Private Wars

In the sequel to Greg Rucka's A Gentleman's Game, British SIS agent, Tara Chase returns for one of the most challenging and dangerous missions of her career. In the newest novel of this stunning series, Private Wars begins with Chase finding out that she's pregnant with her dead lover's (Tom Wallace) baby. When she puts in a request for a temporary leave of absence with her boss, Paul Crocker, the request is denied and she quits her position as Minder One in anger. Not knowing what else to do, Chase tracks down Wallace's mother in England and tells her that she's having her dead son's child. Chase then moves in with Val Wallace and spends the next year-and-a-half having the little girl and raising her. Everything comes to a halt when Crocker suddenly appears at her doorstep, needing her expertise for a secret mission into an East European country to rescue the son and grandson of its dying President. It seems as though the President's daughter is determined to take over after her father anyway she can, even if it means killing her brother and young nephew. Her lover, who's the head of the country's secret police, has already raped and murdered her brother's wife and now wants to take out the sibling. Chase's job is to get the President's son and grandson out of the country before they can be murdered. The problem is that Chase must do it with little help from her superiors and without the American government finding out. Also, she must find a way to get through twelve armed men who have the son under house arrest, waiting for orders to kill him. Chase, however, manages a miracle and just about succeeds in her mission, until there's an unexpected betrayal from the American side. She's captured and then faces a slow, torturing death at the hands of the secret police. Nothing has prepared her for what she'd have to endure and nothing will ever be the same. Private Wars takes the "Tara Chase" series to a whole new level. It's an even faster read than the first novel with unbelievable action and suspense. The characters are more developed, the plot richer in context, and it's a very difficult book to put down even for a minute. The ending will leave you feeling empty, wishing there had been another alternative and knowing that governments seldom care about the suffering of one individual. Along with the "Atticus Kodiak" series, author Greg Rucka has another winner in Tara Chase. I hope Mr. Rucka will keep this new series alive because I want to read more novels with Chase as the lead character. She's one tough lady who's not afraid to kill, or to call her boss an idiot. This is great reading and a lot of fun!

Greg Rucka's second Queen & Country novel is a fine effort with a wonderful payoff for those fans left hanging by A Gentleman's Game. His grasp of the internal politics of the MI-6 and alusions to the current Blair Government ring true. Political sketches of the situation in many of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia also are spot on. Uzbekistan is a particularly poignant setting for a Anglo-centric spy thriller given its nexus as a staging ground for the US GWOT, for regional ethnic tensions, breedign ground for islamic extremism, and, most importantly, some of the most egregious human rights abuses recorded in recent memory. Tashkent hosts a thuggish regime, that has particularly been salt in the wounds of British Government politics thanks to Craig Murray, and could very realistically have produced the characters that Rucka fleshes out so admirably in these pages. Vauxhall Cross is also the staging ground for intrigue as we see how Paul Crocker's relations with his Chief of Service deteriorate until a final end game results in a most satisfying coup d'gras. Francis Barclay is one character that anyone could love to hate. He gets his comeuppance. Tara Chace will forever be a heartbreaking character. A tragic figure. Rucka stays true to form. There will be no happy endings for Miss Chace...she's not meant to have them and I am not sure that she deserves one. What a fabulously realised character.

Greg Rucka first adapted the characters from his comic book "Queen and Country" to prose in A Gentleman's Game, an accomplished and intelligent actioner distinguished by strong and realistic characterizations, even among the villains. This foray is not just better, it's a lot better; and the last one was pretty darn good. Queen and Country distinguishes itself from other espionage novels by its close attention to how office politics among spies affects the business these spies are supposed to be accomplishing. Here, the political considerations are more complex than last time while simultaneously being explained better and seeming more realistic. Furthermore, despite grim overtones, the world is generally better off at the end of the book than at the beginning -- while brutal nearly to the point of nihilism, the plot allows for more hope than the one in the last book, at least for the characters we like most. And, as in the last book (and in the comic book series), it is the characters that make the biggest impression. The driven, lethal Tara Chace and her immediate superior in the British Secret Service, Paul Crocker, are the best spies since 007; it is always great to see them in action. As they navigate the treacherous politics of Central Asia and the sometimes even more dangerous politics of their own espionage community, they keep the reader's sympathy and attention. I had a hard time putting this book down, and I can't wait for the next one.

