Book Review: The Queen by Steven James

The Queen by Steven James

Publisher: Revell

Publish Date: September 1, 2011

Paperback, 517 pages 
Fiction, Suspense
 ISBN: 978-0800733032
Patrick Bowers Files #5

My Review:

My thoughts:  I have been reading and enjoying suspense since college, and I wont say how many years that has been, but let's just say that has been a plenty :).  Now I say I have enjoyed plenty of suspense but I can count on my two hands the number of books that have captivated me in the way Steven James' The Queen captivated me.  The Queen is one of those books that picks you up on the first page sucks you in and you become so completely absorbed into the story until the very last page that it does not get out of your head even when you have to shut it and go on to other things.  Really it does.  But it's not only that, what impressed me even more is the quality of the plotting and the quality of the writing.  Not since the first three Thomas Harris books in the Hannibal Lector series have I felt that way about a book.  The careful crafting of a central police figure and the careful crafting of a bad guy (or in this case several bad guys) and the plot to go with it is just so amazing that I stand in awe.  The writing is stellar.  The characters are real with real problems beyond their jobs and the plot is just amazing.

The Queen is beyond compare in the suspense/thriller genre for me so far this year.  I will eagerly go back and read this series from the beginning.  While this is the fifth book in the series, and the earlier events are alluded to, I never felt at a loss reading this one without reading the earlier books.  Enough history is brought out that I can understand the characters and their motivations.  However I am so impressed by this story and the writer that I will go back and read the earlier stories.  I won't go back and rehash this story because I don't want to give anything away.  Just suffice to say that even the setting plays a major role and the author makes that work to his advantage as well.  I like bad guys that are redeemable or at least seem that way, good guys looking to just do right, teenagers just trying to find their way and brothers trying to find their way back to each other.  Add in a plot that is just crazy enough to be believable and you have one stellar book that I almost want to read again right now just because I already miss the characters.  Instead I'm going to the library today to pick up The Pawn and start the series from the beginning so check out that review coming in a few weeks, but until then if you are out and about and see The Queen for sale you just might want to buy a copy for yourself and find out just how great this book is.

My Rating: 5.0/5.0

Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

About the Book:
While investigating a mysterious double homicide in an isolated northern Wisconsin town, FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers uncovers a high-tech conspiracy that ties together long-buried Cold War secrets with present-day tensions in the Middle East.

In his most explosive thriller yet, bestselling author Steven James delivers a pulse-pounding, multilayered storytelling tour de force that will keep you guessing.

The Queen is the latest Patrick Bowers thriller from the author Publishers Weekly calls a "master storyteller at the peak of his game."

About the Author: 
Critically acclaimed author Steven James has written four other award-winning Patrick Bowers novels as well as many works of nonfiction. He has a master's degree in storytelling and has taught writing and creative storytelling on three continents. He lives near the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee with his wife and three daughters.

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FTC Information: I received this book from the Revell books for an honest review.