LENA CHAGALL

Lena Chagall is an anchorwoman for WorldNet.

She is the first female news lead for that cable network program and her nightly broadcasts are watched by millions. Her face is extremely well known, not just for her reading of the latest headlines but for the many years she worked in the hotspots of the world, delivering the latest developments while bullets spat and bombs erupted.

Though her age is not mentioned, it is probable that she is in her late thirties considering the experience in the television business that she has and her current top position. A woman who was from a small town upbringing, child of Russian émigré parents, she had worked hard to get where she was and had enjoyed every step.

As the two-book series opens, she is at the height of her career it would seem although as the second book develops, she finds that there are more heights she can achieve if she is brave enough. In the first, though, she is not looking for advancement as she likes where she is and has just about everything she could want.

This included the good looking, impressive government agent named Tom Kane whom she had met four years earlier while reporting from Israel. An especially dangerous and exciting assignment had thrown them together and their relationship grew quickly.

In the first recorded adventure, their courtship worked to their advantage as they each addressed a dangerous situation from their own direction but worked towards a solution. In the second book, Kane is only mentioned as he was on assignment. She had to take on the bad guys without him in that case and this showed how well she could handle herself. While she did not fight and shoot like he would have, she did use her investigative talents and her reporting skills to uncover and reveal those who tried to destroy her and a lot more.

For his part in the series, Kane, a former military officer with the rank of Colonel, is a man who has fought hard for many years against his country's enemies and has earned each of his scars. He is easily the lead character in the first book with Chagall being a close second and, had he been in the second with her, would likely have been the main character.

The first book in the series is a traditional spy story told mostly from the perspective of the lead agent and the story definitely worked. The plot was straightforward and interesting and the characters were very well thought out and presented. Chagall was an important part of the adventure and held her own quite well though there was no doubt that Kane was the main character.

Which makes it interesting that the author decided the next book would concentrate on Chagall and not Kane, an act that surprised and intrigued me. There is no espionage in the second book but there is definitely political intrigue and conspiracy and high-level chicanery and it takes someone with the experience of Chagall with her tenacity to force their way in.

Reading the two books back-to-back might not be the way to go as the switch from lead characters is a bit shocking. Give it a bit of time between the two and each book works quite well on its own.