A World I Never Made by James Lepore

A World I Never Made by James Lepore. The Story Plant: The Aronica-Miller Publishing Project, LLC. April 2009. ISBN #: 9780981608723

Terrorism rears its head in multiple forms, expected and unexpected! There are the deeply festering wounds Pat Nolan carries with him to Paris after discovering his daughter has committed suicide, wounds caused by the grief of losing his wife to death multiple years earlier. He and his daughter, Megan, have shut out the world to create a safe inner haven. For Megan, it's the absence of a parent figure in any sense, a supposed detachment that deludes her into thinking and feeling that she is totally in control of her own destiny as well as those she can manipulate for her own plans.

Arriving in Paris, Pat meets Catherine Laurence, a detective assigned to the case re the death of Megan. She's got a problem following orders and obeying every dictate of her superiors, and her gut instinct is telling her that something is very, very wrong with this case. For James says that the body he sees is his daughter but the lack of affect says something quite different!

So Catherine questions: As Megan has been associated with a person of interest in a terrorist group, why was the antiterrorist division of the Judicial Police not involved with Megan's death? Why were the Moroccans not interested in Megan's liaison, someone perhaps responsible for the murder of thirty Moroccan citizens? How are two high-up justice officials involved in this affair that hasn't been determined to be of significant or insignificant importance?

The plot of this intriguing, suspenseful novel is taut, moves rather rapidly and mesmerizes the reader with each new complex, mysterious detail. James LePore knows how to spin an international thriller tale that slowly reveals an inner, fascinating depth to each character and to the developing connections between each and all.

One also gets a surprise look at the world of Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman who controls a huge network and expects his lover, Megan, to conform to his standards when she unexpectedly becomes pregnant with his child. Suddenly Megan realizes she is locked in something far beyond her immature skills and finally seeks help through clues only recognizable by her father. His search for her and the growing, meaningful relationship he experiences with Catherine Laurence only adds more spice to this fine, exhilarating story.

Well, well-done, James LePore!