As an avid reader it was a very nice surprise to find a new author. I was skeptical at first since it was a free book for my Kindle. It captured my attention and painted vivid pictures in the mind of this reader.

What can I say about Special Agent Alexandra LaDuca?? She is a shrewd and strong woman yet she shows her vulnerable side as well. You feel like you know her and what makes her tick by the time you get to the end of the book.

The historical facts were well researched and although I don't usually like that, they were relevant to the plot. It's full of unexpected twists and turns, fast paced. The ending was a surprise that leaves you wanting more of Alex and looking for that next installment in the trilogy.

My hats off to the author! You rank right up there with all the other best selling authors out there. I am happy to say he is now on my list of favorite authors. I look forward to reading more of his books.

This was the first book I read on the Kindle, and for some reason my eyes were just very tired when reading this book. I thought the subplot in Italy was confusing and slowed the book down until 3/4 into the book when things started making sense, and then it became interesting. I enjoyed the last 1/4 of the book much more than the first 3/4. The book never explained why the wire taps were put in Alex's room - and who put them there to begin with. At some point in the book you just couldn't trust anyone at all. It was a nice book to start with on the Kindle, but it was a strange book with a strange ending.

I was a little nervous reading this book. I'd really enjoyed Midnight in Madrid (another in this trilogy), but that was my first Kindle read, and I didn't know then that these books are published by a Christian publishing house. Starting this one, I was afraid my positive impression might have been contaminated by first-timeism (I liked reading on the Kindle) and I have to assume that Christian publishing would prove to be, you know, programmatic and rule-based and therefore shallow.

This book has two parts, and part one had me completely. A good spy novel, for me, has to lead the reader to the same spot as the protagonist, wondering whom to trust, what's real, and if she's actually working for the good guys. Hynd's writing does that for me in (sorry) Spades. He is utterly convincing with his takes on the world's actual ambiguity, which he backs up with utterly reliable and detailed rich descriptions of the situations where our hero, Alex, finds herself. Including all the historical and political background you might need to leave what you thought you knew - for the purposes of the story - well and far behind.

Hynd's world is a complex place, full of spy v. spy, cynicism on the part of the 'good' guys, themselves doing illegal and nasty thing; and good hearts at the core of 'bad' guys, who have nothing good at all in their brutish resumes. You give him a pass for making Alex impossibly attractive and talented and dedicated. It makes it conceivable that she could actually be that clear-eyed about what she's up against. She's been hit on, competed against, cheated, and uses what she's got in a world where she's utterly alone and without family. She looks good because she has to, and makes a triumph of it.

I almost gave it up in the second half though, where the complexity of a world where America is not very certainly good, starts to break down. You sense flags waving, missionary certainty regaining an upper hand, and you remember that this is just a page turner where the ugly people are bad, and the pretty people good. As though all it might take is prayer and determination and style to move from one side to the other.

The second half presents a billionaire in flat relief, who's doing good by virtue of spending money on spreading God's word to indigenous people, sure along with stuff they wouldn't need without having had their world upset by that same impulse in the first place. The protagonist shrinks, in this reader's estimation, by her apparently unthinking willingness to abide by her judgments of people's hearts, regardless of the harm they wreak by their actions and by their omissions, or how they throw around their money and power.

And then, in the most blatant of possible heavy handed, programmatic and didactic moves (surely worthy of a Christian author writing Christian books), the prayerful Alex gets saved by a medallion of the cross, given her by a pure hearted and surprisingly talented child. Oh please! I thought this was a reader's book, written by a writer.

Most spy novels don't afford the reader tears, remaining focused instead on the adrenaline and mind games. This one does, again in part one, which is both surprising and a good clue to what sets the work apart. So, I'm cutting the author some slack, and here's why: the reader actually gets a chance to rise a bit above the book's protagonist. We can't be anywhere near so beautiful, so multi-lingual and muli-talented, and only James Bond himself could be so good a shot. Never mind that we would do something other than make lots of money doing missionary work to console ourselves for our pain and loss. Our choices are not so, well, lavish.

But we do understand, by the author's own recounting, just exactly where she was lead astray by her own gullibility in service to a flag and to a missionary cause whose principals were never, in any way, willing to take the risks that she did on their behalf. Unless for vanity.

The author shows how the carnage directly results, in reality, from these disingenuous self-serving moves, and reminds the reader of the Church's missionary atrocities in the name of evangelism across the centuries. You don't know where the author stands (I'm giving him back his writer's stripes), but you're pretty sure, as reader, that you're not going to be so gullible as Alex was. You're pretty sure that you're real and she's not. Which is a nice thing to be reminded of, by a book that draws you in so completely.

Then theres the matter of prayer. The stimulus-response of God's hand in apparent "answer" to prayer was so heavy handed that you have to assume it to be an announcement on the part of the author that he's not God, even in relation to the book. It's a reminder to the reader that it is just a book, and that in real life the miracles are never quite so obvious. What choice did the author have?

I bought this book (and Midnight in Madrid) before an overseas trip based solely on the strength of the review rankings. Must have been friends and family reviews. Lesson learned. Plodded through to the end of "Kiev." Weak, weak plot. Shallow characters. Badly edited. Sappy.

Started "Madrid" - hoping maybe it was better. Sadly, no. Adding insult to injury - dialogue in other languages - grammatically incorrect!

Sorry Mr. Hynd, but never again.

While this book probably won't ever be on my list of favorites, it was an enjoyable read. Fact that I got it for free on my Kindle certainly didn't hurt. Would have been a good used book purchase, but probably would not have picked it up in hardback.

Story line was a little (okay, really) far-fetched, but so are most movies these days. Will read the second book in the series next.

An OK story, albeit predictable and the plot a little over contrived. I originally got this as a freebie, and I don't think I would pay 9.59 for it. It is worth a few dollars. I am hopeful that the writing and plotting improves by this author as I enjoy this genre of fiction.

This is a fabulous book, well~written and really interesting. It takes you from D.C. to Ukraine, Italy, New York, Venezuela and Paris. The little-known historical and political background on Ukraine is particularly well-woven into the story and commendable for its accuracy . Ditto the description of the plight of remote villages in Venezuela. Alex LaDuca is a likeable and admirable heroine. The plot is full of unexpected twists and turns, the action is fastpaced, and the ending leaves the door wide open and interest high in the next installment of this trilogy, which I intend to start reading as soon as I finish this review. Don't miss it!

This book rides along the conspiracy wave, but fails. I bought this book because it was free, I love to read thrillers and conspiracies, and I read any books of those genre to pass the time. Conspiracy in Kiev did just that. Helped me through boring moments when nothing else can be done.

The plot is kind of over-simplistic. There is only a cursory research on the countries or characters in the book. Many of the information are hasty generalizations and sound more like brainwashing and sloganeering , than an intelligent assessment from "intelligence sources".

The characters are also not well developed. The writing needs more improvement. One of the best things I got from this book is that after seeing something like this published and be a bestseller, my dreams of being a writer have been fueled.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was a quick read and had many iteresting characters. The plot was fast paced and kept me intrigued in the story line. I had never read this author prior to this novel, but will read other novels from this author due to my liking of this book.

I enjoyed this book - but for two issues.

1. Like so many authors, it seems Mr. Hynd seems to have gotten "tired of writing" and ended everything quickly within a page or so. It is nice that things worked out for most of the characters. I just got the impression the writer IT WAS TIME TO STOP, even if abruptly. All is well that ends cleanly, however. Plus, the chance for a sequel is now inevitable.
2. A semi-automatic handgun uses MAGAZINES, not CLIPS to store and feed ammunition. Like so many others, Mr. Hynd insisted on having Alex do things with CLIPS. I know it is a small point, but it distracted me.

On the brighter side. It is refreshing to read good adventure stories that aren't riddled with four-letter words, smut, and depravity. I plan to read other stories from Mr. Hynd.


BTW - I LOVE MY KINDLE.

I am an avid reader, and I love to try out new authors, well new to me at least. I ran across Conspiracy in Kiev and have to admit I was skeptical because the past few authors that I have tried, I have not been happy with. This however, was the best book I have read in a long time. I have already purchased Midnight in Madrid and Countdown in Cairo and I am looking at the authors other books as well. I am hoping that the other books are as good and can keep my attention like this one did. I really had a difficult time putting it down. The twists and turns were great and I loved that the book was set in MANY different locations. The book kept my interest the entire time and I just kept reading and reading, and the end was great! I am truly looking forward to reading the other books in the series as well as other books by Noel Hynd.

Spoiler warning: The heroine of this story is a coward who claims to put God first, but when tragedy strikes her personally, she loses her faith and seriously contemplates suicide. It's all about her. She apparently never noticed before that bad things happen to good people. So much of the plot just doesn't add up! Her father apostasizes from his religion to be more mainstream, and her supposedly devout traditional catholic mother doesn't have any qualms about rearing their child in a different religion. Her mother becomes an alcoholic because aren't all catholics alcoholics? It's completely unbelievable that the Ukrainian bad guys would follow her to a remote mountain village in South America and slaughter the helpless villagers when they could have killed her a hundred times over with no collateral damage in the U.S. I did enjoy the history lesson and some of the characters, but the author made it clear from the get go that all of the characters were expendable except for his very flawed heroine who never has the courage of her supposed convictions. And don't get me started on her really, really incredibly bad, but handsome and likable, Ukrainian nemesis!!!

