‘An Accidental American’ by Alex Carr
Published by Orion 2007.
ISBN: 978-0-75287-179-0

Nicole Blake has had a turbulent past which includes a six-year spell in Marseilles’ toughest prison. Now she stays on the right(ish) side of the law, only using her skills as a master forger of passports and documents when she has to. But the sanctuary of her remote farmhouse in the French Pyrenees is invaded by a stranger, John Valsamis, who turns up to enlist her help in finding a man Interpol believes is a serious terrorist threat. At first she refuses; but then she sees the picture of the man they are after. Rahim Ali. They had worked together and been lovers a decade earlier in Lisbon. Nicole does not believe Rahim has turned to terrorism, yet Valsamis confronts her with what looks like proof, along with intelligence of a planned major terrorist strike. Nicole cannot resist the need to prove Valsamis wrong. It should only take a few days, she tells herself, a week at most to find him and clear things up. But as the train slides south towards Lisbon’s Santa Apolonia Station, she begins to realise that things are not going to be nearly as easy as that.

This is a complex, chilling, and fast-paced thriller. Part spy story, part conspiracy theory; it is a wholly engrossing journey into the mire of lies, betrayal, and political expediency. Alex Carr weaves in so many layers and interlaced stories that your head may spin at times (mine did, anyway). Set in France, Lisbon and Beirut, in the past and the present, An Accidental American explores worlds that most of us have never come across, peopled with characters that we hope we’ll never have to meet. The atmosphere can only be described as gritty (much as I hate to add to the over-use of that word) and perfectly reflects the dilemmas facing Nicole and the choices that she – and the others that came before her – has to make.

If you do get confused, then stick with it; An Accidental American will easily repay your perseverance. If you are able to juggle more things in your head than me (and I know many of you can) then thank your lucky stars you are such a clear-thinker and that Alex Carr wrote this book. Either way, I guarantee you’ll be breathless at the end.   
-------- 
Ruth Wade