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Paul Vidich’s The Poet’s Game masterfully captures the essence of a classic spy novel. Vidich weaves a compelling narrative filled with intrigue, suspense, and carefully crafted characters. Alex Matthews is a retired CIA station chief, now capitalizing on the new Russian economy. He learns the hard way that the Russians have a long memory, and he will need to risk everything to keep himself and his business alive. Vidich’s attention to detail and his deep understanding of the espionage genre make this book a must-read for fans of spy fiction.

The Poet’s Game by Paul Vidich, (List Price: $27.95, Pegasus Books, 9781639368853, May 2025)

Reviewed by Brent Bunnell, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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Tony Malik is a Palestinian American on leave from his position in the FBI due to a traumatic injury suffered when a terrorist bomb detonated while being defused. While on leave, he travels to Gaza to attend the wedding of his niece, whom he has never met. Shortly after his arrival, an Israeli police chief is brutally murdered, and Tony becomes a suspect in the crime. While working to prove his innocence, Tony forms an unlikely alliance with an anti-Arab hardline Israeli police officer who is investigating the murder. Both men are racing to discover the truth, which culminates on October 7th, 2023, in a way that neither could have foreseen. As a fiction thriller, this book stands by itself, but as a deftly written portrayal of real-world issues (with heroes and villains on both sides), it should be required reading for those seeking a deeper understanding of the history that drives the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is truly a masterpiece.

The Human Scale by Lawrence Wright, (List Price: $30, Knopf, 9780593537831, March 2025)

Reviewed by Brent Bunnell, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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Natalie is trying to pick up the pieces after she is blindsided by a divorce, and Barbe-Nicole is trying to keep her family’s wine-making business afloat after her husband’s untimely death. Both women face challenges as they navigate new lives, but each one’s story takes place in a different time. Natalie takes off for Paris to heal and explore in today’s time, while Barbe-Nicole is the famed Madame Clicquot struggling to produce and sell champagne during the 1800s. Told in alternating time periods, this story will appeal to anyone who believes in second chances, the timeless power of choice, and the healing properties of a lovely glass of wine.

The Champagne Letters by Kate MacIntosh, (List Price: $28.99, Gallery Books, 9781668061886, December 2024)

Reviewed by Mary Jane Michels, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina

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Oh, my! I have no idea what I have just read. Definitely dark, often crazy, sometimes funny, and impossible to put down. A psychological thriller unlike anything I have ever read. A meddlesome 81-year-old woman who has an unstoppable urge to “help” people she thinks are troubled meets her match with an eight-year-old little boy who could be compared to Patty McCormick in The Bad Seed. Together, they wreak havoc upon each other and the guests and staff at the once opulent hotel in Luxor Egypt where they have gathered to escape Covid lockdowns in their home countries. You will not soon forget Maggie Burkhardt, or the ending!

Havoc by Christopher Bollen, (List Price: $30, Harper, 9780063378896, December 2024)

Reviewed by Nancy McFarlane, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina