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"Award-winning CNN journalist Kitty Pilgrim turns her talents to print in The Explorer’s Code, an exciting international thriller that revolves around the quest for a land deed valuable enough to kill for. When the renowned young oceanographer Cordelia Stapleton receives an invitation to accept an award on behalf of her great-great-grandfather, a famous Victorian polar explorer, she has no idea her life is about to change dramatically" When one reads a debut novel, especially one by a public figure, there is always a feeling of the unknown. Is this book published due to its merits or the fame of its author? I am happy to report that The Explorer’s Code by former CNN anchor Kitty Pilgrim is very much falls into the latter category. The Explorer’s Code is quite simply a magnificent book, one that rockets Ms. Pilgrim into the upper echelon of novelists. It would be easy to pigeon-hole The Explorer’s Code as just a "thriller" but that would be greatly unfair. This is a book that certainly is a superb international thriller, with the reader glued to the action, but it is so much more. The plot, sub-plots and array of characters and locations that Ms. Pilgrim expertly paints with words transports the reader into a veritable literary journey. While Ms. Pilgrim has certainly traveled extensively during her CNN career, it is one thing to visit a place and quite another skill to be able to put that location into such exceptional words that the reader feels as if they are actually there- in Monaco, Turkey, England ect. There is little doubt that Ms. Pilgrim has this "word picture" skill in abundance! Cordelia Stapleton and David Sinclair, the main protagonists in the novel are far from your stereotypical characters. Each has been made so real, with all the human strengths and weaknesses that we all have, courtesy of the superb literary skills of Ms. Pilgrim. We, the readers, feel a real connection to them and their plights, something few authors can attain. The many other characters, Russian Criminals, Texas Fanatics and especially a fascinating and quite intriguing botanist are all equally well done. This is a novel with many characters- yet the reader is never overwhelmed because Ms. Pilgrim is able to make each an individual- another rare and quite amazing feat for a debut writer. The main plot- a deed for a Global Seed Vault in Norway- contained in a long ago written Journal- which disappears- and places Cordelia in peril (I do not want to go into too much detail as the plot contains so many ingenious twists and turns- I fear saying anymore will spoil it for the reader!!) and which brings David Sinclair into her life, is so very original. The subplots, British Virologists, Genomes, the 1918 Influenza Pandemic,the previous mentioned characters and a sexy American spy - all in search of that mysterious and missing deed,make this a true page-turner in every sense of the word. Why is the deed so terribly sought? That I will leave to the reader to find out- needless to say- the conclusion is a knockout!! Kitty Pilgrim should be quite proud of this achievement. After reading The Explorer’s Code - she will never only be thought of as a former CNN journalist- her resume will read KITTY PILGRIM- FIRST RATE WRITER!! AN OFFICIAL JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB MUST READ RICK FRIEDMAN FOUNDER THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB

2023-01-10 07:41