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The Russian Trilogy #3
Countdown in Cairo
Why won’t the dead stay dead?
Federal agent Alexandra LaDuca travels to Egypt to investigate the possible sighting of a former mentor, a CIA agent who everyone thought was dead. She is thrown into the deadliest game of double cross of her career as the events that began in Kiev and continued in Madrid find their culmination in the volatile Middle East.
Her assignment is to locate a man she once knew. But to find the answers, Alex needs to move quickly into the underworld of the Egyptian capital, a nether society of crooks, killers, spies, and Islamic fundamentalists. And she must work alone, surviving on her wits, her training, and a compact new Beretta.
Her search immerses Alex deeply into the explosive international politics of the day, touching on Arab-American relations and the new balance of terror between Russia and the United States. And it doesn’t help that she’s forced into a partnership with a quirky double agent known only as Voltaire, one of the most shadowy and powerful members of the Cairo underworld.
If you’ve been waiting for Alex LaDuca’s next adventure, this fast-paced thriller is it. If you’ve never met Alex, Countdown in Cairo offers a first-rate introduction. You will be holding your breath from its explosive beginning to the very last twist.
Federal agent Alexandra LaDuca travels to Egypt to investigate the possible sighting of a former mentor, a CIA agent who everyone thought was dead. She is thrown into the deadliest game of double cross of her career as the events that began in Kiev and continued in Madrid find their culmination in the volatile Middle East.
Her assignment is to locate a man she once knew. But to find the answers, Alex needs to move quickly into the underworld of the Egyptian capital, a nether society of crooks, killers, spies, and Islamic fundamentalists. And she must work alone, surviving on her wits, her training, and a compact new Beretta.
Her search immerses Alex deeply into the explosive international politics of the day, touching on Arab-American relations and the new balance of terror between Russia and the United States. And it doesn’t help that she’s forced into a partnership with a quirky double agent known only as Voltaire, one of the most shadowy and powerful members of the Cairo underworld.
If you’ve been waiting for Alex LaDuca’s next adventure, this fast-paced thriller is it. If you’ve never met Alex, Countdown in Cairo offers a first-rate introduction. You will be holding your breath from its explosive beginning to the very last twist.
370 pages, Paperback
First published December 4, 2009
65 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
Noel Hynd
49 books218 followers I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 23, 2020
Alexandra LaDuca has a promising career as an American federal investigator. Her specialty is criminal finance operations, and her trade has brought her more than her share of danger and disappointment. After a series of trips throughout Europe, the sight of a thought-to-be-dead CIA agent in Cairo brings Alexandra face to face with old foes she would have preferred never to see again.
Traveling through the underworld streets of Cairo is dangerous enough, but teaming with enemies of the state is a must for Alexandra as she learns more about the man she's searching for, and his reasons for possibly faking his death, if in fact it was a fake. Although Alexandra is well-trained and up for the challenge, she soon realizes that no kind of training prepares one for confronting their worst fears realized.
This is my first book of this three-part series, and it plays itself well. You don't have to have read the first two in order to understand it, which is why I bought this. It has suspense, a touch of romance, adventure, suspense and thrills. It's a definite page-turner and I look forward to one day reading the previous two about this interesting character.
Keep on reading!
Traveling through the underworld streets of Cairo is dangerous enough, but teaming with enemies of the state is a must for Alexandra as she learns more about the man she's searching for, and his reasons for possibly faking his death, if in fact it was a fake. Although Alexandra is well-trained and up for the challenge, she soon realizes that no kind of training prepares one for confronting their worst fears realized.
This is my first book of this three-part series, and it plays itself well. You don't have to have read the first two in order to understand it, which is why I bought this. It has suspense, a touch of romance, adventure, suspense and thrills. It's a definite page-turner and I look forward to one day reading the previous two about this interesting character.
Keep on reading!
May 1, 2010
I have just now finished this third in Noel Hynd's Russian Trilogy. It must be said that I have never read a trilogy so well conceived as such. Each book stands on its own, and yet reading all three lends depth and satisfaction to the whole.
At the beginning of Part II of this volume, Alex, the accidental master spy of the series, remembers how she got her start. A young student alone in Europe, she faced and mastered that most extreme form of self-reliance - away from home in alien surroundings but without even rudimentary experience. She'd had to trust and to judge and to master alien tongues and ways. She might have turned around, but random bits of luck enabled her not to. Others might have ignored them, or mistrusted potentially dangerous offers of help. She's a good reader of the people and signs around her.
