A World I Never Made

The novel, A World I Never Made, opens with Patrick Nolan sitting across from a French Inspector. He holds his daughter's suicide note in his hands. He had never been close to his daughter, Megan. After his wife died while giving birth to their only child, Pat held onto his guilt and kept his distance from her. Megan's death brings his regrets to the surface. Only, as Pat will soon discover, it is not Megan's body which lies in the coroner's office. Under the impression that Megan was trying to fake her own death, Pat remains silent, going along with the ruse that his daughter is, in fact, dead.

Officer Catherine Laurence of the judiciary police is assigned to keep an eye on Pat Nolan. He is not the only one who knows his daughter is not show more truly dead, and there are those in power who hope he will lead them to her. Megan's name has turned up on a terrorist watch list, the Saudi police claiming she was involved with the planning of several suicide bombings in Morocco.

Catherine and Pat are thrown together in the search for Megan when they realize someone else is stalking Pat as well--someone who is much more dangerous, and those under his order will not hesitate to kill everyone in their wake. Pat and Catherine must get to Megan before those she is hiding from find her first.

Woven between the chapters of the race to find Megan, is the story of why Megan has gone into hiding, of why she felt the need to lie about her death. Megan, a freelance journalist, has always been an independent spirit, headstrong and motivated. She goes after what she wants, be it a man or a news story. And, in this case, she goes after both. There is much more to her current lover, Abdel al-Lahani, than she at first realizes. She soon finds her very life on the line, and she must flee before it is too late.

The two storylines eventually intersect, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. Author James LePore has crafted an exciting and heart pounding novel. A father and daughter lost to each other for most of their lives rediscover each other as death chases right on their heels. The death of his wife Lorrie had devastated Pat. He blamed himself. He closed himself off from not only his daughter, but also from letting anyone into his heart. Believing his daughter was dead, even if for a short while, changed all that, as did his meeting of Catherine Laurence, the beautiful detective who carried her own baggage. She, too, had a well guarded heart. At first I wondered at their falling for each other so quickly given their defenses, but taking into account the high emotions, their current circumstances and the common bond they felt for one another, it does fall in the realm of believability.

I was not sure I would like Megan at first. She uses men and in the beginning came across as cold and calculating. She grew on me though. Like her father, she is a complex character with many layers. Her father's absence in her life wounded her and has influenced her life choices. She is intelligent and has a confidence and strength about her, which has seen her come out on top more often than not. It is easy to see why she was drawn to Lahani. He is charming and mysterious. They are very similar in that they hold parts of themselves back from one another. Neither wanting to let the other in, at least not completely. This in juxtaposition to Pat and Catherine whose hearts are just beginning to thaw.

The novel takes the reader all over Europe and North Africa, including France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Morocco. James LePore puts the reader right there in the midst of it all. His descriptions of the locales and people are rich and detailed, which is balanced out by the crisp dialogue.

I was most fascinated by the gypsies. They played a significant part in both Megan and Pat's stories. Their own history and mysticism is touched on ever so slightly in the novel. Having just read Precious by Sandra Novack, in which the mother was born to a gypsies during the Second World War, my interest was particularly heightened as I came across mention of that again in A World I Never Made.

Another aspect of the book that interested me is related to Megan's journalistic work: the culture and influence of Islam, particularly that of fundamental Muslims, in European countries, such as France and Spain. It is not something I have given much thought to but is worth looking into further for a better understanding of world events.

It was easy to get swept up in James LePore's novel. His writing is beautiful and the story is captivating. I really grew to care about the characters, especially Pat. It is a shame it ended so soon. show less

I really enjoyed A World I Never Made. Even though I pretty much had figured out what was going on from the beginning, I found it a well-told and gripping thriller - some elements of a police procedural mystery, some elements of a terrorist plot type thriller, and a bit of romance running through. LePore went back and forth between present day (mostly in France) and the backstory (mostly in Morocco) - a technique I sometimes dislike as it keeps pulling me out of the story, but well-done here, I thought, with each strand evolving nicely as its own story thread. Interesting characters, although they could have been developed a bit more. Unfortunately, the Kindle formatting isn't great - for those who find that distracts greatly, you might show more hold off in hopes that it gets fixed - mostly spacing problems, plus a colon at the end of most sentences rather than a period. I was able to largely ignore and focus instead on the great story. I'll definitely be reading more of the author's work! show less

This was a crisp, well-written thriller. Pat Nolan comes to France to identify the body of his daughter but, instead, begins a hunt for her. Megan is on the run from both terrorists and the intelligence community. Pat joins forces with French police detective Catherine Laurence as they travel across Europe on Megan's trail while trying to elude both the terrorists and intelligence officers who hope they will lead them to Megan.

