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.
I still can’t believe I’ve been reading this book for around a year’s time.
Granted 2025 has had it’s share of distractions and lost time, but this is not a book meant to be read a chapter or two a week, clearly. Usually, however, not realizing how long it’s been is a good sign because the book is so good you lose yourself in it and the passage of time. For me, this has not been that book…and somehow a year still feels too long. All the unnecessary padding really has dragged this thing down, but I’ll save that for Sunday’s book report over at The Clutter Reports.
Last time was the aftermath, so I’m guessing these last two really short chapters are the epilogue. So, let’s get to it and get this book finally over with.
Chapter 77: Friday, Washington, DC, 8:00 AM
So a few days have passed, since the last year of my reading has been roughly a day in-universe. It’s also done something the rest of the book hadn’t and made feel the things intended. George Squires’ body arrives home from the train crash, with only Paul, Mike, and Squires’ wife and son to receive it, just after a rainy day at the airport. The boy asks if his dad was afraid, and Mike is so choked up he can’t answer. It’s Paul who tells him that his daddy was afraid but pulled bravery out of that place heroes get their bravery, pointing to the boy’s heart. Asking if his dad was a hero, Paul replies he was a superhero, and it’s hard to argue that, even with my sometimes pedantic notion of how to use that term right in fiction. Squires didn’t just die saving a life, he saved the life of an enemy who almost seemed to want to die. Take that, Christopher Nolan’s Batman.
This earns the utmost respect from Mike and the appreciation of the widow with both the kind words from a friend and spouse but to a boy who will never know his father or learn from him growing up, but with those words he’ll always who what his daddy was: a hero. Whatever else I’ve said about this book, this was a darn good moment. I hope Paul and his family get another, paid and uninterrupted, vacation!
Chapter 78: The following Tuesday, 11:30 AM, St. Petersburg
Oh good, he did. They went with him to Russia so he can meet Orlov in person. It’s another really good scene, as the two men reflect on the events of the past week, what they stopped, and that the two Op-Centers might work together in the future to bring the mobster who funded this operation and handled the bombing that dragged the Americans into this mess to justice. Frankly, that was their big mistake. By threatening the US to stay out of it, taking a bunch of lives with it, they actually spurred the Americans to take part in something they might not have otherwise and become integral in the plan being foiled. As I said before, it’s just like Japan in World War II. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We also learn that Nikita is doing well and Orlov is hopeful they’ll finally be able to patch up their differences. I hope so.
Meanwhile, Paul’s kids go to play soccer with the Russian kids, a symbol of the two nations possibly getting along in the future with the Cold War over and the attempt to restart the Soviet Union by attacking Ukraine a thing of the past. Or would have been if Vladimir Putin didn’t exist in the real world, or at least wasn’t where he is right now. That led to poor timing for me to pick this book up, a book with a good ending but a slog to get through at times. The first book had a similar problem, not really getting good until the end…but I’ll go over more in the book report. The point is the book ends on a high note after a series of missteps.
So, final book report minus as many spoilers as possible on Sunday over at The Clutter Report, and then join me on Monday as I announce the next book in this review series. I’ve been going back and forth between original and licensed and it’s time to for the next licensed one. I think Keith Fields-Hutton would have liked this one. It’s from his home turf, and I don’t mean the spy game.
BW Media Spotlight 