What is a spy but someone who must, on pain of instant death, master all the subtle signals the rest of us can safely ignore as random happenings? Nothing is random when you are plotting against powerful people able to deploy armies against you. Everything can become a sign. Everything can have meaning. Nothing is as it seems - it's meant not to be.
And what is a spymaster - a writer of spy novels - if not someone who can convince the reader that his descriptions are trued to the actual goings on among those with decision making power over our own lives? As a Buffalo boy, Hynd almost lost me with his ham handed description of a terrorist border crossing near Buffalo, the impossibility for which would be obvious to anyone who bothered to consult a map. But nothing is as it seems, and I must forgive.
But of course, that minor lapse served mostly to highlight this good author's truest artistry; to get the reader to keep turning the pages, which happened for me all too quickly. The particulars gain your confidence for the larger scheme, and it, in turn, makes you want to know this protagonist's innermost workings. What will she do, how will she feel, why does she do it.
Of course, she doesn't really know. Neither does the author, who also writes to find out. Why would any of us put ourselves in harms way? Alex doesn't exactly buy even her own handlers' motives for deploying her the way that they do. They are automatically included among those she can't entirely trust. She is hardly a blind patriot. She is not a rote order taker.
But all of us are, in fact, in harms way all the time. The real question Alex sets out to answer is the one all of us really would rather not bother with, or have its answer handed to us somehow, stripped of doubt, stripped of ambiguity.
Why wouldn't you put yourself in harm's way, when the alternative is to play victim to life's meaningless impingements. Take the meaningless accidents of fate as they come, and leave meaning to some greater power. Why wouldn't you make something of your life? The same ending will come in any case.
I continue to marvel at how well Noel Hynd foregrounds that most fundamental matter; faith. Faith in oneself, in meaning; for him and for his protagonist apparently, faith in God. Alex finds in herself a capacity for love and for forgiveness, which must be strange to the reader, since she has been wronged and betrayed and has found man all too capable of betrayal of any confidence.
Except that she has read the signs well, and was never disappointed in her certainty that there was in fact meaning to it all. Not meaning as in conclusion, story lines tied up(although Hynd does that masterfully for each book, and especially for the trilogy) some answer revealed. But meaning as in living her own life to its fullest potential, exercising every one of her God-given talents and bits of good fortune in a way, if not to make the world a better place, certainly not to serve only herself; her aggrandizement here on earth.
She is not patient with those who would do otherwise. But she'd rather help them to wake up than to kill them. I'd rather read another of these books than to pick nits about what falls short. Well, I do have interesting thoughts about border crossings near Buffalo. Anyhow, if each of us were to make courageous decisions without mistrusting what we already know to be our morally correct instincts, the world really would be a better place. The pages would keep turning.
Imagine that! Me a fan of spy novels!
At the beginning of Part II of this volume, Alex, the accidental master spy of the series, remembers how she got her start. A young student alone in Europe, she faced and mastered that most extreme form of self-reliance - away from home in alien surroundings but without even rudimentary experience. She'd had to trust and to judge and to master alien tongues and ways. She might have turned around, but random bits of luck enabled her not to. Others might have ignored them, or mistrusted potentially dangerous offers of help. She's a good reader of the people and signs around her.
What is a spy but someone who must, on pain of instant death, master all the subtle signals the rest of us can safely ignore as random happenings? Nothing is random when you are plotting against powerful people able to deploy armies against you. Everything can become a sign. Everything can have meaning. Nothing is as it seems - it's meant not to be.
And what is a spymaster - a writer of spy novels - if not someone who can convince the reader that his descriptions are trued to the actual goings on among those with decision making power over our own lives? As a Buffalo boy, Hynd almost lost me with his ham handed description of a terrorist border crossing near Buffalo, the impossibility for which would be obvious to anyone who bothered to consult a map. But nothing is as it seems, and I must forgive.
But of course, that minor lapse served mostly to highlight this good author's truest artistry; to get the reader to keep turning the pages, which happened for me all too quickly. The particulars gain your confidence for the larger scheme, and it, in turn, makes you want to know this protagonist's innermost workings. What will she do, how will she feel, why does she do it.
Of course, she doesn't really know. Neither does the author, who also writes to find out. Why would any of us put ourselves in harms way? Alex doesn't exactly buy even her own handlers' motives for deploying her the way that they do. They are automatically included among those she can't entirely trust. She is hardly a blind patriot. She is not a rote order taker.
But all of us are, in fact, in harms way all the time. The real question Alex sets out to answer is the one all of us really would rather not bother with, or have its answer handed to us somehow, stripped of doubt, stripped of ambiguity.
