The Third Estate: Devil's Tango

Non-stop action is a key element to some thrillers. Others hold you further because you want to know what's going on. The Third Estate: Devil's Tango is a mix of both and it's this balance that makes it work. The book deals a lot at the start, assassins, secret organisations, political jostling, military action, hidden labs and never quite as they seem characters. In the middle of it are two people. Kai Lovac is a dreaded killer who re-enters the fray to investigate his friend Ryan Manning's mysterious death. Sophie Allard is a gifted medical student in the army, and an ordinary life is turned upside down when a dying patient passes on to her a peculiar coded message relating to an entity known as Dossier 1627. That one moment catapults her into the world of the Third Estate, a secretive group who appears to be able to manipulate people and events from behind the scenes, never coming to light.

The best part is the mystery doesn't diminish throughout the course of the story, it expands. With each answer you come up with, another question emerges. But as Sophie begins to wonder if those she thought were dead are in fact still alive, and that her own past may be more intertwined in this conspiracy than she ever suspected, it becomes increasingly true. Nevertheless, what genuinely makes the book flow is the way the action is combined with real mystery. The book has its share of action and excitement, but it's not all about that. There's always something else that's pushing you forward: the actual history between the characters, the truth about a project called Afterburner, the identity of a mysterious girl and the real meaning behind Dossier 1627. Kai Lovac is a character that is exactly what you would think an assassin should be: cold, controlled, and dangerous, but there's more under the surface than the story reveals. Sophie is as easy to cheer on. She is intelligent and willful, but not as if she necessarily knows the right answer. She gets scared. She makes mistakes. She asks questions of others. But she continues on her way. The conflict between her and Lovac, from distrust to grudging cooperation, are some of the most enjoyable parts of the book.

What makes this story unique is how big the conspiracy actually is. It's not a straightforward story of one assassin in pursuit of another. The Third Estate: Devil's Tango extends into politics, military intelligence, money and science and the scope of it all makes it feel like it's really dangerous. What I particularly enjoyed was the Professor Milo Anderson and the Afterburner project, as it takes the story beyond the initial mystery, and Sophie's journey seems much larger. The book does a good job of complicating trust as well. A stranger could become a friend and a close friend of Sophie may have something to conceal. That left me with some confusion with a few characters and the latter reveals were made more difficult. My only complaint is that there are too many twists at times and it's a bit too crowded. However, the speed typically doesn't cause you to fall behind.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fast-paced, twisty thrillers with assassins, military secrets and secret organizations. This is a book that, like many others, gets darker and darker as you follow the protagonists. It's also a good fit for fans of a strong female character and not-so-easy-to-classify relationships: not friends, not enemies. Even when Sophie and Lovac are playing for the same team, their past makes for interesting dynamics. The violence and danger is quite high throughout, so if you're looking for something less violent and more character driven, this may be too much. However, it's a good fit for thriller readers. The conclusion is sufficiently left open, particularly in regard to who Sophie really is and who is really controlling the Third Estate, to make me wonder where it's going to go next.

I would rate this book 4/5 stars overall. It's a fun, ambitious thrilling plot with a large conspiracy, some great characters, even action, and there are still questions to be answered. It's not flawless and sometimes the number of reveals can be too much to follow. But, really, that's part of the fun, it's always like something larger is going on just out of sight. The best thrillers keep you guessing as to what's going to happen next, and this is one of those.