Interesting but not gripping. ( )

Journalist Adam Lebor's remarkable debut novel, The Geneva Option, is a fast-paced, intelligent thriller that takes readers deep into a conspiracy by a business conglomerate to take control of profitable African resources, a conspiracy that involves some of those in the top echelons of power within the United Nations.

Yael Azoulay is one of the UN Secretary General's most trusted aides. Charged with arranging deals with some of the world's most notorious political and military figures, Yael undertakes dangerous missions that are known to only a select few. But when the results of Yael's most recent mission, negotiating a plea bargain with one of the chief architects of the Rwandan genocide, are leaked to the press, Yael is forced from her job and her life is placed in grave danger. She immediately sets out to uncover the source of the leak, and in the process learns of a top secret conspiracy involving Africa that has the support of some of the UN's most powerful people. Yael is in a race against time to both unravel the full extent of the conspiracy and to put a stop to it before it claims countless lives.

The Geneva Option has all the of elements I think a good political thriller should have. It has: a fast-moving and highly entertaining narrative that makes the novel difficult to put down; it centres around a plausible conspiracy involving shady businessmen and powerful political figures; it has a highly intelligent, capable and determined heroine who is easy to root for; the secondary characters are unique and memorable; and it is extremely well-written. Yael's strong and well-developed character is one of the this novel's greatest strengths, and this strength is complemented by a diverse group of equaling intriguing supporting characters, who include a NY Times reporter, a Rwandan warlord, the Secretary General of the UN, Yael's personal bodyguard, a Serbian small business owner, and a young Rwandan boy. One of the components of this novel that I most enjoyed was the insights it gave into the backroom dealings of the UN, the power struggles within the organization, and the constant jockeying for prestige and influence amongst its various personnel and departments. Although this novel is fictional, it is not difficult to imagine that such backrooms dealings and power struggles are a reality within the world's most well-known organization.

I highly recommend The Geneva Option to all readers who enjoys thrillers, as well as to those who like to read novels with strong female leads. I cannot wait to read more from Adam Lebor and to see where he takes Yael next.

Note: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. ( )

This was almost a very good book, on a par with Lebor's previous novel, 'The Budapest Protocol' (to which this occasionally makes oblique reference). Its protagonist, Yael Azoulay, is a heady mixture of Madeleine Albright and Wonder Woman with a pinch of Mata Hari thrown in for good measure. Unfortuantely the resultant melange in not as alluring as it should be one might expect, and the initial appeal soon starts to wear off. The roving deal-broker, working directly at the behest of the Secretary General, is transformed into house-breaker, would-be escort and ninja assassin.

Having started well, with early chapters illuminating possible scandal with the higher reaches of the United nation (sadly, all too plausible), it veered off into all too fanciful lines. I am generally happy to collude with the writer and suspend my disbelief, but there are limits, and this book transgressed them.

I understand that this is the first of a series but, although I enjoyed this sufficiently to complete the book, I don't think I will be bothering with any of its successors. ( )