Why wouldn't you put yourself in harm's way, when the alternative is to play victim to life's meaningless impingements. Take the meaningless accidents of fate as they come, and leave meaning to some greater power. Why wouldn't you make something of your life? The same ending will come in any case.
I continue to marvel at how well Noel Hynd foregrounds that most fundamental matter; faith. Faith in oneself, in meaning; for him and for his protagonist apparently, faith in God. Alex finds in herself a capacity for love and for forgiveness, which must be strange to the reader, since she has been wronged and betrayed and has found man all too capable of betrayal of any confidence.
Except that she has read the signs well, and was never disappointed in her certainty that there was in fact meaning to it all. Not meaning as in conclusion, story lines tied up(although Hynd does that masterfully for each book, and especially for the trilogy) some answer revealed. But meaning as in living her own life to its fullest potential, exercising every one of her God-given talents and bits of good fortune in a way, if not to make the world a better place, certainly not to serve only herself; her aggrandizement here on earth.
She is not patient with those who would do otherwise. But she'd rather help them to wake up than to kill them. I'd rather read another of these books than to pick nits about what falls short. Well, I do have interesting thoughts about border crossings near Buffalo. Anyhow, if each of us were to make courageous decisions without mistrusting what we already know to be our morally correct instincts, the world really would be a better place. The pages would keep turning.
Imagine that! Me a fan of spy novels!
May 5, 2020
Another impulse Pandemic pick... and it turned out ok. I selected because the cover included the Pyramids of Giza and I hoped there would be details as to early Egypt.
I wasn't disappointed in that regard & was allowed those "Ahah..I've been there/seen that" moments for me.
Rightfully so, the bulk of story line takes the reader into the underworld of Cairo, with appropriate numbers of spies, killers, crooks and evil Islamic extremists. Alex is our protagonist: CIA trained, brilliant mind, speaks multiple languages and savvy to surviving is that environment.
The author provides page after page after page on international politics of the day, perspectives on history of said politics, Arab-American relations and Russia-United States conflict.
Alex tumbles into a deadly game of chase from Washington DC to Egypt, Kiev and Madrid providing decent fast-pace entertainment.
I wasn't disappointed in that regard & was allowed those "Ahah..I've been there/seen that" moments for me.
Rightfully so, the bulk of story line takes the reader into the underworld of Cairo, with appropriate numbers of spies, killers, crooks and evil Islamic extremists. Alex is our protagonist: CIA trained, brilliant mind, speaks multiple languages and savvy to surviving is that environment.
The author provides page after page after page on international politics of the day, perspectives on history of said politics, Arab-American relations and Russia-United States conflict.
Alex tumbles into a deadly game of chase from Washington DC to Egypt, Kiev and Madrid providing decent fast-pace entertainment.
May 8, 2020
Countdown in Cairo. Noel Hynd
Alex Da Luca is a treasury agent in loan to the FBI. She also interacts with the CIA and agencies in Europe and the middle east. She comes into contact with a lot of unsavory characters. Some in law enforcement as well as criminals and terrorists. One in particular a Russian who actually took part in an asasinnation attempt on POTUS in Kiev. Her fiancee was killed while protecting the president. This Russian is extremely powerful, wealthy with close ties to Putin. He later develops a fondness for Alex and protects her. Numerous times giving her aid. She initially dislikes him but also grows to respect him. Even when he confessed to her on his deathbed. She even agrees to handle his death wishes at his funeral. This is a three part series and all are magnificent reads. I enjoyed immensely! My highest recommendation.
Alex Da Luca is a treasury agent in loan to the FBI. She also interacts with the CIA and agencies in Europe and the middle east. She comes into contact with a lot of unsavory characters. Some in law enforcement as well as criminals and terrorists. One in particular a Russian who actually took part in an asasinnation attempt on POTUS in Kiev. Her fiancee was killed while protecting the president. This Russian is extremely powerful, wealthy with close ties to Putin. He later develops a fondness for Alex and protects her. Numerous times giving her aid. She initially dislikes him but also grows to respect him. Even when he confessed to her on his deathbed. She even agrees to handle his death wishes at his funeral. This is a three part series and all are magnificent reads. I enjoyed immensely! My highest recommendation.
