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Summary: Gripping, highly literate thriller.
Review: I couldn't put this book down. Willett's plot, his style, and the sheer sophistication of this thriller are mesmerizing.
Rating: 
Summary: Lost interest
Review: I had higher expectations for this book. However I just lost interest - I suppose it was too easy to see what was going to transpire. The story to me just fell flat and slowly stopped moving.
Rating: 
Summary: Had me casting the movie!
Review: I read (and forgot I had) THE DEAL last year. This new one by Willett is far better. One way I judge whether a book is worthy is if I am "casting" the movie as I read it. This one prompted me to do so and I had fun doing it. It was a long day (and 1/2 actually) read; couldn't really put it down!
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Summary: A complete 180
Review: I read The Deal last Christmas and was very disappointed. I felt that the characters were dull and the story was lacking. However for some reason I decided to give Sabin Willett another chance, and what luck I had. This book is phenominal. Willett creates characters that you remember and a story that is hard to forget. It reminded me of an earlier novel by Stephen Frey. Check this one out, you won't be disappointed
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Summary: Politics as we fear it is or may become. Thrilling!
Review: I was impressed by Sabin Willett's first effort, The Deal, and awaited his next book very impatiently. The Betrayal more than satisfied. I love his plot, reality can be suspended when it can be believed possible. The way he fleshes out his characters makes them visible in your mind. You like the 'good guys' and you feel the evil of the bad ones. I loved the child, Isabel. It is so refreshing to read of a 12 year old who has good manners, grammar and a large vocabulary. The way she uses "like" keeps her within the limits of her age! Our Renoir lady, heroine, grows stronger, wiser and more confident as we read of her travails. I read The Betrayal as slowly and deliberately as possible, though the temptation to rush was compelling. It is a book to savor, which I did. Well done, Sabin. Hopefully, you have another book in progress.
Rating:
Summary: Politics as we fear it is or may become. Thrilling!
Review: I was impressed by Sabin Willett's first effort, The Deal, and awaited his next book very impatiently. The Betrayal more than satisfied. I love his plot, reality can be suspended when it can be believed possible. The way he fleshes out his characters makes them visible in your mind. You like the 'good guys' and you feel the evil of the bad ones. I loved the child, Isabel. It is so refreshing to read of a 12 year old who has good manners, grammar and a large vocabulary. The way she uses "like" keeps her within the limits of her age! Our Renoir lady, heroine, grows stronger, wiser and more confident as we read of her travails. I read The Betrayal as slowly and deliberately as possible, though the temptation to rush was compelling. It is a book to savor, which I did. Well done, Sabin. Hopefully, you have another book in progress.
Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: Kept me on edge all the way to the last sentence.Very good! Could not put it down, stayed up all night reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Great mystery
Review: Kept me on edge all the way to the last sentence. Very good! Could not put it down, stayed up all night reading it.
Rating:
Summary: A pulsating trip for the reader
Review: Other reviewers have indicated that this book invites a willing suspension of belief, and I echo that sentiment. At times I felt that the suspension was a bit much to ask for and even less to justify which is what, except for one other aspect of the authors writing style, cost it one star in my rating. The story starts a bit slowly and confusingly, but you are soon drawn into the dilemna that confronts the heroine and her 12 year old daughter. What starts as a puzzlement (why didn't I know I had 60 million dollars in a foriegn bank account) soon turns dangerous and deadly. Someone involved with the government of the United States is using Louisa as a pawn and that person has lots of people willing to kill anyone that is a threat to them. Uncovering who the enemy is takes most of the novel and involves numerous well drawn characters, some whom you love to love and others that you love to hate. Sabin Willet has developed a writing style in this book that first takes you through an episode from the perspective of a viewer and then follows with the same episode from the point of view of one of the participants in the episode. I found this style initially confusing and eventually time wasting . The ending that Willet devises makes the trk there worth the effort. It is well worth reading and I shall look forward to his next effort.
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Summary: Willett has courageous birds-eye view of high stakes games
Review: This is not an ordinary book. In it Sabin Willett courageously really gets his feet wet in the areas of Washington and international intrigue foul play. One loses sight immediately of the slim likelihood of the events in his book actually happening, because of the tremendously swift-moving plot into which you can really sink your teeth. All-in-all it's a great commentary on what could happen, and a very intimate inside peek into quite real actualities on Capitol Hill. Each of the characters is very real, also. It is refreshing to read something that puts into focus what we don't like about government and international politics in present times, as it seems most books on the subject lately merely obfuscate it further. As far as the actual writing is concerned, I was truly impressed by the writer's incredible vocabulary, and the strength, beauty and freedom of his ability to express himself. Part of the "fun" of reading it, if you weren't anxiously sweating out some of the intense suspense, was getting an insider's view of the activities in some of the cities that are shaping our future, with or without our knowledge and consent. It was interesting to learn that some of these activities are pretty intriguing when not downright seamy. Finally, perhaps a new word should be coined, poe-fiction, or fict-etry, or something, because so much of the writing in this piece of fiction brushes heavily on fine poetry. All-in-all I relished every moment I spent reading it, and would certainly recommend it to others.
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