I have a bad habit of buying a book from the local independent book store, and never getting around to reading it. I had The Rules of Engagement (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, $24.00) sitting on my shelf for years, when one weekend looking for something new to start, I picked it up. Catherine Bush is an excellent writer, though her sentences sometimes require close reading and turning off the television. I realize that unique does not require modification but nevertheless I have to say Rules is quite unique.
Arcadia works for a research firm in London studying war. How’s that for an unusual background story for a female protagonist? Her work occasionally requires her to go to nasty places and her sister coincidentally works for an international television news organization. They meet many refugees from the world’s hellholes.
Through the first half of the book Bush hints at a catastrophe in Arcadia’s past when she lived in Toronto. I don’t want to give it away, but again it is quite unique, occurring in her college days when two different young men thought they were in love with Arcadia. In fact, it is one I wouldn’t have guessed in a decade.
The book is still in print and I have to give it a solid A- for the creative ideas, some good plot twists and a well-developed character. The only weakness I found was the motivation for Arcadia continuing to look for a young Muslin woman and returning to Canada where the calamity happened. I felt it was a little weak. Nevertheless, a good read.
Steve E Clark as seen in the New York Times is Author of Justice Is for the Lonely and Justice Is for the Deserving, Kristen Kerry Novels Of Suspense. You can purchase his books via SteveClarkAuthor.com/BuyBook or request it at your local book store. Want to know more about Steve Clark, read more reviews or speak directly with Steve? Learn more about Steve at SteveClarkAuthor.com
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