March 6, 2021
This is the first time I have read a book by Noel Hynd. I picked this book to read because of a book club challenge to read a book with a setting in another country. Although this is the third book in a series it did very well as a stand alone. I enjoyed it although there is some language that I am not used to seeing in Christian Fiction but I suppose it could have been worse considering the storyline plot. Another thing I certainly got a lesson in Russian politics and even some background in American politics. All in all it was a good book although the ending was not quite as satisfying as I had wished for.
November 1, 2019
Rizzo coming to the morgue in Cairo to identify Alexandra DuLuca body.
With correct papers in hand, demands not to leave till body comes with him.
Can she really be dead, this strong, intelligence agent. This was my favorite, it tied the other two stories together. The author has away of captivating one from the beginning. With the political and international events. He is a master at bringing a story to life.
With correct papers in hand, demands not to leave till body comes with him.
Can she really be dead, this strong, intelligence agent. This was my favorite, it tied the other two stories together. The author has away of captivating one from the beginning. With the political and international events. He is a master at bringing a story to life.
July 6, 2018
This has been a fun spy trilogy that started in Kiev and ended in Cairo. Not brilliant or sophisticated spy stuff, but an entertaining plane read. This one has an interesting part (for me) on Putin’s role in Ukrainian politics. It’s pre Euromaidan but connects the dots on the election previous to that one. A bit preachy in its approach but probably not too far off base.
August 30, 2021
This is the final episode in a very fine spy trilogy. One wishes that the author would continue with the same character, but he does have other series out there.
April 14, 2025
Complex espionage saga
April 23, 2020
Setting: Cairo, Egypt
Time Period: Modern Day
This is Noel Hynd’s final book in “The Russians Trilogy" and all I can say is, “Wow!” There were so many emotions and working parts going on in the story, it was truly phenomenal. Agent Alexandra DaLuca was sent to Cairo to find a CIA agent the government thought was dead. This threw her into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the not so savory types in Egypt and, as you can imagine, a lot of intense adventure.
Like the second book, I loved how “Countdown In Cairo” brought in some of my favorite past characters from the series and incorporated them into the plot. After reading this book, I felt like the author literally had to plot all three books at the same time because they connected and tied in together so well. Soooooo many questions were answered. So many twists and turns! My favorite was towards the end when Alex is summoned to see the Russian drug lord...such an unexpected twist! Never saw that one coming!
I also loved how the series ended. It wasn’t your common “happily ever after” type. It was good, but not predictable. There was no grand romance where Alex got another fiance and life returned to the American dream, special agent style. But, I applaud the author for taking those last few chapters and making them something different and unique, something that will stand out from the rest in my mind. Absolutely loved it!
Conclusion: Picking up the last book in a series can be a little frightening. You hope it's as good as previous counterparts and wish for a satisfying conclusion. Well, the author nailed it with this one! “Countdown In Cairo” was a brilliant end to a high energy, intense series that took you to Europe, South America and the Middle East on a mission to fight terrorism, retrieve priceless artifacts and unravel mysteries only a Federal agent can. There’ll be chapters that will make you want to shout, “What?!” and others that will answer every question...eventually. This was truly a great ending to the series!
Time Period: Modern Day
This is Noel Hynd’s final book in “The Russians Trilogy" and all I can say is, “Wow!” There were so many emotions and working parts going on in the story, it was truly phenomenal. Agent Alexandra DaLuca was sent to Cairo to find a CIA agent the government thought was dead. This threw her into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the not so savory types in Egypt and, as you can imagine, a lot of intense adventure.
Like the second book, I loved how “Countdown In Cairo” brought in some of my favorite past characters from the series and incorporated them into the plot. After reading this book, I felt like the author literally had to plot all three books at the same time because they connected and tied in together so well. Soooooo many questions were answered. So many twists and turns! My favorite was towards the end when Alex is summoned to see the Russian drug lord...such an unexpected twist! Never saw that one coming!
I also loved how the series ended. It wasn’t your common “happily ever after” type. It was good, but not predictable. There was no grand romance where Alex got another fiance and life returned to the American dream, special agent style. But, I applaud the author for taking those last few chapters and making them something different and unique, something that will stand out from the rest in my mind. Absolutely loved it!
Conclusion: Picking up the last book in a series can be a little frightening. You hope it's as good as previous counterparts and wish for a satisfying conclusion. Well, the author nailed it with this one! “Countdown In Cairo” was a brilliant end to a high energy, intense series that took you to Europe, South America and the Middle East on a mission to fight terrorism, retrieve priceless artifacts and unravel mysteries only a Federal agent can. There’ll be chapters that will make you want to shout, “What?!” and others that will answer every question...eventually. This was truly a great ending to the series!
