Angela and Q are back at it again, trying to solve the hidden mysteries surrounding Angela's mother, Malak - also known as the Leopard. All while their newly-wed parents are blissfully unaware of their adventures, and continue their USA tour. They continue to work towards destroying a terrorist organization operating as a "Ghost Cell," but not everything is what it seems.
"What was that about?" Angela asked. I looked at the Seamaster. "That was about five minutes."
"You're hilarious, Q."
"Thanks, sis."
"Don't call me sis."
Regardless of the smart quips, this book has its merits. While I personally feel that it pales in comparison to the first one, it was still a very quick and enjoyable read. What I absolutely despised though was the little tidbits of information restating the obvious. Yes, we know who Boone is by now. We know that X is a computer geek and runs the intellimobile. I don't need paragraphs explaining that 3/4's of the way through the story. It doesn't add anything, and instead distracts the reader from the current happenings of the story.
It does have tense moments that do make you realize the severity of the situation Q and Angela are in, however.
Dr. Lennox’s hand trembled. “It’s lidocaine.” Malak picked up her gun. “It’s a nine millimeter.” Her hand was steady as a rock.
However, while it has tense moments, most of the book is chatter between Q, Angela and Boone and the SOS team. It builds up tension, and squashes it like a bug. This repeats for the majority of the book.
"Life is not two sheets of paper, one black, one white. Life is a ream of paper, each page a different shade of gray.”
What was slightly off putting to me was the way Islam was presented. I admittedly brushed it off in the first one, but it only became more.. convoluted. While the author was quick to say not everyone is radical, Q's own ignorance really shines through in the following quote.
“I mean, I understand that this is some kind of religious war and that they don’t like us and they want to kill us, but what’s the point? What’s the endgame? What’s their ultimate goal?”
Overall, I will still continue to read the series. But definitely not with as much gusto as I previously did. It seems that the "bad guys" are "always up to something bad, and have something big planned" but the anticipation always falls short as it immediately leads into the next novel.