Retrato do autor

Todd Moss

Autor(a) de The Golden Hour

7 Works 130 Membros 15 Críticas

About the Author

Todd Moss is the vice president for programs and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and former deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs at the US Department of State.

Séries

Obras por Todd Moss

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Críticas

Todd Moss has written a series of adventure/thriller/mystery books based on what he knows best; The US Department of State and international relations. The protagonist character is Jud Ryker, a State Department Official and academic who has been appointed to head a crisis unit of the State Department. The Golden Hour begins with Jud's families long awaited beach vacation being interrupted by a coup in Mali. Good gripping story, I want to read Moss's other books now, maybe even some of his non-fiction serious work. Too many surprises that could be spoiled to give more detail in a review.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
MMc009 | 3 outras críticas | Jan 30, 2022 |
'The Shadow List' was a bit of a disappointment. It has a somewhat interesting plot involving both CIA guy Judd Ryker and his wife Jessica, also a spy in a different unit. Although their respective assignments are continents apart, there ends up being a connection.

Todd Moss clearly knows the Africa milieu and does a nice job on the 'spy' stuff. His writing is fine in general but his dialogue, which I find often makes or breaks a book for me, is weak and stands in the way of an otherwise decent story.

I've read the 1st and 4th installments in the Ryker series and now think I need to backtrack to check out the other two. It's a good series in my favorite genre.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
gmmartz | 1 outra crítica | Aug 10, 2018 |
So this novel is really fast-paced. There are a lot of characters and there's a lot going on, so you really need to stay focused. It was quite easy to follow in spite of my complete lack of background on the series. However, I would recommend that interested readers start from the beginning so that they can have a better understanding of the story and characters. While the story was interesting, I found that it was a little too convoluted. There were too many angles and too many things going on that didn't tie up as well as I wish they would have. Even though the author chose a really interesting topic to base the story on, I felt my interest wane as too many things were thrown in and not enough was explored at times; it just felt like it was missing some depth. I had no problem with pacing or character development. But if I had to compare this to the Sigma Force series, then I would definitely prefer the Sigma Force series. For me, this novel was just okay and I would give it a 2.5/5 rounded to 3 stars.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and the First to Read program for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
veeshee | 1 outra crítica | Jan 29, 2018 |
The long tail of the 1961 U.S. Bay of Pigs invasion disaster swings around to sting a married couple in this fast-paced political thriller—third in a series by former U.S. State Department diplomat Todd Moss.
With his insider’s background, Moss believably portrays the interdepartmental rivalries inside the Washington Beltway, where high-stakes diplomacy faces off against the less, shall we say, conventional means of asserting American interests deployed by the rival Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Moss’s protagonist, in these novels, is former Amherst College professor Judd Ryker. He developed a political theory suggesting that, in times of a country’s destabilization—whether because of natural calamity or military coup or political upheaval—quick U.S. intervention can help mold the new status quo to fit American interests. He’s been brought into the State Department to create a one-man Crisis Reaction Unit. In other words, to put his theory to the test. Not surprisingly, the State Department’s career diplomats are not interested in this outsider’s theories, and do all they can, by foot-dragging and outright sabotage, to assure he fails.
Judd’s wife Jessica has what he has been led to believe is a job in international relief efforts. As this book opens, she has just revealed that she works for the CIA. In fact, she heads a super-secret unit that operates with total independence and is available for various tricky problem-solving tasks around the world.
Now that Jessica’s responsibilities are out in the open, the couple has agreed on three fundamentals going forward: they will assist each other whenever possible; they will avoid working on the same problem whenever they can; and they will admit to each other when a situation arises that they cannot follow through with assist or avoid. Relevant to all three of these is a commitment to always tell each other the truth, even though at times they may need to keep their employers’ secrets. Like so many principles, stating them turns out to be easier than living them.
Within three days, Jessica counts up at least eight lies she’s told Judd already. Yet, at the same time, he’s reassuring her that he’s in his State Department office, when he’s actually headed to Gauntánamo Bay Naval Base to meet with the shadowy director of Cuban intelligence.
Cuba’s top leaders are elderly. Sick too. There’s every reason to believe that a moment of disruption—of the kind Judd believes is ripe for positive intervention—is imminent. His trip to Cuba is the first step, though the stated reason for the meeting is to extricate four Americans caught on a fishing boat in Cuban waters.
Moss gives a sharp, up-to-the-minute feel in terms of crazy politics, self-serving politicos, and mainstream diplomatic strategists trying to keep the lid on. Throughout, he does a great job in showing the discrepancy between the way events are played for the public and the reality of the situation as Judd and Jessica perceive it. It’s enough to make you look at the nightly news with an even more skeptical eye!
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Vicki_Weisfeld | 1 outra crítica | Oct 3, 2016 |

Listas

Estatísticas

Obras
7
Membros
130
Popularidade
#155,342
Avaliação
½ 3.6
Críticas
15
ISBN
36

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