As someone who loves spy, espionage and international suspense thrillers (beginning with The Bourne Identity when it was first published), I found James LePore's book (the first I've read by this author) to be a fine example of the genre. With a very up-to-date plot that didn't make the mistake of becoming too convoluted, this book kept me riveted until the end. I also came to care deeply about each of the three main characters, which is an ode to how well LePore portrayed them. I will definitely read more by this author.

It’s January 2004 and Pat Nolan has received a call from Paris informing him that his estranged daughter Megan (well-travelled, freelance journalist) has committed suicide. When he gets to Paris it is revealed that the body is not Megan and she has left behind a strange suicide note to stage her death. The plot thickens when he finds out she had been staying in Morocco for some time with an extended diplomatic visa and she is hiding from a powerful enemy who stops at nothing to exact revenge.

Pat’s all consuming quest is to find his daughter before her enemies do. He is aided by Officer Catherine Laurence, a hauntingly beautiful and competent Parisian detective who finds corruption in her department and puts her career on the line show more to help solve the mystery.

Intermixed with Pat’s story is Megan’s quest to stay alive. It starts in January 2003 with her visit to Morocco to do research and she meets Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman. With all her worldliness and experience with men, she has met her match and has made a dangerous mistake. Megan is running for her life, but can her father save her?

LePore’s first novel takes us to Paris, Morocco and the Czech Republic and is packed full of raw suspense, terrorism, corruption, and the love of a father who wants to save his daughter. I was hooked at the beginning and was not too surprised at the end, but I enjoyed the unique plot, diverse characters and exotic settings. show less

While I was in the process of reading and reviewing Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed by Marc Blatte, I was also offered an advance reading copy of another upcoming debut mystery novel--A World I Never Made by James LePore. Due to be released in April 2009, A World I Never Made promised to be an exciting novel of suspense and political intrigue and it mostly delivers on that promise. The book features locales such as Paris, Morocco, and the Czech Republic and a wide range of primary and secondary characters. Intrigued, I happily accepted a copy to review.

When Megan Nolan, an American freelance journalist, is found dead in a Parisian hotel, her semi-estranged father is brought over form the United States to identify the body. He is given the show more suicide note she left for him to read, but something just doesn't seem right to Patrick. In addition to her strange request asking for an immediate cremation, he also learns for the first time that his daughter was dying of ovarian cancer. But nothing could have prepared him for the next surprise--the body that he was brought to identify is not Megan's. She has faked her own suicide. Knowing his daughter must be in grave danger to go to such lengths, he hopes to find her with the help of French detective Catherine Laurence before it's too late.

I must admit, I was periodically baffled by the characters; I didn't always follow their logic or completely understand some of their actions and decisions. Despite the plot being a bit unbelievable at times, and on occasion a bit predictable, LePore still manages to create a story suspenseful enough to keep a reader's attention and the pages turning. Even though there was potential for the book to feel dated with the use of the events of September 11, 2001 as a major touchstone and the emphasis of terrorism as an element in the plot, this is avoided and it still feels relevant. While stereotypes aren't strictly used, some of the portrayal of the characters and various groups of people come awfully close at times.

Overall, A World I Never Made is a fairly engaging read and a good debut. There were a few minor continuity problems, but as I was reading an advanced copy of the novel, this may be addressed in the final published version. The most frustrating thing for me, besides the continuity issues, was not always understanding the characters. But even so, I was very interested to see how LePore would pull together his two story lines--the search for Megan and Megan's own story. Ultimately, he was very successful in doing so, leaving very few if any loose ends. For those who enjoy LePore's first foray into modern mystery and suspense, he is already working on his next book, scheduled to be released in the spring of 2010.

Experiments in Reading show less

A World I Never Made by James LePore
This story starts out when Pat has arrived overseas and is told of his daughter's demise. He carefully inspects the body and notices some things that should be there but aren't.
The inspector helps him with clues that were left behind and she knows of terrorist groups that Megan was working with....
Lots of travel mysteries and trails of a grandson...sisters inform him the baby died but there are other missing clues. Those that help him find the missing duaghter come up dead also....
Love how this plays out, so much to the story as you learn from events in the past. So much world travel to exotic places for me.
Can't wait to read more from this author and his descriptions make you feel as if you are right show more there in the scene. Would be a great movie for everybody to enjoy.
Received this review copy from The Story Plant and this is my honest opinion. show less