Almost Home by Pam Jenoff
Jordan Weiss is a member of the American foreign service. She has been assigned to trouble spots all over the world but now, after less than a year back in Washington, she is being assigned to the location she dreads most of all: London. It is not so much the sort of work that will be found in London that gives Jordan pause, but her past at Cambridge, where her college boyfriend Jared died unexpectedly. However, Jordan’s best friend has been diagnosed with ALS and is in London for treatment, and Jordan does not feel that she can leave her alone, so to London she must go. Things start to get complicated when an old college buddy approaches Jordan, telling her that he doesn’t think Jared’s death was what it seemed. Even stranger, it begins to become apparent that Jared’s death seems to somehow be mixed up in the case she is working.
“Almost Home” isn’t quite my usual fare, but I really enjoyed it. I’d say it is slightly on the mystery/thriller-y side of contemporary fiction. Jordan is not quite a spy, but she’s definitely on the intelligence side of things, so that lends an air of ‘thriller’ to the whole thing, as does the fact that it is written in present tense. I know present tense annoys a lot of people and it does annoy me sometimes, but I actually didn’t notice it most of the time that I was reading, because I was engrossed enough in the story. There was just one thing that really drove me crazy in the book, and that was when people called Jordan by the nickname Jordie, I must say I do NOT like that name! Sounds like a little dog’s name to me.
This was a fun book and an engaging read. I do wish that the first half of the book had had a slightly faster pace and that the end had been spread out a little longer, it seemed that a whole bunch of information was revealed in a very short number of pages at the end. I have to say, though, that now that I’m done with “Almost Home,” I cannot WAIT to read the sequel, which I believe is being released in July.
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This review was done with a book received from the author.
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These sequels! They are going to drive me to the bottle, sitting around waiting for all of them! I’ve seen the reviews of this one around, and it seem like it would be worth reading. If I could read more than 100 pages a week that is. I am feeling pathetic!
I am nearly through the 4th disc of The Swan Thieves by the way.
I’ve seen this one around and think it will go on my wishlist. I keep meaning to read some books by this author. This one sounds compelling. And a sequel….I’m going to go nuts trying to read all the books before the sequels come out!
Sounds like a good read to me. I believe that I have the authors other books on my TBR list as well
Glad to hear you like this one! I’ll be reviewing this one as well, probably next week!
I really enjoyed this one as well – and will definitely be watching for the sequel.
I was going to pass starting this series, but now I wonder…
This looks good! Never heard of it before, but definitely adding it to the list!
Sounds like an interesting read. I love spies – or almost spies – and I have really been loving books that take place in London lately. Hopefully I’ll be heading over there someday soon.
LOL, I did not like the name “Jordie” either! I think we liked a lot of the same things about this book.
I can’t wait for the sequel of this one either!
I think Jenoff did a great job with the present tense. I hope it’s okay that I linked to your review on the Book Reviews: WWII page on War Through the Generations.