Book Review #2 - Lion of Babylon, book One in the Marc Royce Adventures

Synopsis
After the death of his wife, Marc Royce, former CIA agent, just tries to make it from one day to the next as an accountant. But when his old boss comes to visit, Marc finds out that his best friend and someone else, both CIA operatives, have been kidnapped in Bagdad and no one on either side of the line wants them found.

Landing in Bagdad, Marc sets out for information, finding some and also finding trouble. The high tensions of the Iraqi people reveal the strain of the times as everyone is eager to forget the last dictator, Saddam Hussein.

Sameh el-Jacobi is an Iraqi lawyer with a passion for saving the innocent. But when an esteemed leaders son is taken, Sameh comes to realize that the kidnappers want more than ransom. Having had dealings with Americans before, Sameh finds himself appointed as Marc Royce's guide. The two get to know each other eventually finding out that they might be able to benefit one another.

When Marc hears of the kidnappings, he temporarily turns to this new mission, yet still digging for any info on his friend. During his visit to the Green Zone, he learns that not only are the two CIA operatives missing but an American missionary woman and the son of a wealthy Iraqi as well.

The situation begins to come to light but Marc finds himself stumped when trying to seek the help of the US government. Sameh, likewise, finds that no one wishes to speak on the matter.

Meanwhile, talk of a new government regime arising inflames the stout muslim leaders but the young and restless find it hopeful. While political powers play chess, Marc and Sameh join up with a well-trained Iraqi police force and make a name for themselves, ousting potential terrorists, and rescuing kidnapped children. The public thrill, leaving the groups enemies sulking in corners but the worst is far from over as the group find it harder and harder to get the information they seek. Using his training, Marc gathers his group and prepares for the mission that might just be his last.

My Opinion
After reading Gold of Kings, I thumbed through the books on our shelves and found this one. It sounded like a good one to try so I did. And I am glad I did. I consider this even better than the first I did a review on. Which has nothing to do with which scenario is more to my taste. In fact, the treasure hunting plot immediately grabs my attention while the political, military plot is not usually my first pick. The plot holes I saw in Gold of Kings were nonexistent in this novel. Bunn did an absolutely excellent job in weaving this tale of suspense. Now I am sad that I don't have the second book, Rare Earth, just as you will be if you read Lion of Babylon and don't have the second book.

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Lost to History

With her eyes closed she willingly followed the hand pulling her onward, into a new place. The excitement threatened to boil over as the time passed and still she was unable to look. Finally she heard a great creak from large oak doors being swung open and his hand once again tugged her forward. A few feet more and the hand stopped, willing her to stop as well. She stood alone as the other person whisked away, leaving her almost giddy now with anticipation.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Not yet." Replied the husky voice.

She waited longer, hearing a swoosh of curtains and the man's feet across the ground, here and there.

"Now?" She asked again.

"Okay... Now."

She opened her eyes and immediately a gasp escaped her lips. Before her, in amounts too numerous to count, were books, books, and more books, from floor to ceiling. The room itself was immense and stretched not only wide but upwards for at least five or more stories. Gilded spiral staircases wound at intervals throughout, leading up to the next levels of the library, on which beautiful molded mahogany bookcases lined the walls. Rolling ladders reached across shelf after shelf and she saw that each level itself was taller than any average story.

She moved forward slowly not taking her eyes off the amazing sights surrounding her. In keeping with the incredulity of the room, the rug was larger than any other she had ever seen and ornately designed with many colors and shapes. Tall plush chairs sat by an extensive table overlaid with a scarlet runner and not far from it  she spied an antique globe probably many centuries old. To make it all the more inviting, a roaring fire blazed from the marble fireplace on the farthest wall from the door.
The man to her right spoke softly as though he would break the wonder of the moment with speech.

"All this... is yours."

Slowly she turned and faced her benefactor. "All of it?" Her voice hardly above a whisper.

"All of it."


Now anyone who has ever seen the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast can tell exactly what I have written. And not only that they can picture the incredible library Disney's artists drew for the cartoon. I must say that that depiction has been the source of my love for great libraries for as long as I could remember. Living in a small 70's house we have no room for a library, no matter how small, but we have all grown up with a love of reading good books. We just have to keep the books in bookcases scattered throughout the house instead of in one reading room.

Needless to say, my dream is to have a library one day, and if I let myself dream big, a library like the Beast's. Oh, the hours I could spend in there. Sitting by the fireplace on cold, cloudy days or choosing a window seat on the warm, sunny days.

Austrian National Library (beautiful-libraries.com)

That is something else I've always dreamed of, having a window seat in an upper story room that overlooks a beautiful courtyard or has a view of high peaked mountains. When I was little I read a book by Elizabeth Enright called The Four-Story Mistake. The four siblings parents had just moved them to a interesting house where the fourth story was more like a tower with windows looking out toward every direction. They would spend their days reading, or playing, in their special tower. And the thing I remember most about that story is they had a window seat.

Of course, if I got into my dreams, I don't think I would stop very soon, so I'll stop now and go back to the first subject, libraries.


Sometime back I discovered a site I found to be very distracting. Beautiful-Libraries.com shows pictures of almost any library imaginable, from small home libraries to incredibly ornate and magnificent public or government libraries. I must admit the beauty of some of these libraries was staggering. I can imagine how Belle felt when the Beast showed her the grand library that was to become her very own.
All someone has to do is give me a library like that and I'm putty in their hands. Who can resist all those books and all that beauty?

Library at Biltmore House (beautiful-libraries.com)

Modern libraries are lush and sleek, but as is typical of my nature, its the old musty libraries that attract me the most. When you enter, the smell of old books leaves you feeling you no longer are in the present. Knowledge. History. The unknown. What an aura of excitement. Being a history lover, someday I want to have the chance to visit some of the oldest libraries and dig through its centuries old records. Like treasure hunting. All by myself, transported back in time, or somewhere where time doesn't exist, digging through history previously lost to the world. Whoo!

In the book Gold of Kings by Davis Bunn, of which I did a review (available here), Storm, in search of clues is led down into the depths of an old building where researchers lose track of time and become book worms. Cool! Okay thats geeky.
But thats me.

So until that day, its still me with the big dreams of grand castles, large libraries, in foreign but beautiful lands.

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