Red Mist by Richard Taylor

Summary: You are U.S. Army Military Intelligence trainee David Dengler. Following Army M.I. protocol, you are sent on a training exercise to a city you’ve never visited before and ordered to surveil a public person (‘public persons’ having little recourse if their privacy is invaded). You can’t believe your good fortune. You draw the assignment to surveil Marilyn Monroe. It is early August, 1962, and you have just been made a witness to the murder of Hollywood’s biggest star.

Red Mist is a fast-paced thriller that recreates the world of 1960s America, a decade obsessed with sex, violence, and espionage. Follow David Dengler as he flees from unknown assassins, and struggles to stay alive as dark forces compress him from all sides, driving him to a rendezvous with death… in Dealey Plaza.

David Dengler was expecting to be assigned to a low level politician, instead he is assigned to surveil Marilyn Monroe, one of the most beautiful and famous movie stars in Hollywood. His dream assignment turns into a nightmare, and he finds himself on the run and in hiding.

This book takes you from the glitter of Hollywood to the mines of West Virginia, we find out about Dengler’s dreams and loves growing up, how he overcame all this to achieve his goal. All of this turns out to be important later in the book.

Although I did not like this book I gave it 4 stars. There was good character development, I really started to feel like I knew the main character, I could feel what he was feeling. The word descriptions were vivid and the plot was solid with enough twists to keep me reading till the end. The plot twists were not wild or unbelievable. I finished this book, but I didn’t have to force myself, it was an enjoyable read, it just turned out to be a subject that didn’t interest me.

I would recommend this book to fans of political thrillers who like a personal touch to their books.

Thriller
E-book
Stars: 4
Copyright 2010