Guest Reviewer: Jay Graham
Title: Checkmate
Author: Karna Small Bodman
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
ISBN-13: 978-0-765-31542-7
Release Date: January 2007
Genre/Sub-genre: Suspense
Year/Setting: Present Day / USA
Overall Rating: 4.0
Sexual Content Rating: Sensual
Language (Profanity/Slang) Rating: Mild
Violent Content Rating: Moderate
Karna's Website:
www.karnabodman.com
One has to be reminded when reading this work, that this is a freshman effort from a newly published author. Karna Small Bodman’s novel, Checkmate, is a riveting work and a great story. This tale is obviously well researched, and most of the technology involved can be validated online against established military reference works. The author’s years’ working in Washington for President Reagan, as well as her extensive network of both congressional and military contacts, help translate the plotline into something that is believable and immediate. This book races from chapter to chapter. The characters, especially Dr. Cameron Talbot (Cammy) and the Islamic militants Abbas Kahn and Jambaz are fully alive and believable.
I especially appreciated the ‘Characters’ feature Ms. Bodman employs at the beginning of the work to explain who will be appearing in the story, and the role they will play. Too often I think authors assume that after the initial introduction, the reader will have an immediate grasp of characters just introduced. It is worth the effort to read slowly down the list before jumping into the work, both to be better grounded, and to anticipate when the different players will come on the scene. Let’s hope other authors consider this very helpful and considerate device.
The story in Checkmate revolves around a brilliant young scientist. Dr. Talbot, racing to prove her missile defense proposal, can be completed. The clock is ticking on her funding and even higher stakes, civilian lives, are also in play as she works to neutralize stolen missiles in the hands of terrorists. Through out the story, Cammy’s grows ever closer to Lt Colonel Hunt Daniels (Hunt), a man of strength and uncompromising integrity. From the beginning he cares for Dr. Talbot and more than once, it is his belief in her that buoys her up during trials of loss and frustration.
The language in Checkmate is pretty tame, and the romantic scenes are very tastefully conveyed. You know Cammy and Colonel Hunt Daniels ("Hunt") care about each other, but nothing is graphic. There are several deaths in the story, in part because of the inevitable chase for the secret technology and they can be a little gruesome but clearly within reason.
I won’t cover the end of the story, except to let you know it was solid, and flowed well out of the action in the middle of the book. This is a great read and you will enjoy it.
My only problem with the book had to do with the reaction one of the characters has about being accused of treason. I am thinking a career military officer would have been devastated even to have been suspected, let alone investigated. In this book a high ranking officer dismisses the accusations as quickly and effortlessly as if someone had made reservations at the wrong restaurant. Karna Small Bodman understands an incredible amount about politics, the mechanics of Washington, national defense and both missile and anti-missile systems. I think she undersized the reaction this character would have expressed and for this book, and this plotline, it impacted plausibility.
Jay
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