The Man with a Thousand Faces

Rebels attack the squabbling leaders of a fictitious European country in Noteboom’s exciting if messy debut. An uprising of aggrieved indigenous groups is threatening the Lechkov family, which has ruled the country of Kazichia for decades alongside the powerful Yanev and Karzarov clans. The mysterious death of President Vigo Lechkov, however, has created a power vacuum at the top of the food chain. Vigo’s twin brother, Daniel, who has tried to break away from his family for years, decides to step in, uprooting his wife and young daughter from their home in the Netherlands. With the rebels, led by the mysterious Man with a Thousand Faces, pushing closer to the capital city of Stolia, Daniel tries to quickly modernize the country’s moribund military and mount a defense. Meanwhile, Russian and American forces maneuver behind the scenes to capitalize on the unrest. Noteboom keeps the action rolling with short, punchy chapters, and convincingly fleshes out the governmental conundrums at the center of his vividly rendered setting, but a few too many plot threads and timeline shifts add bloat. Still, readers will be intrigued to see what Noteboom does next. (July)