hendrix (35+, lover) did his best to keep Agent Talya Kartz (Jewish, wheelchair bound, Canadian Secret Service) her happy.
She had become a recluse.
Hotel de Crillon (Place de la Concorde). Captain Khalid Sahab (Arab, pilot, Touareg) had lost all contact with Talya (former lover).
Fred Gibson (A/A, Canadian Security Intelligence Service), & Namlah Badawee (international law legal advisor), were not very receptive to wanting Prince Sahab to reopen the Ben Slimane (former CIA, traitor) affair case.
What were Fred, & Agent Mark Gilford discussing?
The CIA wanted either Khalid Saif Al-Fadir (aka William Dickson, Professor) or Agent Gilford to put the hit on Samuel.
What did Linda’s memo ask Deputy Director Dietrich Van Dams for?
What did DD Van Dams want with Agent Cameron Sheffield (30+), & Agent Thomas Peterson (geek)?
Mr. Lucien Billycan (60+, US Attorney, JD) was going to prosecute Mr. Muhammad Sadir (CIA), for the murder of Mr. Ishmael Assor (a.k.a. Ben Slimane).
Talya Kartz was shot & in a wheel chair for a year’s recovery.
That would have to come later.
Dr. Blaine Adelman (ME) was examining the corpse of Ishmael (35).
All rise. Judge Silverman is presiding.
David Simmons (defense attorney, JD), Asst. US Attorney Marcel Fauchet (Harvard JD), & Lucien Billycan (prosecution, D of C US attorney, JD) sat on their respective sides.
The trial continues the next witnesses were: Stan Lieberman (M St. Forensic Research forensic spec), Dr. Valance 65+, neurosurgeon, Agent Mark Gilford CSIS, Ottawa), CIA Thomas Peterson (MIT), DS Hamilton (Vancouver PD), Dr. Helldish (40+, ME), Mr. Salamir Sahab, Prince Khalid Sheik Sahab Saif Al-Fadir (brother, private piolet, Saudi Arabia), Talya Kartz, & Agent Gilford.
News flash: CIA DD Van Dams (DC) had died or was killed.
Mr. Verduccio (former FBI SA) was brought to DC to be interrogated.
How will the trial turn out?
I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.
A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written international crime thriller book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a large set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great international crime thriller movie, or better yet a mini TV series. To be continued. A very easy rating of 5 stars.
Thank you for the free author; Blue Shelf Book store; EBookStage; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
She had become a recluse.
Hotel de Crillon (Place de la Concorde). Captain Khalid Sahab (Arab, pilot, Touareg) had lost all contact with Talya (former lover).
Fred Gibson (A/A, Canadian Security Intelligence Service), & Namlah Badawee (international law legal advisor), were not very receptive to wanting Prince Sahab to reopen the Ben Slimane (former CIA, traitor) affair case.
What were Fred, & Agent Mark Gilford discussing?
The CIA wanted either Khalid Saif Al-Fadir (aka William Dickson, Professor) or Agent Gilford to put the hit on Samuel.
What did Linda’s memo ask Deputy Director Dietrich Van Dams for?
What did DD Van Dams want with Agent Cameron Sheffield (30+), & Agent Thomas Peterson (geek)?
Mr. Lucien Billycan (60+, US Attorney, JD) was going to prosecute Mr. Muhammad Sadir (CIA), for the murder of Mr. Ishmael Assor (a.k.a. Ben Slimane).
Talya Kartz was shot & in a wheel chair for a year’s recovery.
That would have to come later.
Dr. Blaine Adelman (ME) was examining the corpse of Ishmael (35).
All rise. Judge Silverman is presiding.
David Simmons (defense attorney, JD), Asst. US Attorney Marcel Fauchet (Harvard JD), & Lucien Billycan (prosecution, D of C US attorney, JD) sat on their respective sides.
The trial continues the next witnesses were: Stan Lieberman (M St. Forensic Research forensic spec), Dr. Valance 65+, neurosurgeon, Agent Mark Gilford CSIS, Ottawa), CIA Thomas Peterson (MIT), DS Hamilton (Vancouver PD), Dr. Helldish (40+, ME), Mr. Salamir Sahab, Prince Khalid Sheik Sahab Saif Al-Fadir (brother, private piolet, Saudi Arabia), Talya Kartz, & Agent Gilford.
