For my complete review, please visit Perpetual Chaos of a Wandering Mind.

The Reckoning Plot: beginning in the summer of 2002, our heroine, Theresa, a freelance journalist after a story, illegally crosses out of Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and is spotted by the Islamist fundamentalist group, the Ansari, which leads to her apprehension by the Iraqi army. With her are arrested her cameraman, Peter (who is in love with her), and her three Kurdish guides (a father and two sons).

Just a few months before the US invasion, Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush are rattling sabers at one another. Terror reigns in Iraq. Theresa, Peter, Jalal, Massoud, and Barham endure isolation, starvation, and torture in the hands of the Iraqi secret police. When Theresa's history of living in Iraq as a child comes to light, her situation becomes nearly hopeless.

Tanya Parker Mills' finely honed craft draws in the reader with painful, sometimes shocking realism. Her plot so tight it's hermetically sealed, her characters rich and compelling, her pacing impeccable, she accomplishes what only the best writers manage: she disappears as she envelopes the reader in the story.

Tanya Parker Mills illustrates the country in vivid detail with the sights, sounds and smells of the region. The heat of the desert radiates from the page. Perhaps most importantly, Ms. Mills' own time spent in the Middle East has given her compassion and empathy for its people which she in turns instills in her readers.

She creates an unlikely hero in the arresting officer, Tariq al-Alwali, US educated but caught up in events beyond his control, doing what he must to keep his family alive. Like himself, his mother and grandfather, even his house help all live in fear knowing that any moment they could be arrested, arbitrarily executed, and never heard from again, all without cause or hope of redress. Just as the rest of the Iraqi population, they are at the mercy of their government and the consciences (or lack thereof) of the men in power.

The reader should be cautioned that Tanya Parker Mills writes with stark realism and doesn't pull any punches. Her characters are tortured and brutalized in the manner known to be practiced in Iraq at the time, including rape and dismemberment. People suffer and die. She often taxes the sensibilities of the reader with the intensity of her prose.

The Reckoning is a novel to read again and again to truly appreciate all its subtle nuances.

FTC disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided by the author or their agent with the understanding I would publish a fair and honest review. I receive no other compensation for this content. ( )