Greg Rucka's "Private Wars" is a no-holds barred spy novel in which political considerations take precedence over saving lives and protecting human rights. Tara Chace is a courageous, resourceful, and daring British agent whose lover dies, leaving her pregnant with his child. She quits her job, but misses the excitement and quickly becomes restless. When her former boss, Paul Crocker, asks her to conduct a difficult and dangerous mission, she reluctantly agrees. The job will take place in Uzbekistan, a crucial ally with strategic importance to the West. The head of Uzbekistan is dying and his daughter, Sevara, is in line to take his place. She has already had her sister-in-law tortured and murdered, and may have her sights on her brother, Ruslan, and his two-year-old son, Stepan, as her next victims. Tara's assignment is to spirit Ruslan and Stepan out of the country. What follows is an exciting roller-coaster ride filled with intrigue, betrayal, adrenaline-fueled chase scenes, bloody firefights, and more than a few unpredictable twists and turns. Tara's antagonist is Ahtam Zahldov, Sevara's lover and a sadistic, ambitious, and unprincipled brute who enjoys inflicting pain on his enemies. If she falls into his hands, she faces a slow and agonizing death. "Private Wars" is a complex and challenging book that requires a great deal of the reader. It is also a clear indictment of the many lying and unprincipled individuals who run intelligence agencies for personal gain and power rather than to foster peace and spread democratic ideals. Rucka explores the steep price that being a spy extracts from people like Tara. She suffers from nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder, and she often must depart at a moment's notice, leaving her small child with a caregiver. Every time she begins an operation, she knows that she may never see her daughter again. Sadly, Tara has learned never to trust anyone. As Rucka points out, espionage consists of "truths revealed to protect lies, relationships twisted to steal secrets, lives surrendered in exchange for [small] gains." People die, careers are ruined, governments are destabilized, and to what end? "Private Wars" gets more exciting as the story progresses, and the conclusion is an absolute stunner. This is a thinking person's novel, along the lines of Stella Rimington's "At Risk," which I also recommend highly.

Authors laboring in the thriller genre have produced an embarrassment of riches lately, with worthwhile books being published on what seems to be a daily basis. PRIVATE WARS by Greg Rucka is this week's entry. Rucka has established his considerable bona fides in a number of media recently, primarily in the comic or sequential art fields. He currently is authoring acclaimed story arcs in WONDER WOMAN and THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, as well as a limited series entitled THE OMAC PROJECT. Rucka also has his own ongoing graphic novel series QUEEN AND COUNTRY, where the characters in PRIVATE WARS and 2004's A GENTLEMAN'S GAME come from. While QUEEN AND COUNTRY is a favorite around Casa de Hartlaub, it is in the thrillers where Rucka's talent truly shines. PRIVATE WARS picks up almost immediately where A GENTLEMAN'S GAME left off. Tara Chace, Minder One of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, is still reeling from the events that took place at the close of A GENTLEMAN'S GAME. Chace abruptly quits the Service after being denied a leave of absence from her post, an occurrence that almost immediately leaves her agency in the lurch when a power struggle in Uzbekistan results in a strategic crisis involving Britain and the United States. Chace is persuaded to return to service in order to extricate the pro-Western heir to power before he is assassinated. As anyone familiar with A GENTLEMAN'S GAME might expect, there are any number of red herrings, wild cards and duplicitous settings where friend and foe change sides and identities --- if they can be identified at all. Chace has more than her own self-preservation guiding her motives, and to complicate matters her mission constantly...changes. Rucka's ability to keep things racing along while explaining and exploring the subtleties of this complex plot is almost unbelievable. Additionally, about midway through the novel, there is an occurrence that is as suspenseful and exciting as anything I have read or watched this year. Seriously. I can't give any work a higher recommendation than that. Rucka is at the top of his game, and PRIVATE WARS is the pinnacle of his work to date. This is a thriller not to be missed. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub