This isn’t the kind of book I normally gravitate towards but I thought I’d give it a try. It was fast-paced and a little intense plot wise. Solid character development too. Not at all sorry I picked this up but I still don’t think I’m the target audience.

"Burning Distance" by Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a deeply moving novel that takes readers on a captivating journey through the struggles and triumphs of its characters. Through simple yet powerful storytelling, the book explores themes of freedom, resilience, and the human spirit. Leedom-Ackerman's writing style draws readers in with its clarity and emotional depth, allowing us to connect intimately with the characters and their experiences. From the highs of personal liberation to the lows of political oppression, "Burning Distance" offers a compelling and thought-provoking exploration of the complexities of the human condition. Overall, it's a poignant and unforgettable read that leaves a lasting impression on its audience.

The world was experiencing tumultuous times with ongoing wars in the Middle East, communist nations vying for democracy, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of Russia, and civil wars ravaging parts of Africa. The exchange of weaponry and war souvenirs was not permitted among nations, yet it was widely acknowledged that these transactions were taking place, and some countries were even aiding in the development of nuclear weapons. The author interweaves a historical context into the novel, while simultaneously emphasizing a familial saga and the improbable romance that ensues and ultimately triumphs. This book captivated me with its outstanding plot and meticulous attention to historical detail. Two young people hailing from distinct cultural heritages come across one another at the American School of London, and subsequently engage in a romantic relationship. A British Lord became the stepfather of Elizabeth 'Lizzie' West, an American, while Adil Hasan is the son of someone who smuggles weapons. Their adolescent love affair influences their familial and individual fate amidst the global events spanning from 1981 to 1996. A gradually unraveling intricate espionage plot, situated in the illicit arms commerce, accompanied by a familial epic and a troubled cross-cultural romance. A captivating plot, featuring a remarkable ensemble of relatable characters, warrants a rating of four and a half stars.

With a unpredictable plot and characterisation this political thriller kept me guessing. It's a romantic suspense cross political thriller.

This isn’t the kind of book I normally gravitate towards but I thought I’d give it a try. It was fast-paced and a little intense plot wise. Solid character development too. Not at all sorry I picked this up but I still don’t think I’m the target audience.

Being in my late teens at the end of the '70s and an adult in the '80s and '90s, it's easy to follow the thread that Burning Distance slowly leaves to the reader. The world was in turmoil, there were wars in the Middle East, communist countries were fighting for democratic governments, the Berlin Wall fell, Russia disintegrated, and civil wars were going on in several African countries. No countries were supposed to be selling guns and war artifacts, even less helping others to build atomic bombs, but everyone, everywhere knew all those deals were going on. The author puts all this historical perspective in the novel while also focusing on a family saga, the impossible romance that follows them and succeeds. I loved reading this book, which has a great plot and is historically correct.
I thank Ms. J.Leedom-Ackerman, her publisher, and NetGalley for the copy of this book.

Thanks to Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in return for my honest review!

This is a really fine effort from Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, a book that took her over 20 years to research and write. Some think this is a modern day Romeo & Juliet story, but for me this is a glimpse into the world of illegal arms and weapon sales, terrorism and profiteering by companies and countries that make you just shake your head. We basically follow the story of Lizzie West, youngest daughter of an ex-CIA agent who was killed in a plane crash over the Persian Gulf in the early 1980's. Her family moves to London and she is enrolled in the American School where she meets Adil Hassan a fellow student of Palestinian-Lebanese background. Adil is secretive about his father but we eventually find out that is father is an arms dealer, and nobody is quite sure for which side he works, and he even may be an agent for the US. The couple meet and separate for years before a meeting in Berlin after the fall of the Wall, The plot is simple yet there are twists and turns galore for both the romance, as well as the run-ins with arms dealers, assassination attempts, 2 rather incompetent body guards, as well as Lizzie trying to find out more about her fathers life and career since she was 10 when he died. Burning Distance raises issues and asks questions that all of us need to be aware of, and wraps it all around a love story with an a very open-ended conclusion that l ets us speculate as to both the current day illegal arms dealers, as well as the fate of Lizzie and Adil, Well researched and written.

I am rounding up, because it is possible I didn't like this book because I came into it expecting something different. I really tried to get into this book, and I kept reading far longer than I wanted to, hoping it would get better, but it did not. It was obviously well-researched, and richly detailed. But the emotional connection I should have felt to the characters and their situations got completely lost in all of those details, a great deal of which were unimportant to the flow of the story. I just kept getting bored. The characters felt wooden and robotic, which was odd when they were closely involved in things like arms-dealing, espionage, murder, and war. The plot was also incredibly slow and I found myself waiting for something exciting to happen--even in the midst of things occurring that should have been exciting. I really am not sure how this book is being called a thriller, or a romance, because I found it sadly lacking in both those areas. It took literal years for things to unfold, and the relationship between our "Romeo and Juliet" was not developed in a way to make me feel invested in their star-crossed supposed romance. I tried to make it halfway through, but I just found myself uninterested and confused by the slow-paced plot and characters who I just could not connect with. I felt like I was reading a news-report and not a novel.
I know I am in the minority, but I was unimpressed by this book, and I do not recommend it to anyone looking for a political "thriller" full of "romance." Perhaps it's just being mismarketed or I was expecting something completely different, and that's why I did not like it. If you are looking for a novel set during the Gulf War about how it affected people intimately involved in the events of the time, then maybe you should read this.

