Lachlan Page

Recommended: sure
For a "based on true events" story, for a regular person being thrown into a non-regular situation, for a travel adventure with some legitimate peril

Thoughts:
This was a surprisingly slow pace for a story considering it's so short! We meet Oliver in his trip and see some of his time going about his business before the crux of the story where he gets recruited as a spy. He's already been there for a while and has a good handle on how he's living there, so we just come along right in the middle of things. There's some setup on what his day to day life is like and why, so we're able to see him as a regular guy.

The story is mostly from his perspective, though there are a few chapters or moments narrated from the person who recruits him, and I enjoyed these little interludes. They felt like a peek behind the curtain kind of thing, though I don't know how accurate to spy recruitment it really is. 😅

My biggest pain point with this was some of the really bafflingly stupid decisions Oliver makes along the way. Sometimes it's that he's still in way over his head, but sometimes it's just... what are you doing, kid?? So that was kind of tough to get behind. I wouldn't trust him as a spy for *my* country, let me tell you that.

That said, this is quite a full story for the fact that it's just over a hundred pages! We meet him, see him debate the changes, become enmeshed, and walk that tightrope once he's on it. I was genuinely surprised by some of the events in the plot which was a delight. Again, I don't know how "true story" versus "based on" this is, but overall it was a fairly quick and entertaining read. The curiosity this sparked for me about what parts of it were based on the real events has been a delight.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for a free copy. This is my honest review.
 … (altro)