From a 5-star Amazon review by Fred Kempe, CEO of the Atlantic Council:
It was a matter of happy coincidence that I read The Grand Mirage during a recent journey through Islamic worlds Darrell Delamaide so vibrantly portrays. Though I traveled in relative luxury, Delamaide transported me back to a dustier, less comfortable age when the discovery and exploitation of oil had begun to transform the region and the world.
His narrative is so evocative, his characters so compelling and his descriptions so vivid that I at one point was certain I was inhaling the pungent aromas of Constantinople while sprinting alongside the his story's hero, Lord Leighton - an accomplished orientalist on a secret mission for the British Crown - as he evaded adversaries through the city's ancient alleyways. At another point, I found myself gripping the armrest of my Turkish Airways seat while Lord Leighton's caravan navigated the perils of the Mesopotamian desert.
Great editorial reviews for The Grand Mirage
Great review in the online Washington Independent Review of Books. Author and former journalist Lawrence De Maria praises the book not only as a highly readable spy thriller but as a history lesson for this vexed part of the world:
Delamaide’s prose is uniformly entertaining. If it was his intention to pluck 21st-century American readers from their living rooms and deposit them in the mysterious and dangerous souks of the Middle East ― and give them 500 years of history lessons to boot ― he has succeeded admirably.Read the entire review on the WIRoB website.
Norm Goldman, editor and publisher of Bookpleasures, a
highly regarded review site, and a top Amazon reviewer had
high praise for The Grand Mirage:
I must commend Delamaide`s awesome achievement…in intelligently assembling facts and fiction to attain realism that makes the historical setting as chaotic, as well as dangerous, as anything that may exist today in the Middle East. …(T)hanks to expertly voiced narration and a skilled evocation of time and place, the tale will linger in your imagination long after you lay it to rest.Read the full review at Bookpleasures website.
5-star review in Readers Favorite:
Read the full review on the Readers Favorite website.Leighton’s captivating journey as a spy is dangerous, exciting, thrilling…and will keep you turning those pages until the very end.
More praise for The Grand Mirage
From James Bruno, Kindle bestselling author of Permanent Interests and Tribe
“The Grand Mirage is an evocative tale in the rich tradition of Kipling and George MacDonald Fraser. Like a desert sirocco, it will sweep you away into an era whose echoes still reverberate and a region that dominates today's headlines. The stakes are high, the characters are unforgettable and the plot moves with the indomitable force of the Berlin-to-Baghdad railway, which occupies center place in this story of intrigue, espionage and forbidden love….As you lose yourself in his story, you feel you are there: 1910, the Middle East. The colors, the smells, the dress, the vernacular are all there in perfect symmetry. The Grand Mirage clearly lends itself to a series and I eagerly await the next adventure of Lord Leighton.”
From Paula Butturini, author of Keeping the Feast: One Couple's Story of Love, Food, Healing:
"Darrell Delamaide's The Grand Mirage is a wonderful read. I simply did not want to put it down. Though inundated with things I absolutely had to accomplish over the weekend, I found myself, between endless chores, sneaking back to my computer again and again to read just one more chapter. Both historical thriller and spy novel, The Grand Mirage outlines the geo-political intrigues surrounding the construction of the Baghdad Railway during the run-up to World War I in a corner of the world still seething with unrest over its most precious commodity -- oil. Delamaide's scholar/spy hero charms..."
From Paula Butturini, author of Keeping the Feast: One Couple's Story of Love, Food, Healing:
"Darrell Delamaide's The Grand Mirage is a wonderful read. I simply did not want to put it down. Though inundated with things I absolutely had to accomplish over the weekend, I found myself, between endless chores, sneaking back to my computer again and again to read just one more chapter. Both historical thriller and spy novel, The Grand Mirage outlines the geo-political intrigues surrounding the construction of the Baghdad Railway during the run-up to World War I in a corner of the world still seething with unrest over its most precious commodity -- oil. Delamaide's scholar/spy hero charms..."
From James McGrath Morris, author of Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power:
“Delamaide has woven a masterful combination of spy story and historical novel. Every page entertains while building a massive canvas on which a spine-tingling game of intrigue is played out among the various European powers seeking to control this all-important passage across the Middle East on the eve of World War I. This is not merely an espionage tale. Its plot, central character--the beguiling Lord Leighton--and atmosphere combine for a deeply satisfying tale of intrigue on a grand scale.”
From John Marks, author of Fangland and The Wall:
“In his melding of historical detail and crackerjack thriller plot, Delamaide outdoes the modern master of the form, Alan Furst, blasting through cliches about the Great Game and opening a curtain on a vital but little-known episode in the evolution of the modern Middle East. Do not miss it!”
From John Tagliabue, correspondent for The New York Times:
“This is a well-told yarn about intrigues in the Middle East just before World War I, when the Ottoman and German Empires were building the Baghdad Railway….Though dealing with events a century ago, there’s an extraordinary relevance to the story today: struggle among great powers for control of the region, its oil and its transportation, the backlash of local populations, all continue to permeate international politics every much as it did then.”
From Nicholas Kralev, former diplomatic correspondent for Washington Times:
“The story will intrigue you, educate you and entertain you, all at the same time….Very pleasant, intelligent and quick read.”
Reviews for Darrell Delamaide's thriller, Gold, soon to be reissued by Barnaby Woods Books
The Library Journal:
"Can the international monetary system be as exciting a field for catastrophe as an inflamed terrorist plot? The answer is a resounding yes. ...In his first novel, Delamaide has reivigorated the financial wizardry saga ...This superlative tale transforms the brass of greed and corruption into golden entertainment."
The New York Daily News says:
"Murder and intrigue, lots of financial savvy...an entertaining cautionary tale about greed."
Kirkus Reviews describes the book as an "end-of-the-financial world thriller involving skulduggery on and off the commodities exchanges" in terms that make it sound remarkably current:
"When his South African stringer reports that terrorist sabotage has virtually halted gold mining in the world's largest producer, Drew Dumesnil, managing editor of World Commodities News, promptly puts the item on the wire, though he knows it will panic markets around the world. It isn't until the price of gold has tripled, commodities exchanges have been closed, and bank holidays are being considered that Drew begins to suspect a hoax....But the hoax, as Drew gradually realizes, isn't designed just to enrich a few traders. South Africa and Russia, after under-reporting their production for years, have hatched a plot to drive up the price of gold before releasing their reserves to a hungry market. As Third World countries threaten to bring down the tottering structure of international finance by repudiating their foreign debts, Mark Halden, president of the New York Federal Reserve, prepares his counterthrust: the U.S. will repudiate its foreign debt, ending the reign of the dollar for good....Tidy plotting, solid background, and a brisk pace make this an appealing debut..."
