Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter (or possibly multiple chapters for this one) of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Our previous chapter pairing featured a lot of running from Russians.
We have eight chapters left to go. If the pairings continue to be necessary we could finish this book before Halloween. If not then certainly before Thanksgiving. Four chapters and three chapters, so we have another pairing. I can’t say I’m going to miss this book, but I can also say it’s been an improvement over the first one.
As intro padding has run dry, let’s jump into the book. Hopefully this doesn’t look too bad on the homepage.
Chapter 70: Tuesday, 4:56 PM, St. Petersburg
Well, I expected Peggy was going to get her payback on the woman who killed her man, but I wasn’t expecting him to get Rossky as well. I guess that saves Orlov the trouble of dealing with the traitor. I kind of suspected the fall was a ploy to draw her opponent in, but Peggy went all out in her deception. It’s actually a really cool but short fight and it’s something I wouldn’t mind see performed with stunt actors. The guy who took out their recent contact got away, but the two more important baddies narratively got it, the one who killed Field-Hutton and Dogin’s plant in the whole coup attempt. I wonder how this will affect things going forward? We’ll have to wait for that.
Chapter 71: Tuesday, 8:57 AM, Washington, DC
The events are happening back with the train, but we’re getting it from the POV of Op-Center. I could see that in a TV movie or miniseries or something to save on budget, plus not much happens. In the book it just doesn’t make as much sense to me except to create a chapter break. The next chapter is actually at the train’s point of view, which we’ll have to wait for next week for so enjoy the cliffhanger, and it’s just Honda telling Hood and Rogers that the train is a runaway and they want to bring the Russian (Nikita, aka Orlov Jr) onboard. The pilot has concerns about the extra wait, and Rogers (though not happy about it) says it’s the pilot’s call to protect his crew.
I don’t know, it feels like they could have had a longer chapter just at the train. Maybe it puts the potential decision to leave Nikita behind on Mike Rogers’ shoulders instead of the pilot, which could damage any attempt at the two Operation Centers getting along given who we’re talking about, but otherwise it’s not a narrative choice I would have made. Which is true for most of this book given the padding and weird chapters.
Next time, as I said, takes us back to the train in what I think will just be the one chapter. So looking like we’re racing the turkey instead of the pumpkin.
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