Liberian review of Greg Rucka's "A Gentleman's Game: A Queen & Country Novel."

One of those odd synchronicities, though I've yet to crack the meaning behind this particular "meaningful coincidence."  In anticipation of getting Rucka's latest Q&C novel [The Last Run] I took the time it takes to ship from the US to Liberia to re-read the prior books in the series.  Which, for those not in the know...  Queen and Country started off as a comic series from Oni, picked up in the first novel [A Gentlemen's Game] back to the comic series briefly and then on to the 2nd novel [Private Wars.]  I'd just earlier this year picked up the Definitive Editions of the comics but what with the move hadn't sat down to read through them.  So I'm merrily chugging along, enjoying them quite a bit, remembering bits I'd forgotten and some of those deft character touches...

[A brief aside, Private Wars is almost a whole new experience to read, given that the wife is now a Foreign Service Officer with the State Dept and a good portion of the book is centered in and around a political office in a State Dept embassy...  Adds some layers to the novel that are pretty damn cool.]

Anyways, while reading through the series, given that I'm still only two months in country - and I'm still trying to acclimate and soak up the country and the culture to figure out where the hell I'm living for the next couple years - I snag the magazines and newspapers she brings home and flip through them.

So I grab a copy of Liberia Travel and Life Magazine...

While browsing through I hit the "Books to Inspire" page, and since I'm a near pathological reader, I stop to see if there's anything interesting, when I recognize the tattered book on the top of the pile - the very book I'm reading - A Gentleman's Game.  Cue the Twilight Zone music.  Because, you know, there really aren't a lot of books here in Liberia, and not much of a culture of literature as it still is trying to rebuild from years of war.  And it's safe to say there probably aren't more than two copies of this book in Liberia.  And I happen to find a review of the one copy as I'm reading through the other?  That's a bit...  well, I dunno yet, but I'm working on it.  Get's a good review though.  And well deserved, too.  The whole Q&C series, if you dig on espionage at all, is completely awesome.