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Ilium

by Lea Carpenter

FICTION Carpente Lea
Suspense

"Fast-paced and powerful, gripping and immersive, this subtly crafted and suspenseful novel, set in the present and the immediate past, in the dark world of international espionage in London, Mallorca, Croatia, Paris, and Cap Ferret is told through its young female protagonist who unwittingly becomes a perfect asset in the long overdue finale of a special op. The young English narrator briefly tells us of her unhappy family life in London, wanting to escape, and of her childhood obsession with a locked private garden, near where her mother worked, accessible only to the owners of a few houses. Just as she is about to turn 21, at a party near that garden she meets its charismatic and mysterious new owner, Marcus, thirty-three years older, who sweeps her off her feet, proposes and soon they are married at his finca in Mallorca. On their honeymoon in Croatia, he reveals there is something she can do-a plan is in place and she can help with "a favor." Posing as an art adviser starts as soon as they meet up with Raja in Paris, who sends her off to stand in for him at a lunch of what he says are his friends at Cap Ferret where she must just "listen." A helicopter ride alone to a remote, highly guarded and regulated compound on a spit of land called Cap Ferret in the Atlantic is not what it seems. We meet the mysterious, and charming owner Edouard, along with his wife Dasha, children Nikki and Felix, among others. Everyone has a role, and almost everyone is scripted. Brilliantly compelling, this is a spellbinding and poignant story of a long planned joint CIA Mossad op that only needed the right asset to complete"--

Ilium is a spy novel, but calling it a spy novel is misleading. Yes, our main character is a spy, albeit accidental. And although there is action, it is a very slow burn to get to the action part. But I liked it. The novel is a revelatory one, much more interested in our main character (her past, how she got her, what motivates her) than the CIA ops. That is far more interesting to me than any street chase. -Anne M