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Comments And Reviews
"Riveting, spine-tingling tale with penetrating insights into CIA intelligence operations." --- ActionTales.com
Undercover brother: In the new potboiler, Mugged in Marseilles (Action Tales, $12.97), by pseudonymous Oaklander Coby Derek James, an African-American CIA courier suffers identity theft, then wrangles with Algerian terrorists plotting to blow up a Kenyan hotel. James is a longtime employee of high-security government agencies, so he knows how it goes.
Anneli Rufus, East Bay Express, Emeryville, CA
Action lovers will be delighted with this fast-paced book. It has all the elements that make up a good read; action, excitement, adventure, intrigue, suspense, and just a hint of romance.
Chet Lake is a CIA agent who thought he was being recruited by them to do safe background work. He was wrong! The book begins with Chet and an accomplice Wende on their way to jail in Kenya. Chet was given the assignment of finding out the identity of the CIA traitor within the southern Europe and northern Africa region. He is given a device that looks like a cell phone to communicate with his boss Jerry. Chet meets Wende in France. She is taking her two small children to visit her grandmother in Palma, Spain by ferry. The two end up traveling together.
Small time criminal Hassan Bin Mohammed Aref comes into the picture when his gang mugs Chet in Marseilles and Hassan figures out how to use the communicator. This alerts Chet's boss Jerry that there is a problem. Chet chases Hassan and finally catches up to him and uses him to help lure the traitor.
The book is well written and the style is interesting. Throw in el-Quada terrorist training camps, exciting chase scenes, explosions, and near death to keep the reader at the edge of their chair for the whole e-book. Readers will want more Chet Lake adventures as soon as possible.
Cathy Fortenbaugh, Reviewer
eBook Reviews Weekly
http://www.ebook-reviews.net
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Mugged in Marseilles delivers electrifying action set in exotic locations. Chet Lake, a contractor for the CIA, embarks on an intelligence gathering mission to determine Al-Qaeda's next terrorist target. Chet’s cover as a lecturer on the Moorish influences on architecture provides an effective façade for his appointments with various CIA contacts throughout southern France, Spain and Africa.
In Marseilles, two unexpected events impact Chet’s assignment. First, he
inadvertently hooks up with Wende at the car rental agency. Wende, an
attractive American mom of two, is having financial problems while trying to
secure a rental, so Chet, against his better judgment, pays the guarantee on
his credit card. Secondly, Chet’s identity is stolen by Hassan who realizes
that Chet’s physical appearance has an uncanny resemblance to his own.
Wende proves herself as a stalwartly sidekick, but as a devoted mother feels
guilty for endangering her children, so she entrusts them to the care of
their great grandmother who lives in Spain. Chet reluctantly allows Wende to
continue on the adventure, since he fears for her safety.
After a close call when departing the ferry from Mallorca, Chet and Wende
depart for Algiers. This is where they have an unlikely meeting with Hassan,
who has been recruited into the Jihad Brotherhood. Hassan is desperate to
escape this extremist group, so Chet offers him a financial reward if he
works as an insider for them. Murder and a breach of the secured
communications network force Chet and Wende to abruptly move on to Skikda,
while Hassan regroups with the Brotherhood. A potential terrorist target is
pinpointed as an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa. Chet, Wende and Hassan set
course for the hotel to try and evacuate it in order to save innocent lives.
Coby Derek James masterfully crafted an action/spy story peppered with
romance. James eloquently enables multiple viewpoints to enrich the reader’s
perspective of the events as they unfold and intersect. The tension and plot
twists kept me scrolling through the book in great anticipation of what
would happen next. I highly recommend Mugged in Marseilles for anyone who
enjoys spy novels or seeks a good tale, which keeps you guessing the outcome
until the last page.
Reviewed by Brooke Spicher
sv_timepiece+hotmail.com
(Change + to @)
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Mugged in Marseilles is a fast paced covert-intelligence
story filled with action and romance, laced with cultural bearing
on the people involved. There is a twist and turn with every
discovery, leading Chet and his accidental, civilian co-agents,
down a cobbled road fraught with danger and excitement! Chet
is like the original James Bond in a modern setting with a current,
and very real, foe to battle. A must read!
Niki McKay
Kimble & McKay Literary Arts Group
http://www.kimblemckay.netfirms.com/index.htm
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Mugged in Marseilles, by Coby Derek James is a startling tale, a grand mix of a CIA mission suddenly in jeopardy, an identity theft gone badly wrong, and fanatical terrorists about to strike.
James is a skillful writer who has lived the life of his protagonist for over thirty years. And the name used here is, of course, a pseudonym. For he continues his public career in distant parts of our troubled world, always available as a courier to the CIA and other U.S. agencies. It's this experience that brightens James' work with an unquestionable authenticity. And it also provides him with the insights needed to create a fascinating background for the story and the characters in it.
The protagonist, Chet Lake, is virtually a self-portrait of James. In Mugged in Marseilles, Lake finds his life is in danger when his identity is stolen. And the CIA network itself is in serious jeopardy, for his top secret handheld communicator was also taken.
In a strange twist, Lake confronts Hassan Aref, the thief who stole his identity and the CIA device, and learns of a deadly terrorist plot. He soon realizes only Aref can save his life, and those of the many scheduled to die at the hands of the terrorists who are linked closely to al-Qaeda.
As this story, which begins in Marseilles, flows at breakneck speed across Europe and into North Africa, there may be a point or two at which the reader will need to take a leap of faith. But James draws it all tightly together in a wrap that will surprise you.
Mugged in Marseilles is a fast moving, offbeat tale you won't be able to put down. And you'll enjoy every minute of the read.
ActionTales.com
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"This fast-paced international espionage novel packs a wallop!"
--- ActionTales.com
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