Many of us know Andrew Kaplan from the television series Homeland – an exciting and watchable series. Blue Madagascar may also be a prime-time television series, for it has all the makings of a taut, around the world story that will keep readers and viewers interested and wondering not only what will happen next but also where will we be next. The story takes us to many places as it unfolds.

Remember, we are the most dangerous creatures on the planet.

Yes, we are. The story tells of a complex and interesting plot to capture a bunch of bad guys who are involved in many nefarious undertakings – from murder to theft to kidnapping to sex trade and every other kind of evil. For example, there is the character: “He was El Pintor, the Painter. The head of the Black Knights drug cartel. A psychopathic killer whose cruelty was legend. It was said he once had a rival skinned alive and then had the skin tanned for a chair for his study. Once when a police chief in Zitacuaro arrested two of his men, he had the police chief, the chief’s wife, and every member of his family, thirteen of them children, cousins, grandmothers, down to a three-month-old baby, killed, their bodies hung from a road overpass.”  And on the side of good we have Jean-Pierre Brochard, “Athletic, dark-haired, handsome, a graduate of ENS, the highly-selective École Normale Supérieure, and the equally exclusive Pantheon-Assas University, Brochard was a rising star, a procureur, or investigative criminal prosecutor to keep one’s eyes on. And though he had expressed no immediate interest in politics, he’d already been approached by political parties from both the right and the left to run for the National Assembly.” 

And the good guys? Well, a clever, good looking woman working for the USA government, Casey. (Even her name, “Casey” came from Jessica [her older sister] who began calling her “K.C.” when she was still an infant, after her first and middle names, Katharine (after Erica’s late mother, Katarina) Charlotte; Jessica, the one who took her to school, so her kindergarten teacher put it down as “Casey,” and she was “Casey” ever after.)  She is constantly thinking of her older sister, who raised her, and quoting her sister’s wise sayings. For example, “Chance happens, but evil is a hunter. You can either be prepared or prey.” In fact, the sayings are collected at the end of the novel, so the reader can easily find them and think about the wisdom of the older sister. 

Yes, there are many deaths; yes, at times the action is quite vivid, and yes, the novel takes you to many places. The plot? In Chapter 15 we get a sense of the depth of the problems: “Clearly we’ve been compromised– and by we, I mean a large segment of the security apparatus of the United States: The CIA, Homeland Security, the DIA, NSA, and FBI, as well as a number of key corporations. We’re not sure how far the breach goes. The Russians and Chinese are already in the hunt.”

Lots of action. Some love making. Weapons – oh yes. But it is a rollicking, exciting trip well worth the time it takes to read. And, among other things we learn, “In all of human history, there’ve only been four currencies: money, goods, sex and information. Which do you imagine is the most valuable?”

And, in addition to the many countries search for the evil-doers we also get some social commentary, such as, “They passed an encampment of tents on the sidewalk. Homeless camps were becoming ever more numerous these days as the economic crisis deepened. A half dozen men huddled silently around a fire in a garbage can. It reminded Casey of Belgrade. What have we come to, she thought.” What indeed. 

We will, it seems, always have conflict, have evil, have a struggle between good and evil – and that is what the book is about. Oh, and there is a presidential election gearing up in the USA.

As Casey says, “One of my sister Jessica’s rules was: ‘Boys don’t matter – until they do. But sisters are forever.”

“Andrew Kaplan is the author of two bestselling spy thriller book series: Scorpion and Homeland, the original prequel novels to the award-winning Homeland television series. His novel, Homeland: Saul’s Game won the Scribe Best Novel of the Year award. His books have been translated into 22 languages. A former journalist, war correspondent and business consultant, he covered events around the world and served in both the U.S. Army and the Israeli Army during the Six Day War. He has consulted with major corporations and think tanks that advise governments. His standalone novels include the NY Times bestsellers Dragonfire, Hour of the Assassins, and War of the Raven, cited by the American Library Association as “one of the 100 Best Books ever written about World War Two.”

Bob Lane is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Vancouver Island University.

Categories: Fiction

Keywords: fiction