The reviewer is the author of this book, and will accordingly not give a review. Reviews are available on Goodreads and Amazon.

The novel "A Lion in the Grass" by Mark Zvonkovic is an interesting espionage novel. As it was written by a lawyer who has supposedly little firsthand experience in international travel, I was initially very intrigued to dive into it. This book spans an impressive six decades of spies and their counterparts. The character traits unravel slowly and completely as you read and it reads in one long spool. While Mr. Zvonkovic is a masterful story-teller, I could not easy relate to any particular character and the story wraps up in quite a cliffhanger fashion leaving so much curiosity on what is to come! This book very creatively weaves this tale of espionage with skillful structure, narrative, and with an interest-keeping skillset resulting in a very conducive, enjoyable experience. I can't wait to see what is to come from this author.

Spy stories are not my usual genre. I wasn't always engaged but enjoyed it overall. The writing style was OK, as were the characters. It came together pretty well in the end.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

#ALionintheGrass #NetGalley
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This story is about a spy and the events of his life and the lives of his proteges. The story spans 6 decades. The author goes back and forth between alternating viewpoints of Raymond (the main protagonist), his proteges that he’s mentored through the years and even the French villain character. Raymond throughout the story shows his skill in various ways and finds that you can never really retire from this line of work. I found parts of this story intriguing. The premise was one that interested me immediately. I generally tend to really enjoy books involving mystery/espionage. The author was ambitious in making the story span 6 decades, but unfortunately, I found that some of the time jumps didn’t make sense to me. They seemed kind of abrupt. The narrative, while at times rich with imagery and description, sometimes also seemed to be too descriptive. There were many moments (a good part of the book) where I felt that the author was TELLING me what happened instead of SHOWING me what happened. The book spent a lot of time in Raymond’s head, but it often felt like Raymond was giving us a “laundry list” of what was happening. It made the narrative feel overly detailed at times and overly described. I found that this contributed to disrupting the pace of the novel. The tension couldn’t build effectively when I felt like I was being told what was happening. It made it hard to put myself in the story when it felt like a recounting of events. All of that contributed to the story feeling confusing and a bit choppy to me. I do think that the author was very good at letting us know the characters’ motivations, but he often quickly from event to event, so again, it affected the flow of the story for me.

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A Lion in the Grass by Mark Zvonkovic follows the life of Raymond Hatcher, a lifelong professional spy. Mr. Zvonkovic is a published author living in California.

Raymond Hatcher is a talented young man with an affinity for languages. Raymond is son to State Department parents and lived in Europe much of his youth. Knowing the landscape, language, and culture made him a very attractive recruit during World War II. Throughout his career in the military, OSS, and CIA, Raymond and his friends are hounded by a psychotic French spy

This was a surprising book, unlike many of the espionage novels I’ve read before. The story takes place over 70+ years in which the protagonist finds himself on the edge of history, like many of us do.

A Lion in the Grass by Mark Zvonkovic shows both the excitement and boredom of espionage work. The novel had wonderful insight into the psychology of its characters and the occupation which they chose for themselves. The protagonist, Raymond Hatcher, grows up before our eyes, from a teenager protégée working during World War II in Yugoslavia, Indochina, Vietnam and more, to a master spy with worldwide contacts. The antagonist, a psychotic French spy is on the outskirts of Raymond’s life and career.

The narrative is uneven, three quarters of it is flowing and interesting, but about a quarter is choppy and I got lost. I trudged through those parts, even though they were not clear, however at the end much of it came together to tell a good story.

This is a smart book, the author really understands the characters, and makes the readers understand their motivations and conflicts. None of the characters are perfect, or super human, quite the opposite as they all have their faults, like the rest of us. Mr. Hatcher says several times in the book that he doesn’t believe in coincidences, but there sure are many coincidences that happen to move the story along. That’s fine, but at times it felt artificial and an overused in a novel which seemed to be proud of its realism.

The novel was very enjoyable, it was a different take on the espionage genre from what I’m used to. The span of the novel, for some many years, was certainly a challenge for the author but he did a wonderful job setting it up and walking the reader through the ups and downs of a life living in the shadows.