Ryder by Nick Pengelley

Author: Nick Pengelley
Publisher; Random House Alibi
Date of publication: September 2014 

As Israeli and Palestinian leaders prepare to make a joint announcement at the Tower of London, an influential scholar is tortured and murdered in his well-appointed home in St. John’s Wood. Academic researcher Ayesha Ryder believes the killing is no coincidence. Sir Evelyn Montagu had unearthed shocking revelations about T. E. Lawrence—the famed Lawrence of Arabia. Could Montagu have been targeted because of his discoveries?

Ryder’s search for answers takes her back to her old life in the Middle East and into a lion’s den of killers and traitors. As she draws the attention of agents from both sides of the conflict, including detectives from Scotland Yard and MI5, Ryder stumbles deeper into Lawrence’s secrets, an astounding case of royal blackmail, even the search for the Bible’s lost Ark of the Covenant.

Every step of the way, the endgame grows more terrifying. But when an attack rocks London, the real players show their hand—and Ayesha Ryder is left holding the final piece of the puzzle.

Ryder is a convoluted, faced paced thriller that will have lovers of this type of book racing to  the finish line along with the lead character, Ayesha Ryder.  It is an international thriller with a bit of a treasure hunt thrown in.  For me, it was a little too convoluted to follow and ended up being just an OK read for me.  

I did enjoy the parts where Ayesha was trying to work out the clues and puzzles that would lead her to why her lover was killed.  Those parts were exciting and kept my interest.  But, I felt, at times, there were too many characters to keep straight.  Every time the scene switched to someone other than Ayesha, I was a little lost.  I also felt like there was too much history (real and imagined) thrown in and that slowed me down.  I skimmed parts and eventually ended up skipping to the end to see if Ayesha could save the day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author:

Nick Pengelley is the author of the political thriller Ryder. Australian by birth, he’s had careers in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom as a law professor, legal consultant, and analyst on Middle East politics, which is his passion. Pengelley lives in Toronto with his wife, Pamela.

Nick Pengelley’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, September 22nd: Bell, Book & Candle

Monday, September 22nd: Omnimystery News – guest post

Tuesday, September 23rd: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, September 24th: D. L. Kamstra | Writing about Stories

Thursday, September 25th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, September 29th: Reading Reality

Tuesday, September 30th: Tales of a Book Addict

Wednesday, October 1st: Patricia’s Wisdom

Monday, October 6th: Crime Book Club

Tuesday, October 7th: Read Love Blog

Wednesday, October 8th: 2 Kids and Tired Books

Thursday, October 9th: Queen of All She Reads

Friday, October 10th: A Fantastical Librarian

Friday, October 10th: Mystery Playground – Drinks with Reads guest post

Monday, October 13th: By the Book Reviews

Tuesday, October 14th: the smitten word

Wednesday, October 15th: Dwell in Possibility