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Few thrillers are more satisfying than those which challenge not only the reader's ability to unravel the mystery of the story, but also explore interesting new information about the spy business. CODE OF SILENCE is uniquely poised to do both: Not only does author Sally Wright include all the suspense necessary to make a great mystery, she explores actual materials first discovered by historians in the early 1990s, while exploring Russia's KGB archives. That material included a series of revelations about espionage during World War II, including decoding and counter-espionage. This sixth-in-a-series Ben Reese mystery opens with an engrossing passage: A young woman, working at a high level intelligence facility in the US, is found dead. Just before she jumped out her window (or was she pushed?), she was trying to deliver an important message to a coworker. Ten years later, this same colleague sends a letter to Ben Reese (previously a World War II scout, now a university archivist), pleading for help in tracking the man he believes murdered the young woman before disappearing himself. Thus the story is set for Reese to uncover the mystery not only behind the death of the young woman, but the movements of the man who appears to be willing to stop at nothing to keep some secrets from being exposed. Once Reese figures out that the secrets are linked to top level Soviet code breaking, he understands the stakes of the game and realizes just how much danger this rogue murderer poses. From the opening sequence in 1947, Edgar-nominated author Sally Wright keeps readers riveted to the story. Once the action moves over to Reese, the story is still going strong, and only seems to falter at the very last moments of the book. Once the essential mystery has been solved, readers will find what seems like a tacked-on section about Reese getting a horse, leaving readers wondering if yet another story has begun. This minor distraction does not lessen the overall appeal of the thriller, as it ties into personal events in Ben Reese's own life (the death of his wife), but it lessens the overall mood of the ending with its anti-climax.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas, February 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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