Thrills in Turkey
Democracy, the best system of government, has a drawback recognised in Athenian times. What if the candidate elected by the majority is detrimental to his country? In a democracy, the people must wait until the next election to replace him with a hopefully better man. Unless he entrenches himself so well that he remains head of state, the citizenry afraid to oppose him. Kicking him out in a coup or assassinating him would almost certainly be a boon to the country, albeit undemocratic. This reviewer is, of course, referring to Hitler during the dozen years he was Nazi Germany’s fuhrer.
In the event, the coup and assassination failed and he ran the Third Reich into the ground before committing suicide. To be sure history is filled with tyrants, assassinations and coups, successful and not. Novelists find them grist for their literary mills. One such is City Of The Lost.
Following the form of works of fiction, there’s a major plot and a minor plot, tied together like a braid.
There is unrest in Turkey. Riots and bomb-throwing in Istanbul, Ankara and elsewhere. The prime minister is the target. Mercenaries are killing indiscriminately. Who is leading them and causing the chaos? British intelligence operative lain Black and British historian Karin Visect, who happen to be there for different reasons, join forces to investigate.
In the process, Iain saves the prime minister’s life. Which leads to the identity of the firebrand, no improvement on the incumbent. Suffice to say that his and his wife’s days are numbered.
Karin is looking for the secret burial place of the heroes who died during the Trojan War, feeling that at least one tomb is probably situated somewhere beneath ancient Troy. His minute descriptions of the area’s caves are chapters-long. As with the Egyptian tombs, there are many booby-traps.
An earthquake gets them (Karin and several archaeologists) into the tomb. Flowing lava keeping them there. There’s a way out, but hidden with diabolical cleverness — by Achilles. Can they find it?
City Of The Lost is action-packed, above and below ground. I’m not up on the political situation in Turkey. Is it really so volatile?