Setting Wladowsky’s depiction of intimate spycraft apart is the passion that the “insatiable” Leda brings herself to feel for men she manipulates. Leda’s in so deep that there’s suspense in the question of whether she’s lost the plot altogether, though she sees in John the resources to secure her children’s safety. Complicating all this is that Leda has been appearing in visions—and a rabbi believes she could be the Moshiach, the messiah destined to save the Jewish people.
That’s heady stuff for a sex-and-spies thriller. This second volume centers on this complex dynamic, with Leda and John making intense, inventive love in Dubrovnik, New York, Paris, and other far-flung locales, as Leda notes that their “addiction” to each other “can only be solved by a bullet”—and that, no matter what her mission might be, “she’s “more willing to kill herself than him.” More a continuation than a sequel—it opens with chapter 86, right where the first book ended—this follow-up is a more assured, engaging read, as it examines Leda’s fascinating entanglements with greater clarity and more compelling detail than in the faster-paced first book—though the epic length and bold sexuality will challenge some readers
Takeaway: This intimate espionage thriller sequel digs deep into an Israeli spy’s impassioned affair—and possible prophetic fate.
Great for fans of: Lauren Sanders’s The Book of Love and Hate, Jonnie Schnytzer’s The Way Back.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B-
Marketing copy: A-
This book does not offer the instant thrill of the carousel and shiny lights of the blockbusters, but it demands from the reader concentration and dedication.
It is like an avalanche forming from a snowflake.
The reward is when you are pulled into the mesmerizing world of intrigue, espionage, and Judaism, where nothing is as it seems at first sight, and you are freed from banality, false morality, and political correctness of the modern world.
New insights are revealed each time the book is read, each time on a more mystique level.
To know Leda and her mission is to read between layers of action and love veils, to examine one’s own ethics, morality, and values,
to stand in awe in front of divine beauty and tremble in front of the horrendous killer. This is divine nature, and this is our nature too.
It happens gradually, just like in real life; you must dedicate time and effort to know someone.
Leda is a mirror of all of us, and everybody has a light and dark side in themselves, even if they don’t want to admit that.
Style is vivid, dense, rich, sharp but does not bother the reader with unimportant decorations and tedious descriptions,
and at the same time, it offers the vast possibility to learn new things and expand own views. On the other hand, it almost seems autobiographic because the narrator does not bother to ask permission from her characters when to speak.
Fundamental movers of the human race have always been sex and death, and in this book, you will have plenty of both of it. But you will have more than that – the epic love story that will shake you to the core.
If you let Leda enter your heart once, she will never leave you again. You will be her pawn, and she will be your queen, and together you will start the final Tikkun Olam – repairing the world.
And the Almighty? He is smiling at Leda.
