The China Conspiracy
by P.M. Terrell
Published by Drake Valley Press, May 2003

Last year I reviewed P. M. Terrell’s first mystery thriller, Kickback, and recommended it as great summer reading. Terrell has done it again. Her recently released The China Conspiracy is another winner. Like Kickback, The China Conspiracy is fast paced and exciting. The reader is treated to twists, turns and switchbacks. It is every bit as wild a ride as a roller coaster at Kings Dominion.

Terrell, a Chesterfield resident, sets the scene in D.C. but soon the hero, a middle aged mother and CIA computer programmer, is racing all over Virginia. Much of the action is in Chesterfield County and it all comes to a climax in Richmond. The plot hangs on an ordinary person stumbling onto great evil, having her world turned upside down yet coming out on top. Throughout the characters are complex and realistic. The action is spine tingling.

Kit Olsen’s well-organized and humdrum life spins out of control when she is caught in a web on international conspiracy, election fraud, kidnapping and murder. She is assigned to work on an old counting program from China. The program seems flawed but it is really, oh so insidious. Her friend and co-worker is murdered but she too is, oh so insidious. Even Kit’s husband is not to be trusted. When her only child, Tim, is endangered she takes on the role of mother tiger. To save him she must crack the code. The ruthless bad guys know she is on to them. She tries to hide in Chesterfield County at her parent’s home, but there is no safe refuge. To save her son and herself she must first save America. It is a lot to ask of a middle-aged Mom but then Moms are up to it. It all ends spectacularly and surprisingly on the steps of the state capitol.

The China Conspiracy will be available the first of May. If you like mysteries, techno thrillers, or just a well-written fun read, grab a copy and throw it in the beach bag. If you don’t get to read it this summer keep it for later. It will be just as enjoyable next winter, although it will put an extra chill in your spine.

Paula Price is a Powhatan resident and owner of Price & Sons Books at Sycamore Square