I just got a Kindle for the holidays and was looking for a new author to read. I stumbled on Conspiracy in Kiev and truly enjoyed the plot, story line and development of the character. There was plenty of intrigue so an easy page turner.

Others have stated a heavy religious undertone, but I (who am not a very religious person) was not offended by any religious references. For me, it added to the complexity of the character and defined who she was.

I look forward to reading others in the series.

I only gave this book one star, first because it seems I cannot give it 0 stars, and second because it does take effort to write a book.
Now:
Really? I did not make it past like 10 pages. And I usually hate to put a book aside once I started it. The introduction of the character hurt me physically. She excelled in everything she touches? Her parents died when she was young, a tragic life, and yet even a language that she hasn't spoken in so many years comes back to her effortlessly? Bull*
Sorry, this just is too far from anything I cannot even remotely connect with the main character.

I have to admit I wasn't ever loving this book. Some of the prejudices that are apparent in the book (although supposedly belonging to the characters not the author) made my jaw drop. Additionally, the main character is just too unbelievable, she's BEYOND perfect in practically every way (Mary Poppins isn't this good). When the author decided that she could hear the signal put out by the bug in her apartment (which accordingly could only be heard by animals) I finally gave it up, I couldn't take anymore. This has been permanently deleted and I will be sure to avoid anything else from this "author".

I downloaded this book for my Kindle because I like the authors book that was based in Madrid. However, it wasn't quite the same "pace" as her 2nd book. This book was enjoyable, but something was missing. Considering that I didn't pay anything for Kindle download, it was worth it. But if I had to pay for this in paperback, I would have been bummed.

I am still shaking my head that I finished this book. It was dull, but I kept thinking something exciting would happen. I did find the 50-62% range of the book (gotta get use to no page numbers) to be a good piece of writing. Most of the rest was not worth a whole lot. I was also surprised by the number of typos all through the book - thumbs down Zondervan - it was THAT poorly edited. At least this book was a freebie the day I got it - got what I paid for! Granted, this is not usually a genre I read, but this did not encourage me to read more of this type.

I found this book fascinating as I have a good friend who is an immigrant from Kiev. It was very informative and according to my friend, the history is accurate. I found the heroin likable and the story amusing though at times a bit rambling. There were some words that seems contrived and overused like "petulant". But it did keep my attention most of the time and was a good read. I will read more from this author.

My first Noel Hynd novel so I decided to start with the Russian Trilogy and downloaded all three to my Kindle. Had to force myself to finish Book 1 so I really really hope Book 2 gets better. I read a LOT of mysteries, and I just could not appreciate the plot in this one. The jump from Washington DC to Europe to South America then back to Europe made no sense. Liked the reintroduction of the villain at the end (who couldn't see that coming?), but if Book 2 doesn't provide some tie in pretty fast I'm done and Book 3 goes into the can.

While I enjoyed the book, it is in need of an editor as it is apparent that the author knows little about firearms or shooting. These type of books appeal to many who know something about shooting and firearms. Here is just some of the errors.

Alex has a Glock 19 which is a .9mm. (Should be 9mm)
The Glock has an internal hammer. (It is striker fired without a hammer)
Shot two boxes of ammo, 72 rounds total. (Ammo tends to come in 50 round boxes)
The Glock has a external safety selector. (Internal safeties and on one safety on the trigger)

Aside from the technical flaws, the story is well written and entertaining. Noel, keep it up but clean it up!

I am not a fan of the book but I still wouldn't discard it on the bases of it being some kind of Christian lit.
What bothered me TREMENDOUSLY was the sloppy grammar, misspellings, and use of the wrong tense. Don't these people proof the material before it is published? I started highlighting each error I found and must have ended up with at least 30 mistakes. It concerns me that so many people have commented on this novel and never pointed this out. I'll pass on any more novels by Noel Hynd and probably steer clear of anything by Zondervan until they can hone their proofing skills.
The plot was nothing stellar but, opposed to other commentary, I kinda enjoyed the history lesson. Hence, I gave it 2 stars.

I really enjoyed reading 'Conspiracy in Kiev' by Noel Hynd, I enjoyed everything about this book and can't wait to start on Midnight in Madrid by the same author.
I especially enjoyed the lack of curse words or using the Lord's Name in vain, the plot was exciting and kept me reading on the edge of my seat.
The Kindle was a Christmas present from my Hubby and I love everything about it.
Mary Ann

I purchased this book for free when I got my Kindle for Christmas. The book follows the life of a Treasury Department agent and her adventures in Eastern Europe and South America. As some reviewers pointed out, this is a Christian book and it has quite a few moments when the main character refers to her faith. This is not what killed the book for me, even though it was a little preachy. What killed the book for me was the patronizing tone of the author. There were instances when I thought the book was written for a 5-year old. The dialogs explained and explained what they were doing. Yes, I got it the first time, you mentioned "When in Rome...", you don't have to tell me "do what the Romans do" later in the conversation, I got it.

