Review: Houseboat on the Nile

Title: Houseboat on the Nile
Series: Spy vs. Spook
Author: Tinnean
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Publication Date: 30 March 2012
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 126,649 words

Blurb:
Mark Vincent is WBIS—Washington Bureau of Intelligence and Security. Quinton Mann is staunchly CIA. Mark thinks the CIA is full of dilettantes who leave him and the rest of the WBIS to clean up their messes. Quinn thinks most WBIS agents are sociopathic loose cannons. So they don't exactly get along.

Of course, just because they don't like each other doesn't mean they can't play mind games on each other. Or sleep together. But when an explosion at Mark's apartment sends Quinn to the morgue to ID a body, he has to reevaluate his position on denial.


Rating:


Review:

Main Characters:
Mark is a man who does what it takes--whatever it takes--to complete a mission. He has bigger things to worry about than how well-liked he is; he practically relishes the dislike others, even those within his own organization, hold for him. He's the best, knows he's the best, and wants to be sure that others know he's the best, too. This leaves him living a life filled with paranoia and secrets, even going so far as to rig his apartment door to explode if its locks are not undone in a precise order. He doesn't have friends, per se, and finds very few people who are worthy of his respect.

I'm torn on Mark. On one hand, I like his sociopathic self. On the other hand, he feels a bit flat to me, as though he's missing a dimension of development. It's offset more toward the end when his personal relationships begin to come out more, but for much of the book I found him hollow and unfinished. (Upon reflection, this is probably deliberate as Mark develops rather a lot as the story progresses, but I still find his earlier caricature to be underwhelming.)

Quinn is the perfect man, or very nearly, even if he does work for the CIA. Secure in a good position, respected even by WBIS agents who think the CIA is utterly useless, he's independently wealthy, from a family with a strong security lineage, and meets his mother every Sunday for some horseback riding. Although far more unassuming than Mark, he recognizes Mark's mind games and is not above playing some of his own.

I'm as torn on Quinn as I am on Mark. I do like him; he's far better balanced and certainly interesting. But he's just too perfect. I could handle most of it, but I found myself rolling my eyes when dressage came up; not only is Quinn handsome, wealthy, and intelligent, but he's also an almost-Olympian, prepared to ride for the 1980 US dressage team before they pulled out of the Games. It was just over the top for me, and ruined a bit of his shine.

Chemistry:
Although there is certainly raw attraction between them, Mark and Quinn first come together (and continue to come together) in a series of mind games. Neither is willing to let the other win, and footsie under the table quickly leads to home invasion and dubious consent. Strangely, the dubious consent (which usually pushes my buttons) doesn't bother me here, probably because it's only another level at which they're attempting to overcome each other; neither resorts to outright rape, but pushing the boundaries is par for the course. The constant one-upsmanship means that the sex is intense every time as they each struggle to come out on top.

Secondary Characters:
The supporting cast is fairly broad, though some notable characters don't get the development they needed. I enjoyed Quinn's mother quite a bit, as well as Matheson, who is adorable in his earnestness. I also have a soft spot for Sweetcheeks and Pretty Boy, who are absolutely charming prostitutes without succumbing to cheesiness. I really wish that Sperling had gotten more attention, though; I never felt that I understood his motivations or the antipathy he and Mark held for each other. (I get the loss of the team for personal glory, but I also got the impression that there was more to it than that.)

Story:
Although things happen in this story, I didn't get a sense of an overreaching arc outside of the escalation of Mark and Quinn's mind games. I suppose the Sperling issue might be the main plot outside of the unconventional romance, but that never really came to the forefront enough for me to really consider it strongly; it came up sporadically, around other missions and mind games, rather than tying the whole story together. I also found the ending to be rather abrupt; it's very apparent that there will be a sequel. (I'm not complaining about it being part of a series, not at all. I do wish, however, that there was less of a brick wall at the end.)

One thing that bothered me about the story is the repetition. Every event is examined from both Mark's and Quinn's points of view; one chapter will be about Mark's particular actions with Quinn, and the next chapter will be about Quinn's reactions to Mark. While it's interesting to get both viewpoints, it also got old by the end, as though the book was twice as long as it needed to be; I didn't need to be that much in both of their heads.

Writing:
My biggest complaints were probably repetition and exclamation points. Aside from the repetition of events cited above, tidbits of information were also repeated more than was necessary. (I got that champagne makes Mark horny the first time, honestly.) I kind of got the impression that the author would forget that a point was already made between all the shifts. As for the exclamation points, there were far more than I'm used to. It may be personal preference, but I found them jarring, especially when they'd show up in every sentence in a particular section of dialogue. The impact was reduced, leaving them reading as a bit silly. Aside from those things, though, I found the writing to be perfectly fine and easy to get lost in.

Other Thoughts:
For some reason, Mark makes me think of Val Toreth in Manna Francis's Administration series. He's nowhere near as dysfunctional, but I couldn't shake the impression. (This is not a bad thing, as Toreth is one of my favorite sociopaths. Seriously.) The thought of Toreth Lite is now making me laugh.

Overall:
Conflicted, manipulative characters kept things interesting even when repetition bogged the story down. A bit less rehashing would've helped to tighten the story up, but it was nevertheless entertaining, if a bit longer than necessary. I'm looking forward to the sequel.