This is my third book from author William F. Brown, having previously read and reviewed The Undertaker (4 stars) and Amongst My Enemies (3 stars). Each novel has been a stand alone and unique from the one before it and Thursday At Noon covers new territory again.
Set in Cairo in the early 1960s, Richard Thomson is a disgraced CIA agent after a failed mission in Damascus. He is having a drink in a bar when he is approached by a man with some photographs to sell. After refusing to buy them, the man is later beheaded, the photographs disappear and Thomson is suspected of his murder. So the story begins.
Thursday At Noon is a spy thriller involving the CIA, and the fate of Egypt with a military plot and the future being decided on Thursday at noon.
I was particular drawn to the character of the Chief of Homicide Police in Cairo, Captain Hassan Saleh, injured and now with a withered leg and walking with a cane. His character was incredibly intriguing to me and way more interesting than that of the main character Thomson. Wearing pristine white suits, and arriving at his destination early so that others wouldn't see him walking with such excruciating pain was incredibly moving. I'd love to read a novel where he was the central character, solving crimes in Cairo.
Moving on though, the romance Thomson developed towards the end of the novel however was completely laughable and not necessary to the plot development. I'm a female reader and not really into spy novels, and this romance didn't do it for me; it would have been better not to have been there at all. And the "Richard Richard" dialogue when the character had been referred to as Thomson throughout was jarring for the reader and felt very out of place, being the most exciting part of the storyline.
I recommend this novel for male readers who enjoy spy thrillers peppered with CIA hierarchy relationships, Nazis working on a secret project, gun fights, car chases, goons, and the occasional political/military coup. You will be crying out for more!
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