October 14, 2012
The third book in the author's Russian trilogy, draws you in by presenting the most suspenseful chapter of the story first (lifting it out of the chronological narrative). With the intrigue of assassins, double agents, and others with mixed loyalties, the author keeps you wondering. If you want a story with lots of suspense, that isn't preachy, this is it.
It is a good read, but in each volume of the trilogy, I kept hoping that there would be more of a resolution, more of a moral to the story, especially coming from a Christian publishing house. The main character, Alexandra LaDuca, is however far from conventional ideas of a Christian example. She is more of hard-driven, hard-drinking modern woman who doesn't think twice about the violence, seduction and deceit involved in her job. But she does pause at times to contemplate her faith and her imperfect application of it.
There are two 'ends' to the story. First the conclusion of the case in Cairo involving Michael Cerney. Second, the epilogue, which ties together some of the loose ends of the series. Throughout the three books, she has developed a kind of cautious friendship with a Ukrainian gangster, Yuri Federov. In the end, his deathbed confessions leave her pondering the meaning and extend of her obligation to forgive. It does leave the reader with something to think about.
It is a good read, but in each volume of the trilogy, I kept hoping that there would be more of a resolution, more of a moral to the story, especially coming from a Christian publishing house. The main character, Alexandra LaDuca, is however far from conventional ideas of a Christian example. She is more of hard-driven, hard-drinking modern woman who doesn't think twice about the violence, seduction and deceit involved in her job. But she does pause at times to contemplate her faith and her imperfect application of it.
There are two 'ends' to the story. First the conclusion of the case in Cairo involving Michael Cerney. Second, the epilogue, which ties together some of the loose ends of the series. Throughout the three books, she has developed a kind of cautious friendship with a Ukrainian gangster, Yuri Federov. In the end, his deathbed confessions leave her pondering the meaning and extend of her obligation to forgive. It does leave the reader with something to think about.
January 30, 2015
This is the last book in Hynd's Russian Trilogy, and it mostly serves as a way to tie up all the loose ends and remaining questions from previous books. There really isn't that much of a new mystery to be solved. Just the reappearance of someone from the previous books that is supposed to be dead, tracking him down in Cairo, and figuring out how he fits into other things...leading to the unraveling of most of the quandaries. Unlike the two previous books, this book mostly follows the story from Alex's point of view so the reader doesn't know what is going on until she does.
Once again, Alex is said to be a Christian, but seems to struggle with how that applies to her everyday life. In this book she continues to swear in tough situations (though there are no swear words in the book, it is just mentioned that people swear), drink a little more than she should, smoke for the job and dress in ways to lure men for the job too. It would be pretty clean for a secular spy novel, but may be a little rougher than those going by the Christian publisher might expect. The writing is fairly solid and Hynd again provides an entertaining jaunt through spy land.
Once again, Alex is said to be a Christian, but seems to struggle with how that applies to her everyday life. In this book she continues to swear in tough situations (though there are no swear words in the book, it is just mentioned that people swear), drink a little more than she should, smoke for the job and dress in ways to lure men for the job too. It would be pretty clean for a secular spy novel, but may be a little rougher than those going by the Christian publisher might expect. The writing is fairly solid and Hynd again provides an entertaining jaunt through spy land.
February 10, 2015
The third book in the Russian Trilogy (following Conspiracy in Kiev and Midnight in Madrid).
Special Agent Alexandra LaDuca is on the move again, this time to Cairo. It's been a very busy year following a Russian mobster, the death of her boyfriend, a massacre in a remote village in Venezuela, a stolen relic, and now the search for a CIA man who "died" in Paris. A witness has seen him alive in Cairo before her boyfriend was killed by a car bomb meant to kill both of them.
Alex is smart, multi-lingual, and beautiful. She is more observant and careful in this book than she was in Midnight in Madrid. Her friends, the Italian retired policeman. (Rizzo) and her neighbor (Thomas) join her in the hunt and she meets new friends as well. Her Russian mobster is there too.
She is an Episcopalian as am I and she struggles to reconcile the tenets of her faith with her actions. How can a religious person kill people? What about forgiveness?
**Spoiler alert. There are a few surprises near the end but the very end seems a perfect way to end the trilogy.
No sex
Non graphic violence
Special Agent Alexandra LaDuca is on the move again, this time to Cairo. It's been a very busy year following a Russian mobster, the death of her boyfriend, a massacre in a remote village in Venezuela, a stolen relic, and now the search for a CIA man who "died" in Paris. A witness has seen him alive in Cairo before her boyfriend was killed by a car bomb meant to kill both of them.
