A World I Never Made

by James LePore

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258	24	104,880	(3.61)	10
Pat Nolan, an American man, is summoned to Paris to claim the body of his estranged daughter Megan, who has committed suicide. The body, however, is not Megan’s and it becomes instantly clear to Pat that Megan staged this, that she is in serious trouble, and that she is calling to him for help. This sends Pat on an odyssey that stretches across France and into the Czech Republic and that makes him the target of both the French police and a band of international terrorists. Juxtaposed against this story is Megan’s story. A freelance journalist, Megan is in Morocco to do research when she meets Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman. They begin a torrid affair, a game Megan has played often and well in her adult life. But what she discovers about Lahani puts her in the center of a different kind of game, one with rules she can barely comprehend. Because of her relationship with Lahani, Megan has made some considerable enemies. And she has put the lives of many—maybe even millions—at risk. A World I Never Made is an atmospheric novel of suspense with brilliantly drawn characters and back-stories as compelling as the plot itself.… (more)

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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 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. (

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jbarr5 | Dec 30, 2022 |

This is a book I found on Pixel of Ink. It's the story of a father and so have been lost to each other from the moment of the daughter's birth but it is also the story of faith and patriotism. Pat and Megan Nolan were separated by the death of Pat's wife who died while giving birth to Megan. Megan becomes a product of the blame Pat placed on her at birth and in time flees to Europe and becomes a writer. There she hears of the 9/11 attacks which change the direction of her life. She begins investigating terrorist cells. And so begins her destiny and which sends Pat on a search for his daughter. This has been one of my favorite books of the year. It was perhaps written in a way that was too matter of fact for me which stopped me from giving it 5 stars but if you like spy novels (which I don't typically read) you will probably like this one. (

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mmoj | Mar 2, 2017 |

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 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! (

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Booklover889 | Mar 17, 2016 |

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. (

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DTChantel | Nov 12, 2013 |

My blog post about this book is at this link. (

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SuziQoregon | Mar 31, 2013 |

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Epigraph

And how am I to face the odds
Of man's bedevilment and God's?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made
A.E. Housman, Last Poems

Dedication

For her unfailing intercession on behalf of all those who seek it, this book is dedicated to Therese Martin, a child of France who died in 1897 at the age of 24 and who, in 1925, became St. Therese of Lisieux.

First words

Dad, I don't owe you or anybody an explanation, but I think you'll appreciate the irony of a suicide note coming from a person who has abborred tradition all of her life.

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Pat Nolan, an American man, is summoned to Paris to claim the body of his estranged daughter Megan, who has committed suicide. The body, however, is not Megan’s and it becomes instantly clear to Pat that Megan staged this, that she is in serious trouble, and that she is calling to him for help. This sends Pat on an odyssey that stretches across France and into the Czech Republic and that makes him the target of both the French police and a band of international terrorists. Juxtaposed against this story is Megan’s story. A freelance journalist, Megan is in Morocco to do research when she meets Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman. They begin a torrid affair, a game Megan has played often and well in her adult life. But what she discovers about Lahani puts her in the center of a different kind of game, one with rules she can barely comprehend. Because of her relationship with Lahani, Megan has made some considerable enemies. And she has put the lives of many—maybe even millions—at risk. A World I Never Made is an atmospheric novel of suspense with brilliantly drawn characters and back-stories as compelling as the plot itself.

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