Expect the Unexpected
5 Stars
In the grand tradition of Frederick Forsyth’s “The Day of the Jackal” and John le Carré’s “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”, “Fair Game” put a romantic twist in the grimy aspect of politics where a difference in opinion can turn deadly.
And just like Forsyth and Le Carré’s heroes, Doreen Owens Malek’s protagonists are not perfect; nor they are super heroes. They are human – they hurt, they make mistakes, they fall in love no matter how inopportune the moment was. This is the reason why the book is a super read!
***SPOILER ALERT***
The book was originally published in 1989 and I am so glad that the author did not “update” it because it she did, then it will lose the film noire quality that made it so endearing. In this era of smart phones, Siri and GPS, the storyline might be quaint to you. But if you are a fan of Frederick Forsyth and John Le Carré, then you will enjoy the subtlety of the storyline especially the romance between Peter and Meg.
Ashley Fair and Timothy Martin might be the protagonists in “Fair Game,” but Peter and Meg were the two characters that make the book stand out. The romance between Ashley and Tim is expected yet its premise look mundane compared with the tenderness of Peter’s and Meg’s love.
The book has a happy ending, as good romance novels usually do; yet there is a dull ache that comes from Peter and Meg, that even after I finished reading, I was thinking about them more than I thought of Ashley and Tim.
