When I received Chasing Mona Lisa from Graf Martin
Communications (on behalf of Revell), I was inspired to immediately purchase
its predecessor The Swiss Courier by the same authors, Tricia Goyer and Mike
Yorkey.
The strongest element of both books is their fast-paced
timelines, deft characterization, skill for WWII-era history and aura of
suspense and espionage. Indeed, readers of Bodie and Brock Thoene’s The Zion Covenant Series will feel strongly about the depth and competence of the
research and fans of Sarah Sundin and the Allie Fortune Series will immediately
feel at home with the time period.
In both novels, intrepid Swiss OSS agents Gabi Mueller and
Eric Hofstadler race against time from their neutral Switzerland to perform
daring operations which could turn the tide of the Allies’ integration in the
war. The Swiss Courier finds Gabi
charged with rescuing a German physicist working on the deadly atomic bomb. Chasing Mona Lisa sees Eric and Gabi
attempting to keep Da Vinci’s masterpiece from falling into enemy hands.
The former begins with the events dramatized in the movie Valkyrie and makes careful note of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his
careful spiritual work to undermine and overthrow Hitler. In both books, the research is well-plotted
out and Yorkey and Goyer’s grasp of the German language and Swiss-German
dialect is plausible. I mentioned to a friend how much I appreciated their
infusion of German terms and phraseology without immediate translation. It
feels like Yorkey and Goyer have eluded the tendency in the Christian market
for talking down to the readers: their plots are swift and complicated, there
are a myriad of characters to keep pace with in both offerings and there is a
saturation of interesting and noteworthy information we are expected to take in
stride. While some readers may initially find the twists and skips from one
plot setting to another to be convoluted, you soon fall into ease and become
accustomed to how fast the pages turn and how you are spirited from one
scenario to the next. While Chasing Mona
Lisa did not keep my attention to the same degree as The Swiss Courier, I very
much enjoyed meeting Gabi and Eric and look forward to more of their adventures
in the future.
Visit Mike Yorkey and Tricia Goyer on the web
The webpage for The Swiss Courier
On Amazon: The Swiss Courier--Chasing Mona Lisa
I received Chasing Mona Lisa for review from Graf-Martin Communications on behalf of Revell, a division of Baker Publishing. I purchased The Swiss Courier in conjunction
2 comments:
Rachel: what a neat review to read! As co-author of "Chasing Mona Lisa" and "The Swiss Courier" with Tricia Goyer, I'm always fascinated with what readers say. I appreciated what you said about how we try not to "talk down" to the readers . . . we have a saying: Keep the reader smart! For me, the novels are like children: it's hard to say which one you love more. Again, thanks for the careful read and warm review. Mike Yorkey
Well said, my friend, well said. :)
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