I like a good thriller and John Green delivers exactly that with The Tao Deception! This was a book that I saved for a long plane ride and some vacation time and it delivered everything I was wanting. An exciting read that kept my attention and told a fast paced story.

Loved the heroine in this book, like a female James Bond. The book escalated and I couldn't put it down, some genuinely interesting and engaging characters.

Author John M. Green sets a huge task for himself in The Tao Deception. He has a plot so far out that it will take great skill to carry it out. He succeeds. The Tao Deception is a true thriller, one that carries the reader through this intricate plot, some it far-fetched, perhaps, but as part of the whole , it all works well. I was surprised as things developed, and read the novel in a day.As the cliche goes "I couldn't put it down!"
Thanks, NetGalley for the opportunity to review this fine thriller.

“The Tao Deception” eBook was published in 2016 and was written by John Green (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Green). This is Mr. Green’s fourth novel and is the second of his “Tori Swyft” thrillers.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence, Mature Language and Mature Situations. The story takes place in the US, North Korea and in China. The primary character is Dr. Tori Swyft, a former CIA operative and now an analyst for the private firm SIS.

Swyft and colleague Frank Chaudry, formerly of MI6, are involved with brokering a huge deal between a Chinese telecommunications company and Greek firm. As they work with both parties, they begin to suspect something is going on with the Chinese company. Coinciding with this, an unheard of Islamic group in China, RUA, takes credit for assassinating the Pope, then the Prime Ministers of Australia and Russia. This causes great unrest around the world.

Swyft and Chaudry find themselves in the middle of the unrest and on the trail of a secret that will rock the world. While she tries to send information back to a contact in Washington, her reports are untrusted. It becomes a race to see if Swyft will be able to find the proof that is needed and convince those in Washington that she is not part of the conspiracy before a disaster strikes the US.

I really enjoyed the just shy of 9 hours I spent reading this 388 page Thriller. There was both action and political intrigue in this contemporary spy novel. I liked the character of Tori Swyft and will look forward to future novels in the series. The author did a fair job of including some twists and turns in the plot to keep the real villains from becoming apparent too soon. The cover art is reasonable for the story. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

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