A modern-day Romeo and Juliet—set against the backdrop of deadly weapons smuggling. I could not put it down. Would definitely recommend to others!

Seven years after her last fiction book, Burning Distance by Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a romantic spy thriller. From different cultural backgrounds, two young people meet and fall in love at the American School of London. American Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ West’s mother remarried a British Lord and Adil Hasan is the son of an arms smuggler. Their teenage romance shapes their families and personal destiny against the backdrop of world affairs from 1981-1996. A slowly unfolding complex spy thriller, set amidst the illegal arms trade with a family saga and a cross-cultural love story that does not run smoothly. A gripping narrative with a cast of wonderfully human characters makes this a four and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Oceanview Publishing and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

Burning Distance is a political thriller that captures the essence of the Gulf War period. It is also a romance between Lizzy, an American girl, and Adil, a Palestinian and Lebanese boy, who connect through their fathers' troubled history.

The novel spans over a decade, from 1981-96. It starts with Lizzy's father dying in a plane crash, which causes her to question the circumstances of his death and leads to the novel's intrigue. Lizzy, a curious and independent young woman, discovers many questionable and disreputable characters as she digs deeper into her father's past. Just as her relationship with Adil develops, he leaves the country to escape his father's enemies. Thinking he is dead, Lizzy moves to Washington, D.C., to begin a new life with her child and fiancée, only to discover Adil is still alive.

It is a fast-paced novel that keeps the reader turning the pages until the end. Author Joanne Leedom-Ackerman did extensive research and had her manuscript reviewed by experts in the CIA, NSS, and the State Department. Her knowledge of Arabic and travel to Arab countries added to the richness and depth of the story. I thank NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Burning Distance. #NetGalley #Burning Distance #political thriller

3.5 rounded up
Modern day Romeo and Juliet like love story. Well written. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Perhaps the most telling thing for me about Joanne Leedom-Ackerman’s arms-dealing novel, "Burning Distance,” is that she has chosen to add an afterword in which she sets out some of her personal circumstances, including how she came to be interested in the subject. It seems to be an increasing trend these days for authors to add such authorial detail, but to my mind it's an unfortunate one in that to me a novel should stand on its own without the need for such externals. It's understandable, of course, why Leedom-Ackerman would want to supplement her actual text in that way, given the complexity of the subject matter, but if I'd been her editor, I'd have told her, look here, you have a very well-written, very absorbing story of a man who in his efforts to make for a better world flies too close to the sun (hence the title, meaning the distance from the sun at which things burn) and in the process gets himself killed and makes for undue misery for his wife and daughter. But you dilute the effectiveness of your novel with the amount of detail you supply about arms-dealing, which clearly establishes your authority in the area, but frankly can be somewhat numbing or off-putting for a reader. So I'd go considerably lighter on that and significantly stronger on the personal consequences that the father's good-fight effort, noble as it is, have made for his family, which seems to me is your real story, anyway.

I loved this contemporary Romeo and Juliet kind of story in a scenery of weapons smuggling, international espionage and war in Iraq, beautifully narrated by Lizzy, the main character.
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman wrote a captivating story about the forbidden love between Lizzy and Adil. Lizzy is the daughter of a USA operative, that dies from a suspicious plane crash in the Persian Gulf, and Adil is the son of a noted arms middleman. After Lizzy's father death, her mother, a successful journalist, uproots her family's life to London and marries an influential British business man. Adil and Lizzy meet at the American School of London when she is assigned to be his chemistry lab partner, and quickly fall in love with each other, but Adil's father gets deported so he has to leave the country and their relationship ends.
Both their families have ties with a French-German industrialist Gerald Wagner, and when Lizzy's stepbrother mysteriously dies after he started to work for this shady man, she travels to Berlin to try to unravel the mystery. During her investigations Lizzy finds Adil and they share a night of passion that sparks the flame between them, although they have to stay far from each other. In the following years Lizzy discovers dark secrets about her father, links to Adil's father and to Wagner parents and the industrialist and the world where her father lived as a secret agent.
Adil and Lizzy's future is uncertain because of their father's actions in the past, but they're willing to fight to being able to raise a family together.
I was completely enchanted by this love story, and loved the small details that showed that the author made a thorough investigation about the history and political situation in the Middle East before, during and after the Gulf War.

A political thriller written by a talented and gifted author…mystery and intrigue…murder and mayhem…secrets…children unaware of what is happening…friends and family…Washington and London…war…this is a cannot put down book that is fiction but could be nonfiction…the book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the electronic copy…get comfortable…be transported for an afternoon…