Leona Hewitt heads an organization called Save Them, an elephant protection program, in addition to her job at a large DC bank and owning a restaurant. When the bank offers her a promotion to vice-president, she accepts, but can't shake the feeling that she's being ordered to approve her first assignment, even if it would be a better business decision not to do so.
Mike Anderson is an ex-cop who takes the money raised by Save Them to Kenya to be sure it is properly delivered to the people who are supposed to receive it. When Leona refuses to let her assignment proceed and finds herself on the wrong side of a rogue hit man because of it, the one person she needs to help her is in Africa and might not be able to leave alive.
Jeff Buick's Delicate Chaos is a very well-done suspense novel. What really caught me about it was the storyline splitting off into two major plots and eventually meeting back up; it read like the reverse of how stories are normally handled and I found myself feeling like I was reading two separate novels at points instead of wondering "How are these two plots going to fit together during the climax?" Buick still managed to weave things back together without breaking the pace or thinning the suspense. Buick's ability to give Leona so much going on in her life and never make any one of aspect of it tedious or overstay its welcome was a definite plus.
What I really didn't like was the obvious plot point once or twice, the not really that big a deal 'twist' to the hit man and the overwhelming presence of not one but two environmental issues. I understand the presence of them both and the need to have them in the story, and although Buick never gets preachy with either of them, I could not help but feel lectured at early on as he established background information and character motivation. A couple of rewrites on the dialog in these early scenes could have made the information presentation more natural and less textbook. And although the title gets explained in the story, I still think it sucks. Nonetheless, it's a good time and if you're looking for a thriller, you won't be disappointed.
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Mass Market Paperback: 318 pages
Publisher: Leisure Books (January 29, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0843960388
ISBN-13: 978-0843960389