Ocean’s Eleven-meets-Mission: Impossible is right! In fact, the Ocean’s Eleven ensemble-like cast was one of the things I most enjoyed about this novel—plenty of room for interplay and banter between the characters! Of all the characters in this story, I grew most fond of Eddie the tech geek (and his fidget spinner). He was a good counterbalance for Talia, who was a little harder to warm to as a character—deliberately so, I think, as it seemed to be her personality to close herself off somewhat. Adam Tyler caught my attention from the get-go, and although I worked out some of the twists relating to his character before they were revealed, he brought a really interesting dynamic to the story. And then there were the international members—among them a French woman, a Scotsman, and even an Australian who managed to avoid being overly clichéd, much to the relief of this Australian.

There’s plenty of action going on throughout the story, and even some high tech gadgetry, although I found myself having to suspend my disbelief at times (in a similar way to having to suspend my disbelief in Mission: Impossible or James Bond). Hannibal has a crisp writing style that was well suited to the story, even if I did sometimes wish for a little more detail or insight, and there was some VERY dry humour in this story—so dry some readers may miss it altogether—that I really enjoyed.

The one thing I’m really torn about, though, is the spiritual aspect to this story. On the one hand, it was thought-provoking and organic to the story, and yet it still felt somehow top-heavy. I’m not sure I can explain it better than that, especially without giving anything away. Perhaps if faith had been a more pervasive element to the story generally it would have better supported this particular aspect? I also felt as though Talia’s about face on that subject was rather sudden and dramatic—somewhat out of character for her. But overall, this was an exciting read, and I look forward to the next in the series.