The Dark Goddess

Stone Angel #0

by Albert

When a man enters the inner circle of government service, a whole new world is opened up to him, a world of awesome power—and of absolute vulnerability.So learns Alexander Rhalles, Nobel Prize-winning historian and foreign affairs adviser to the President, when his wife is kidnapped by the KGB. His committing treason by passing on transcripts of his meetings with the President or condemning his wife to a terrible death.Rhalles knew that there was only one man who might be able to end his nightmare and save Moira’s life—her former lover Peter Sawyer, a corporate investigator whose work in industrial espionage required tactics as sophisticated—and as ruthless—as the KGB’s…or the CIA’s….

Genres: Mystery

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvin H. Albert was an upper midtier author thoughout his career. He started out with hardboiled mysteries and westerns, creating Tony Rome and Shogun Slade. When that style of book went out of fashion, he wrote adjacent genres, writing like Alistair MacLean, and here, like Robert Ludlum.

When a presidential adviser's wife is kidnapped, he's forced to call in her former lover, PI Pete Sawyer to rescue her. It all goes down to the discovery of an ancient idol at an archaeological dig: The Dark Goddess.

Very exciting in that seventies sort of way. Pete Sawyer would get his own series in the 1980's when hard boiled fiction came back into fashion.

[James Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea how this book came to be in my bookcase, but that's where I found it, and it's been the perfect thing, lately. European Noir. I imagine that the book is semi-autobiographical and somewhat personal fantasy. Who the author might have been.
It's charming, and the story is a pretty classic kidnapping plot without any big surprises. And, that's fine. Sometimes knowing what you're getting is nice. It's reassuring.
I like the woman characters in this book. Albert manages to write them like people, and they're no more skilled, well resourced, or attractive than the men in the novel, though they are often all of those things.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Espionage thriller set during the Cold War.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent spy thriller. Cerebral; not a lot of guns and killing.