Alex is smart, multi-lingual, and beautiful. She is more observant and careful in this book than she was in Midnight in Madrid. Her friends, the Italian retired policeman. (Rizzo) and her neighbor (Thomas) join her in the hunt and she meets new friends as well. Her Russian mobster is there too.
She is an Episcopalian as am I and she struggles to reconcile the tenets of her faith with her actions. How can a religious person kill people? What about forgiveness?
**Spoiler alert. There are a few surprises near the end but the very end seems a perfect way to end the trilogy.
No sex
Non graphic violence
December 17, 2009
Countdown in Cairo starts out with a dramatic beginning with the morgue as the backdrop and then drops back to the beginning of the story. The set up to the main story was slow at times, but that is because the story is rich in detail of locations and background. It is certainly worth the wait! There are a number of background facts about the Russian events mixed in with the fiction creating an interesting blend.
All three of the books feature Alexandra LaDuca, a strong female character that is smart, formidable, and a woman of faith. There were more spiritual elements to this story than the other books as Alex has struggles with moral consequences in her employment and with forgiveness. This is another GREAT book by this author.
All three of the books feature Alexandra LaDuca, a strong female character that is smart, formidable, and a woman of faith. There were more spiritual elements to this story than the other books as Alex has struggles with moral consequences in her employment and with forgiveness. This is another GREAT book by this author.
May 24, 2011
This story was a little better than Midnight in Madrid in the history lesson factor. At least here the history lessons given had at least a semblance of connectivity to the story. Again, I didn’t verify any of what history he gave, so I won’t be quoting it to anyone.
The story actually wraps up quite well. Alex is sent to Cairo to find a US agent who has defected. She meets again with Rizzo of Rome and Yuri Federov, and eventually begins to put together all the puzzle pieces of the past year that began in Kiev and led to the death of her fiancé.
The story actually wraps up quite well. Alex is sent to Cairo to find a US agent who has defected. She meets again with Rizzo of Rome and Yuri Federov, and eventually begins to put together all the puzzle pieces of the past year that began in Kiev and led to the death of her fiancé.
June 17, 2013
The end of the trilogy brought some expected happenings in completely unexpected ways along the journey of an excellent story. Alex LaDuca's character is real and believable, and, if I'm honest, is who I would like to be in my dreams. From Rizzo to Federov and everyone in between the culmination is wrapped up quite nicely...with just enough ribbon left to (hopefully) untie the bow and go back into action again. I am very glad I stumbled onto this series. It fed my appetite for action, adventure and intrigue while digging into my own questions about faith, too. Highly recommend!
August 9, 2011
The third book did not promise to impress at first, but it became more and more interesting as it started to unravel some of the mysteries and tie together some pieces from the first two books. Once it got started, I found myself staying up a bit late to read at night. II and III were my favorites of the series, and I was pretty happy with how the trilogy ended. All in all, a really good series!
February 9, 2010
I liked the way the author wrapped up this story. I also enjoyed more of the history in this book. This one gave a good description of Egyptian politics and also of Russian history. It's obvious that the author is really current in his Middle Eastern politics.
August 17, 2016
Sad Reality to Hope
Hynd comes through every time. The picture he painted of Cairo made me glad that I was reading it from here in pastoral Southern Arizona. The ending was wonderful.
Hynd comes through every time. The picture he painted of Cairo made me glad that I was reading it from here in pastoral Southern Arizona. The ending was wonderful.
April 9, 2010
Forgiveness is a choice to be free.
June 15, 2010
Great book.
April 12, 2011
I enjoyed all three books in this trilogy. I will definitely read more books by this author.
June 10, 2011
I just couldn't bring myself to finish this book. I loved the first two books in the series but this one just got too depressing and I couldn't keep going.
June 14, 2011
I really enjoyed this trilogy. If your looking for a FBI/CIA government conspiracy book with a strong female lead this trilogy is for you!
January 6, 2014
Good end to the trilogy...many surprises!
January 29, 2015
An unexciting conclusion to an unexciting trilogy. At least I know how it ends.
August 31, 2016
Always a good read! Well researched and knows how to maintain interest throughout the trilogy! Like this author a lot!
June 11, 2011
Good, easy read. Interesting characters with a Christian perspective that is not intrusive.
April 3, 2017
Better all the time
To me this may be the best of his books. Seems to improve al the time. Always interesting info on the books.
To me this may be the best of his books. Seems to improve al the time. Always interesting info on the books.
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