Mosaic

MOSAIC is a fast written, well plotted international thriller that will have you burning the midnight oil as you zip through all of the twists and turns in Ms. Lynds fine book. It's also a woman in peril story, a kind of romance and a bit of a mystery. Ms. Lynds has packed a lot of craft into MOSAIC, but that's not surprising, she's one heck of a writer and one heck of a character painter. MOSAIC is peopled with a good gal, a good guy, lots of bad guys, one very bad gal, and one reformed bad buy. The goodies are blind concert pianist Julia Austrian and CIA analyst Sam Keeline. The baddies are: Presidential candidate Creighton Redmond, his son CIA Deputy Director for Intelligence Vince Redmond, Creighton's brothers, one who yearns for Alan Greenspan's job, the other who wants to be Secretary of Commerce, a deadly black widow type professional female assassin, a group of ex-CIA assassins called the Janitors, and a top detective in Scotland Yard. And the bad guy who wants a place in heaven is Creighton's father, ageing Lyle Redmond who made his fortune by stealing Nazi treasures after WW II. There you have the people, oh yes, I forgot to mention, Julia's mother is sister to the Redmond brothers which makes Lyle her grandfather and Vince her cousin. Lots of people, all expertly portrayed. On stage at the Royal Albert Hall, Julia suddenly gets her sight back. After the concert her mother is killed in a mugging, Julia is spared as the mugger, Maya Stern the female assassin, believes her blind. Stern is after a package that old Lyle sent from the retirement home where his sons are keeping him prisoner so they can control his vast fortune. The package contains his journal which tells where the Redmond fortune came from, bad news for all those Redmonds who yearn for so much, especially with the election only four days away. The shock of seeing her mother killed causes Julia to lose her sight again. However she happens to tell just the wrong Scotland Yard guy that she'd seen the assassin. Now the Redmond brothers have to decide, are their ambitions more important than their niece's life. Julia comes up the loser and they sick Stern, the Janitors and the whole CIA on a hunt for her. Fortunately she meets up with Keeline. Together, they must evade the forces allied against them, stop an election, right past wrongs and somehow survive. Meanwhile,old Lyle escapes from that retirement home. I know this all sounds like a lot and a lesser writer couldn't pull of a thriller of this magnitude, but Lynds is a pro who grabs her readers with the first paragraph and holds them by the scruff of the neck, refusing to let go until well after the book is finished. She gives you a lot to think about and one thing is for sure, you'll never look a presidential politics in quite the same way after you finish this book.

Internationally renowned concert pianist Julia Austrian had been stricken by hysterical blindness on the eve of her concert debut. Conversion disorder her psychiatrist called it, kind of like shell shock. For over a decade she lived in the dark, then just before a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, she mysteriously gets her sight back. She's overjoyed, plays like a goddess, however after the concert a female killer stops her London cab, grabs her mother's handbag and jewels, then kills her mother and the cabbie, leaving Julia alive because she believed her blind. She isn't far from wrong, because the shock sends Julia back into the darkness, but Julia got a good look at the killer and she vows that no matter what the cost she will bring that woman to justice.Back in America, Julia's uncle, Creighton Redmond is running for the presidency and just as Julia has vowed to do whatever it takes to catch her mother's killer, Creighton as vowed that nothing will get in the way of his goal. Including keeping his father locked away in an institution so he can control his money. Including hiring a killer to attack Julia and her mother in England to regain a package his father, Julia's grandfather, had mailed her from the institution. Including smearing his opponent with false pedophile charges. And including ordering Julia's murder. He will smash everything that threatens to block his path and with his son high up in the CIA he has just the tools to do it.The story takes a devious turn when her mother's killer frames Julia for the murder of the therapist who hypnotized her and helped her get her sight back. Now she's suddenly alone and on the run. Enter out of favor CIA agent Sam Keeline and the boss at the Company he's out of favor with is Creighton's son, Julia's cousin, who has ordered a gang of rouge agents called the Janitors to track and take out Julia. Keeline comes to her aide and now it's the two of them against the world. Keeline had been on the trail of stolen NAZI treasures and thought Julia might have a lead. She didn't, but her grandfather, locked away in that institution does. But before Keeline can get what he wants and before Julia can avenge her mother's death the two of them have to run a hellish gauntlet, dodging assassins at every turn.Mosaic is a super spy mystery thriller that kept me away from a hot date. Well, maybe not so hot, but a date for the new Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton movie that I really wanted to see. But he'll be back if he really wants to take me out and I can always rent the movie on video. You know how it is, when a girl gets her hands on a really good book, she just has to read it.Reviewed by Stephanie Sane

Exciting thriller. Well-designed plot, the revelations are deserved and rewarding. Has a strong heroine and a strong female villain. Though some plot elements are almost cliche, eg Nazi treasure, narrow escapes, the big themes were fresh: conversion disorder, villainous presidential campaign. Don't mistake this one for a chick book. It's hard, violent, rigorous, and constantly interesting.

Mosaic is a very well written book. The story line is very interesting. The more you read the more you can not put it down. The story is almost spell binding. While reading the book it becomes very easy to forget whats going on around you. You are pulled deep into the story. Great suspense. Great jaw dropper.

When your bedside clock tolls three a.m. and you're still reading Lynds'MOSAIC, you almost wish for the psychological blindness that overwhelms her engaging heroine at the worst possible moments. Then you could get some sleep. No such blessing befell me. I read, bleary-eyed, until Lynds unraveled the myriad plot twists for me. Why do plot threads of murder, blackmail, fabulous World War II treasure, political skullduggery, and an attempt to steal the Presidency of the U.S. cord themselves round a beautiful concert pianist, until they're almost a hangman's noose? You'll just have to read and find out. And did I mention romance and sex?