Review – Lion of Babylon

“Alex Baird has gone missing,” Ambassador Walton told Marc from the back seat of the idling town car. Instead of getting out, Marc’s hand dropped from the door handle and he said, “When did Alex go off the grid?” “…seventy hours to be exact. " “Three days missing in Baghdad meant one of two things…” to Marc. His close friend was either “…kidnapped or buried in a dusty grave.” Within hours Marc would be “wheels up” on his way to Baghdad, despite his estrangement from a State Department that had fired him when he took nine months off to care for his dying wife. That had ruptured Marc’s relationship with the State Department and the Ambassador—until today. Add a missing nurse, an AWOL aid worker, a missing wealthy young Iraqi and a deceptive mine field of secret encounters and the stage is set for an unforgettable thrill ride of suspense. The setting is war torn Iraq and the dangerous Middle East. There Royce joins forces Sameh el-Jacobi, an attorney known as the most honest man in Iraq who also searches for missing Iraqi’s. Their newfound friendship is all they can trust when they encounter a mix of villains, deceitful treachery and life-threatening situations in this fast-paced thriller that doesn’t let up until the last page is turned. Bunn’s vivid and complex cast of characters are easy to follow, empathize and connect with. The involved plot, played out against the dangerous backdrop of the Middle East, engages the reader and keeps the pages turning faster and faster. Bunn’s storytelling ability displays why he’s a Christy Award winning writer. Back Cover Copy: “This book delves into crucial issue with a sensitivity that left me literally stunned…Bunn tells a story that grips the reader and refuses to let go.” —Keith Hazard, Deputy Director (ret), CIA Marc Royce worked for the State Department on a variety of clandestine assignments—that is, until personal issues led to his dismissal. When Alex Baird goes missing in war-torn Baghdad, State comes calling again. Alex is an intelligence agent—and a close friend of Royce’s. Three others have also dropped out of sight-a nurse, an aid worked, a wealthy young Iraqi. Are these cases linked? Rumors circulate about a kidnapping conspiracy, yet both American and local officials refuse to pursue it. Blocked at every turn, Royce eventually unearths a trail of secret encounters between sworn enemies. What he discovers could transform the course of rivalry and reconciliation throughout the Mideast. As the human and political drama escalates, can one man summon the courage to make a difference? DAVIS BUNN is the author of numerous bestsellers, with sales totaling more than six million copies. The winner of three Christy Awards for excellence in fiction, he is a lecturer in creative writing and Writer in Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University. Davis and his wife, Isabella, divide their time between England and Florida.