Smoke and Dagger

by Douglas Wynne

[Inkslinger]

(Review posted in its entirety at www.BetwixtTheSheets.com.)

"I don't know what I initially thought I was getting into with Douglas Wynne's 'Smoke and Dagger' when I planned to take on this review.. but it was not what I expected.. and I mean that in the most complimentary of ways.

While early pages are almost clinical and sent me scurrying back to re-read the synopsis, the story is actually filled with intriguing scenes and a good deal of subterfuge on pretty much everyone's part. I won't say that it starts off slow, because it doesn't. There is some storytelling sleight of hand and that's what made me think I didn't remember what I was about to read, though I was still just as eager to get into it.

Normally, I research an author before I settle in--"

(I received this book as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)