Danger and Dark Alleys in ‘Strait of Hormuz’

I’m delighted to share another round of reader reviews of Strait of Hormuz with you. Today’s reviewers are Mary Hake, Gary Gilmore, Katherine Scott Jones and Faith Farrell. Read on…

Exciting adventure and intrigue!

By Mary Hake, Amazon

Plunge into the world of international intrigue and danger in Davis Bunn’s newest book, Strait of Hormuz.  Marc Royce, who starred in the astounding Lion of Babylon and its exciting sequel Rare Earth, needs to stay at the top of his game to outwit and survive the enemy’s tricks and attacks. When even his American compatriots seem to suspect him and thwart his efforts to protect the world from nuclear meltdown, Marc must decide whom he can trust and how to carry out his mission—even if it means going it on his own.

Circumstances throw Marc and Kitra Korban together again, which can be awkward as they attempt to deal with the threats they face and the future they long to spend together. They must both overcome the past in order to move forward.

I always enjoy the way Davis Bunn weaves his stories with authentic characterization, thrilling plots, and realistic settings, and includes new technology in the mix. The novel definitely sounds like something from the pages of current history. Let’s hope if such a crisis does develop that the outcome turns out as well as this fictional account ends.

I suggest reading the series in order but each book is an exciting adventure of its own.

Danger and dark alleys

By Gary Gilmore, blog

Full of romance, thrills, dangers, intrigue, high speed, and dark alleys, Strait of Hormuz does not disappoint. Davis Bunn is a masterful writer. From the explosive first chapter to the unexpected ending, you are in for a hair-raising good time.

Strait of Hormuz finds Marc Royce in Geneva, Switzerland, for some unknown reason – unknown to Marc and to Ambassador Walton who sent him there. Marc struggles throughout the whole book to determine his reason for being in Geneva, and the struggles not only define his skills, but highlight the matter of US security.

In every situation in which he finds himself – and he finds himself in some unbelievable situations, he does not seem to know how or why he is where he is. But being the astute man that he is, Marc collects all of these happenstances as clues to some bigger puzzle. He does not so much stumble into situations as he marches purposefully into them. He believes that eventually he will know the purpose, and that it will lead him to the desired end, which he is sure he will recognize when he sees it. Now that is trust with a capital T.

His trust in God, his Ambassador boss, and his country, along with his positive, optimistic attitude of life, seem to keep him afloat and upright. It is tempting to reveal the plot in order to make the point, but you will just have to read the book. And just know that those who have already read the book are looking over your shoulder, eager for you to discover what they have discovered along the way.

Another well-drawn adventure from an author who understands his brand

By Katherine Scott Jones, Story Matters blog

Genre: Fiction/Christian/Suspense

Judge this book by its cover? I can’t decide. On the one hand, it captures the essence of the book’s climax. But it doesn’t hint at its strong romance or the glamorous Swiss setting leading to that point. In my opinion, this cover is meant to appeal to the male audience.

Reminds me of… Brock and Bodie Thoene.

Buy or borrow? Fans will want to buy.

Why did I read this book? For Bethany House for review.

My take: Davis Bunn strikes me as a novelist who understands his brand and knows how to deliver time and again what his readers clamor for: well-plotted, deeply researched stories populated by complex characters and threaded with strong inspiration messages.

In Strait of Hormuz, readers will once again find Bunn’s trademark clean, straightforward prose as well as between-the-eyes Christian themes. They’ll also find another element we’ve come to expect from his novels: a well-imagined, fictionalized take on real-world politics.

I can’t decide, however, which audience–male or female–the Marc Royce series will appeal to more. They contain a balanced blend of action (in this novel alone, I believe I counted four major explosions) and romance, plus heartfelt explorations of spiritual matters. So I guess the answer to my question is that Bunn writes for both men and women (and in this way, he reminds me of John Grisham). Indeed, I’d say his finely honed skill at writing for a broad audience explains much of his well-deserved popularity.

If pressed to give Strait of Hormuz a rating, I’d give it 4 stars–falling short of five only because this style of storytelling doesn’t particularly resonate with me. Nonetheless, I’m confident this latest of Bunn’s well-drawn adventures will surely appeal to his myriad fans–and win him a few more besides.

Lessons of faith, culture and history

By Faith Farrell, Found a Christian By His Grace blog

…While reading this I learned much more about Iran, the history of Persia, Israel’s precision trained Mossad, the Strait of Hormuz itself, and the lives of Christians in the Middle East where faith often has to go underground to survive. There are Jews, Muslims and Christians among the characters, and some characters are not what they seem at first.

They are complex, and once you get to know the good characters, you really like them. You care about them, you are fascinated as you follow them in their mission, and you know that you don’t want any of them to be hurt or killed.

One of my favorite characters was Kitra, a spirited woman who is offered a world beyond the kibbutz of her youth, and a chance to save her people. Kitra is also offered love, true love, and must make choices about how to proceed with that.

The plot is the kind that is fast moving but never at the expense of the details that make it memorable. Military, Intelligence Agents, men and women of espionage, Christians who manage to spread the Gospel through “hidden” Churches… it’s all here.

And the setting. Once again, the writing brings the settings to life. I went online and looked up St. Catherine Monastery in Egypt, intrigued by the way Davis Bunn had described this place. The many photographs confirm that sunrise there is as other-worldly beautiful as it sounded.

Yes, Strait of Hormuz  is a book that you can give a man or a woman of any age, because there are well-drawn characters both male and female. If you read this book you will learn lessons of faith and culture and history while enjoying a great story.