Michael Ridpath had a talent for heart stopping fast paced fiction. Launch Code, as its title suggests, is set in the world of nuclear submarines. The action switches between two time periods; the first being at the height of the cold War, when tensions around a nuclear war were at their highest, and into the present day (when an inqusitive journalist/ historian starts to uncover secrets from the time as he looks into the story).
Bill, the main character, as can be imagined, is central to the subterfuge and his late wife also has many secrets which have been left undisturbed for several decades. The author has carefully developed Bill's character to be quite difficult to interpret. This can make him seem, at times, quite disagreeable, but adds to the depth and complexity of the hidden story.
It is for his reason that I could only give 3 stars; I wanted to be able to engage much more with the character.
Bill, the main character, as can be imagined, is central to the subterfuge and his late wife also has many secrets which have been left undisturbed for several decades. The author has carefully developed Bill's character to be quite difficult to interpret. This can make him seem, at times, quite disagreeable, but adds to the depth and complexity of the hidden story.
It is for his reason that I could only give 3 stars; I wanted to be able to engage much more with the character.