News flash: CIA DD Van Dams (DC) had died or was killed.
Mr. Verduccio (former FBI SA) was brought to DC to be interrogated.
How will the trial turn out?
I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.
A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written international crime thriller book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a large set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great international crime thriller movie, or better yet a mini TV series. To be continued. A very easy rating of 5 stars.
Thank you for the free author; Blue Shelf Book store; EBookStage; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
January 18, 2018
Distracting Problem With Copyediting
You might love this book. My reaction here is idiosyncratic —too many years as a professional writer and reviewer have shaped my responses.
Because of the very awkward grammar, word choice and strained reach for idioms, I stopped reading at about 20%. I hardly ever do that, but the awkward and jerky flow bothered me. I may come back to finish it sometime, but wanted to both recommend and warn readers.
If style issues and abrupt shifts among sets of characters do not bother you, and you do love international intrigue with lots of characters, then you might well not notice the language problems that spoiled it for me.
Despite having not read the prequel, I was able to get into the story and understand the characters. The heroic woman shot and now confined to a wheelchair comes across vividly. The consequences of the previous events are laid out in this opening with clarity. There is suspense foreshadowing. It is a good story worth telling.
I recall seeing a note when I opened the Kindle book that this is a revised version.
You might love this book. My reaction here is idiosyncratic —too many years as a professional writer and reviewer have shaped my responses.
Because of the very awkward grammar, word choice and strained reach for idioms, I stopped reading at about 20%. I hardly ever do that, but the awkward and jerky flow bothered me. I may come back to finish it sometime, but wanted to both recommend and warn readers.
If style issues and abrupt shifts among sets of characters do not bother you, and you do love international intrigue with lots of characters, then you might well not notice the language problems that spoiled it for me.
Despite having not read the prequel, I was able to get into the story and understand the characters. The heroic woman shot and now confined to a wheelchair comes across vividly. The consequences of the previous events are laid out in this opening with clarity. There is suspense foreshadowing. It is a good story worth telling.
I recall seeing a note when I opened the Kindle book that this is a revised version.
July 20, 2017
It's not likely that I will continue with this series. The story continues without conclusions at the end of the first book. Three things make me uncertain whether I will continue reading: (1) there is an enormous amount of detail which I am finding tedious, (2) New characters are introduced often. I wish I had kept a "scorecard" so when they come up again I can place them with their previous role in the story, and (3) I resent the fact that the end of the first book is not the end of the story. Sorry, author, I actually can live with the ambiguity of not knowing the final (book 7??) outcome.
February 23, 2018
2.5*
The back story leading this book would have been best served with a short story/ novella which links the start of the series with this book as I feel that it didn't flow between present amd past
The premise is good, and will always be difficult to write about.
The negatives are why I have given it a low rating:
- At times the story didn't flow seamlessly and changes from scene to scene, chapter to chapter were abrupt and sharp edged.
- The spelling/ grammatical errors made it difficult to follow.
- I think the backstory of this book could have been written in order to allow this book to be the second in this series and help the reader understand the context of how this book wprks
I won't rush to buy the next book in the series.
The back story leading this book would have been best served with a short story/ novella which links the start of the series with this book as I feel that it didn't flow between present amd past
The premise is good, and will always be difficult to write about.
The negatives are why I have given it a low rating:
- At times the story didn't flow seamlessly and changes from scene to scene, chapter to chapter were abrupt and sharp edged.
- The spelling/ grammatical errors made it difficult to follow.
- I think the backstory of this book could have been written in order to allow this book to be the second in this series and help the reader understand the context of how this book wprks
I won't rush to buy the next book in the series.
November 14, 2025
Unreadable
8 chapters, I can't go any farther. I have a feeling this is a low-budget release. Grammar and spelling are horrible. The story,after this short time, is incomprehensible. It's fine to have many characters, but the presentation is at more an elementary school level. If there it's do much of a backstory that needs to be understood, write a book about it before this.
I rarely pan books, but this is my exception. I'm done. And disappointed.
