The Vengeance Trap

Axel and Linda Hansen
Ophir Publishing (2007)
ISBN 9780978765811
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (5/07)

When I first read the synopsis of Axel and Linda Hansen’s “The Vengeance Trap,” I had to shake my head. “A gun delivery on a freezing beach of the Irish Sea, a fire bombing, a botched bank robbery, delivery of stolen diamonds in Taiwan, an unexpected great inheritance, saving a dying village in Zimbabwe…” was just the beginning of what that synopsis promised. “Oh sure,” I thought, “and Peter Pan, pirates and a ticking crocodile as well…”

While Omar, the Arab who is not an Arab, might not be quite a Peter Pan, he has a lot of Peter’s endearing qualities; Kathleen is not a ticking crocodile, but certainly a ticking bomb and pirates you will find aplenty in this utterly charming and engrossing book. All of the promises from the synopsis are well and truly fulfilled and there is plenty more, in fact so much more that it is hard to believe that the authors did such a great job keeping all the wonderfully convoluted and exciting plots straight enough for the reader to be able to follow them.

“The Vengeance Trap” is a marvelously complex book, dealing with the world where violence is all too often a way of life and where terrorists could easily be your beloved neighbors. Axel and Linda Hansen invite us into a world of international espionage, modern day pirates, renegades, freedom fighters and an assorted lineup of baddies from every walk of life. Fast cars, fast ships, private helicopters, international travel, exotic locales, tempting women, attractive men, weapons of every kind and villains of every hue… all the gore and the violence well balanced by the vulnerability and the emotional side of the heroes. 

Omar is most endearing when he shows how much he cares for his family, but it is Kathleen who really touched my heart.   Is she steel-coated velvet or is it silk?  She is so tightly coiled that the reader is never sure what will come next. The Hansens make us understand very well what it is that drives both Omar and Kathleen – and they also show how easy it would be for that desire for revenge to destroy the fragile fabric of their love and their family. In this book, the first of the promised trilogy, they come to the edge more than once.

I have to admit I enjoyed both the adventure and the romance sides of this book equally, which truly surprised me, since I generally do not enjoy violent books.  I guess it was the inclusion of all the large and small acts of human kindness throughout the book, even in some of the most violent scenes, that made the violence at the same time more real, but also more palatable to me.

Passionate, chilling and extremely fast-moving, this was a thrilling read, which I would highly recommend to a wide array of readers. If you enjoy adventure, this is a book for you. If you are into political thrillers, you will enjoy it greatly. If you are looking for a good modern romance, they do not get much better than “The Vengeance Trap.”  I hope the sequel will be published soon!

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