but there feels like there are a lot of problems with the plot itself.
the characters and storylines themselves are strong, but the book feels like it can't decide which story it wants to tell, so instead tries to tell several very strong stories and ends up with odd clashes and detraction. my rating started at a 4 then dropped a star as I read.
now, as per the title of this post, i don't know a lot about the... more problematic areas of our government. but what i do know is the whole reason behind Gitmo is it is not on US soil. creating a new Gitmo (for civilians) on a Maine island is not a good idea. add on that the security and administration of the prison is pretty much a joke, with questionable at best screening of employees... yeah.
also, while i know horrible horrible people can go far within organizations seeking terrorists, psych evaluations are a thing. for a reason. Tobias is either the worlds best pathological liar and possibly a high functioning psychopath (which he honestly failed to demonstrait either of those convincingly to anyone in the story), or has never been evaluated in terms of his fitness. and if someone's penchant for transvestism is enough of a scandal to cost them a job and it's a well known secret among the agency, you don't make them the head of secret prison dedicated to interrogating detained civilians with suspected terrorist ties (Henry, not Tobias).
i almost threw the book when Tobias sexually assaults the female guard to convince the prisoner that she has to "cooperate"
the whole Hurricane Island set up, if taken as an actual secret government prison, was poorly conceived and even more poorly executed and staffed.
what i can say about the story is the author does strong characterization, setting, and dialog. the pace doesn't feel like it's dragging, but i also paid no attention to the chapter time stamps.
6
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