8 chapters, I can't go any farther. I have a feeling this is a low-budget release. Grammar and spelling are horrible. The story,after this short time, is incomprehensible. It's fine to have many characters, but the presentation is at more an elementary school level. If there it's do much of a backstory that needs to be understood, write a book about it before this.
I rarely pan books, but this is my exception. I'm done. And disappointed.
October 24, 2017
Like a Russian novel,
Much like a Russian novel, the characters all have multiple names, which makes it a little difficult to follow. Interesting plot with many questions in the readers mind. Most of which clear up at the end.
Much like a Russian novel, the characters all have multiple names, which makes it a little difficult to follow. Interesting plot with many questions in the readers mind. Most of which clear up at the end.
December 20, 2021
For me, a "must miss".
The first few chapters were interesting. I continued reading and was getting impatient. When it came to the trial I was getting bored. When it "ended" as a cliff hanger I decided not to read any more of this
writer's work.
na Than use I'd work.
The first few chapters were interesting. I continued reading and was getting impatient. When it came to the trial I was getting bored. When it "ended" as a cliff hanger I decided not to read any more of this
writer's work.
na Than use I'd work.
February 8, 2018
Interesting international conspiracy read. Liked the story line and the cast of characters. I like a lot of action and this book didn’t give me that.
May 6, 2019
A bit sticky in places....
Certain places dragged their feet more than others. You wanted the story line to get onto the next plot confrontation. Best voice would be Joey (USA).
Certain places dragged their feet more than others. You wanted the story line to get onto the next plot confrontation. Best voice would be Joey (USA).
November 8, 2021
Was given the opportunity to get the second book free, and passed.
August 13, 2015
This is a International Political Intrigue book.
Talya was injured by an assassin's bullet. Her story intertwines with those of a prince and a Canadian Intelligence agent. They were involved in international events that led up to her being shot and this story picks up a few months later as they begin finding pieces to a huge puzzle. The problem is there are people that don't wish them to discover the big picture. Will the truth bring the puzzle together or will they die in their pursuit of justice?
Overall I enjoyed the story as it is different than any I have read. Unfortunately the author repeated some phrases that over the course of reading got annoying. If you look past that it has more good points like lots of suspense and mystery right down to the ending.
Warning: This book is for Mature Audiences due to Violence, Adult language and suggestive sexual situations.
Talya was injured by an assassin's bullet. Her story intertwines with those of a prince and a Canadian Intelligence agent. They were involved in international events that led up to her being shot and this story picks up a few months later as they begin finding pieces to a huge puzzle. The problem is there are people that don't wish them to discover the big picture. Will the truth bring the puzzle together or will they die in their pursuit of justice?
Overall I enjoyed the story as it is different than any I have read. Unfortunately the author repeated some phrases that over the course of reading got annoying. If you look past that it has more good points like lots of suspense and mystery right down to the ending.
Warning: This book is for Mature Audiences due to Violence, Adult language and suggestive sexual situations.
December 3, 2015
Review of Washington, D.C.: the Sadir Affair
The plot was difficult to follow, in part because many of the names were similar. Characters were easily mixed up with other characters. Many of the events were discussed out of order and without background knowledge explained. It was a chore to finish the novel.
The plot was difficult to follow, in part because many of the names were similar. Characters were easily mixed up with other characters. Many of the events were discussed out of order and without background knowledge explained. It was a chore to finish the novel.
January 29, 2016
Wash. D.C.: the sadir affair
A most entertaining and exciting tell on international intrigue. A must read for everyone. It keeps you on the edge every minute.
A most entertaining and exciting tell on international intrigue. A must read for everyone. It keeps you on the edge every minute.
January 23, 2017
Well written
This is a very well written story and I couldn't put it down. I was disappointed that the ending was not complete.
This is a very well written story and I couldn't put it down. I was disappointed that the ending was not complete.
May 1, 2022
The Puppets
Really like the part of the story I got to read. Really disliked the ENDING. No more to say about this.
Really like the part of the story I got to read. Really disliked the ENDING. No more to say about this.
April 23, 2017
The book is filled with intrigue; however, keeping track of all the players takes some effort, particularly where some have similar names. I wanted to keep reading to see what happens next. Will have to get next book to see what happens next.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews