Synopses & Reviews
A woman who smuggles, spies and lies, Faith Whitney can run just about anything through the seemingly sealed borders of Eastern Europe. Now powerful people want to use her skills to carry out a small part of a massive conspiracy. One fateful day the East German secret police kidnap Faith and make her an offer she can't refuse. If she smuggles a single package into Moscow, the Germans will tell her everything she's always wanted to know about her mysterious father. If she doesn't, she'll be exterminated. As Faith navigates the shadows and back alleys of Berlin and Moscow, she realizes she is being used as a pawn by two nations with very different goals, and her life is not the only thing at stake. Thrown into a plot that may change the course of history, Faith must use every bit of skill and contact she's accumulated through the years to find a way out of this deadly Rift Zone.
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Hillhouse has a firm grasp of her subject and the way the various intelligence agencies and their agents interact.
Detroit Free Press
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A cloth of velvet prose and saber-sharp violence. Part politics, part romance, all adventure.
Gayle Lynds
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Hillhouse shows a firm grasp of suspense and intrigue in her auspicious debut, a satisfying international thriller.
Booklist
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Hillhouse's gripping debut . . . has so many unexpected pleasures . . . Hillhouse is a welcome new voice.
Publishers Weekly
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Absolutely riveting Hillhouse might well be the next--and perhaps the last--excellent novelist to come in from the cold.
Chicago Tribune
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A cloth of velvet prose and saber-sharp violence. Part politics, part romance, aall adventure.(Gayle Lynds, Jan 17 2005 )
Review
An original voice of unusual authority, a resourceful female protagonist, sexual undertones, explosive tension, and tradecraft galore. A spellbinding tale.
Library Journal (starred review)
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Hillhouse shows a firm grasp of suspense and intrigue in her auspicious debut, a satisfying international thriller.
Review
A marvelous, gritty thriller . . . We're going to be hearing a lot more from Raelynn Hillhouse.
Stephen Coonts
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Impeccable, detailed research, the backstage of the Cold War comes vividly to life in this complex story.
Sara Paretsky
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Steadily suspenseful. The desperate and complicated political undercurrents . . . generate plenty of action.
Kirkus Reviews
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Riveting . . . Too fascinating to put down. So well-written, so interesting, so intense and frightening you're going to love it.
Rendezvous
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Faith Whitney is a female Indiana Jones. . . . A fast-paced, suspense-packed race against time.
Review
A breathtakingly accomplished spy novel. Both insightful and realistic. As terrifying and exciting as anything in the thriller subgenre.
Larry Gandle
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Evocative, gripping.(Los Angeles Times, Jan 17 2005 )
Review
As good as anything written by John LeCarré. A must-read. Hillhouse is an extraordinary new writer.
Nelson DeMille
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A page-turner in the very best sense of the word.
Taylor Smith
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A fascinating story . . . Intriguing . . . A book to be read and savoured for its rare insight.
Anne Perry
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"Evocative, gripping."--Los Angeles Times
"This is as good as anything written by John LeCarré. A must-read. Raelynn Hillhouse is an extraordinary new writer, who has almost single-handedly revived the Cold War thriller."--Nelson DeMille on Rift Zone
"Flashy first novel. . . . A Bonding experience: the story is slick and suspenseful: the heroine makes like a female 007."--People on Rift Zone
"A fascinating story . . . Intriguing . . . This story could only have been told by somebody who has been there and experienced much. It is a book to be read and savoured for its rare insight."--Anne Perry on Rift Zone
"The absolutely riveting scenes of escape and capture in her first thriller prove that Hillhouse might well be the next-and perhaps the last-excellent novelist to come in from the cold. . . . [Faith] Whitney's brutal interrogation to make sure she hasn't sold out the Stasi is one of the most believably painful scenes in spy literature. . . . A unique addition to the players of the Cold War."--Chicago Tribune on Rift Zone
"Reading Rift Zone, you'll be intrigued and spellbound. You can't help but follow the thread through a labyrinth of mystery to an absorbing conclusion."--Clive Cussler on Rift Zone
"Hillhouse's much-ballyhooed debut is going to create quite a stir, and justly so. Based on her own adventures as a black market smuggler between East and West Berlin and bolstered by meticulous research, the story shimmers with authenticity. An original voice of unusual authority, a resourceful female protagonist, sexual undertones, explosive tension, and tradecraft galore add up to a spellbinding tale. Expect heavy demand, as this appeals to male and female readers alike. Highly recommended. --Library Journal (starred review) on Rift Zone
"Rift Zone crackles with tension and moves at a whiplash pace. What's most impressive is its sense of absolute authority as it reveals the high-stakes suspense of Cold War espionage."--Tess Gerritsen on Rift Zone
"Hillhouse shows a firm grasp of suspense and intrigue in her auspicious debut, a satisfying international thriller."-Booklist on Rift Zone
"A marvelous, gritty thriller . . . We're going to be hearing a lot more from Raelynn Hillhouse."--Stephen Coonts on Rift Zone
"Hillhouse's gripping debut, a cold war thriller, has so many unexpected pleasures.... The book may be better for its two strong women and its incisive picture of a significant era in recent history than for its thriller elements, but Hillhouse is a welcome new voice." --Publishers Weekly on Rift Zone
"Impeccable, detailed research, the backstage of the Cold War comes vividly to life in this complex story."---Sara Paretsky on Rift Zone
"A steadily suspenseful . . . Cold War thriller. . . . The desperate and complicated political undercurrents . . . generate plenty of action."--Kirkus Reviews on Rift Zone
"Raelynn Hillhouse guides you into the murky, fascinating underbelly of Cold War Berlin with cloth of velvet prose and saber-sharp violence. Part politics, part romance, all adventure, this compelling suspense thriller will linger in your mind for a long time."--Gayle Lynds on Rift Zone
"A riveting story of international suspense and adventure, drawn from her own fascinating background . . . Too fascinating to put down. So well-written, so interesting, so intense and frightening you're going to love it. A real sink-into-it-and-digest-it thriller, destined to be a bestseller."--Rendezvous on Rift Zone
"A truly original and totally authentic voice . . . A page-turner in the very best sense of the word, with a cracking good plot and terrific writing that jumps off the page. Not since John LeCarre's George Smiley has a character come along who's as likeable as Faith Whitney. . . . Rift Zone is un-put-downable."-- Taylor Smith on Rift Zone
"The protagonist is . . . one heck of a woman. Hillhouse has a firm grasp of her subject and the way the various intelligence agencies and their agents interact. And she writes with real tension."--Detroit Free Press on Rift Zone
"Faith Whitney is a female Indiana Jones--a smuggler with a mysterious past and a master of disguise. Raelynn Hillhouse's Rift Zone is a fast-paced, suspense-packed race against time, just as the Berlin Wall is about to crumble."--Katherine Neville on Rift Zone
"It is almost astonishing to read a breathtakingly accomplished spy novel by a debut author-both insightful and realistic. . . . As terrifying and exciting as anything in the thriller subgenre. Make no mistake about it, Raelynn Hillhouse is potentially a very bright star in spy fiction. "--Larry Gandle, Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine on Rift Zone
"The Cold War is alive and well inside the mind of Raelynn Hillhouse. Her first novel is a triumph of twists and turns, full of adventure, intrigue and romance. This is one book you won't be able to put down until it's finished. If it's a first rate high-stakes suspense you're looking for, coupled with someone who makes you smile and groan and feel like you're watching your very best friend risk her life for some crazy chess set, you gotta have Faith."--The Best Reviews on Rift Zone
Review
Evocative, gripping.
Los Angeles Times
Review
Flashy first novel. A Bonding experience: the story is slick and suspenseful: the heroine makes like a female 007.
People
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You'll be intrigued and spellbound.
Clive Cussler
Review
Crackles with tension and moves at a whiplash pace.
Tess Gerritsen
Review
Faith Whitney is a female Indiana Jones. . . . A fast-paced, suspense-packed race against time.
Katherine Neville
About the Author
Raelynn Hillhouse has run Cuban rum between East and West Berlin, smuggled jewels from the Soviet Union and forged Eastern bloc visas. From Uzbekistan to Romania, she's been followed, held at gunpoint, and interrogated. Two of the world's most notorious intelligence services--the Libyans and East Germans-attempted to recruit her as a spy. They failed.
A former professor and Fulbright fellow, Hillhouse has not only faced the barrels of Kalashnikovs, but has also been caught in the crossfire of border guards' snowball fights.