The story is quite predictable, there are no real surprises throughout. Finally, the international nature of this novel makes people speak in several languages. It would've been nice if the author actually had some natives check the foreign-language dialogs. I only speak Spanish an those dialogs were deficient enough to be annoying. I can only assume the other languages were the same.

All in all, I finished the book out of discipline, but I will not be ordering the next.

Thanks for reading this review.

I had never heard of Noel Hynd but downloaded the book and liked it a lot. I read for entertainment and to get away from the bustle of life. This book did a really good job of capturing my attention and painted vivid pictures in my mind. Some of the gorrier details were a bit much but I rolled with it and recommend the book.

Found this to be an exciting book that exceeded my expectations. Would compare it to Nelson DeMille. The main charactor, Alexandra LaDuca, is a exciting charactor in a modern context. I did not realize the book had a Christian context until I read it. I have read many christian books that seem to push the christian context almost to the exclusion of everything else. That is not the case in Conspiracy in Kiev. The description of LaDuca's religious feelings allowed me to understand the charactor. The book is well researched and provides interesting details within the context, which I happen to enjoy. I would recomend it and plan to read other works by the author

I received my Kindle for Christmas and my first book was "Midnight in Madrid" by the same author. I should have gone with my instinct and read "Conspiracy in Kiev" first, since it is the beginning of a series. That being said, I enjoyed "Conspiracy" much more than "Midnight". Conspiracy tied up loose ends when you wondered where it was going to go. Noel Hynd tells a tale of Alex the heroine that makes you continuously want to hit "next page" on your Kindle. My only reason for not giving this book 5 stars was because in one point of the book, Alex (in a hurry), is stated to have jumped out of bed and pulled on her boots without even putting on socks. A few pages later, her socks and boots were soaked. That is just one example of a few errors I found while reading. Regardless, this is a page turner and Noel makes it a worthwhile read. I would recommend this book, and would also recommend reading the series in order.

As others, I downloaded this for free for my Kindle. In this case, I got what I paid for and I'm deleting it. This novel really needs to be tagged as "Christian" fiction, as others have said. I have read others in the genre and, for some reason, they seem to be made out of a cookie cutter pattern. This fits that same mold: preachy, poorly written sentence structure, and one-dimensional characters.

This did start out ok, but soon devolved into unclear or unbelievable situations, with characters I simple could not like. Early on there is a scene where I believe the author was going for mystery. Instead, it was just poorly staged and written, leaving the reader in confusion. This was not due to the mystery aspect, but due to how it was written. I'll not give it away for those who might actually like this book.

I did not finish the book. I was quickly turned off by the author's blatant digs at certain people and beliefs. There was only a small attempt to finesse these views into the story. However, passing them off as "fact", rather than a character's viewpoints made continuing this novel impossible for me. The pettiness of some of the comments was rather a surprise and my first clue that this book was not going to work for me.

Also the long-winded history lesson and exposition just wasn't handled in an interesting manner. It was dry and boring...a death sentence for a read for me.

Overall, unless you are a fan of "Christian" fiction, you will probably want to pass on this book. There is no way this meets the standards of what I expect from mainstream fiction. Even fans of the genre may find this trite and a waste of time.

This is terrific story telling. If you like this novel I suggest you try THE ATLANTIS CODE by Charles Brokaw. Both authors are terrific writers and story tellers.

Well, I was certainly surprised at what I could get for nothing, zip, free from Amazon for my Kindle. That's the way the book came to be downloaded. This and another of Hynd's books, Midnight in Madrid also fell into my Kindle.

So, Conspiracy in Kiev begins with a bang. As the body count mounts, the central character Alexandra LaDuca, an agent with the Treasury Department finds herself pretty much all over - Kiev, Venezuela, New York, Paris.

While she's globe trotting and shooting her way out of house and home, there's a sub plot in Rome. Goodness, I thought, how does it all come together?

And to Noel Hynd's credit he does finally bring it all together.

I think any test of a book, especially fiction and a thriller shoot 'em up is, "Did the book entertain me"? Well, it did.

However this is perhaps the first that religion, and Christianity was central. I say that because it was central to Alex.

I've read other books where religion is central also, as The Name of the Rose which takes place in an Italian Monastery in, I believe the 15th or 16th Cent. Monks all over the place. Recently finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson in which a serial killer uses biblical quotations from Leviticus. Or the Gabriel Alon series, two books I think center on the Vatican and the Pope.

Still, for some reason the Alex's religiosity did seem to jar when I began encountering it. In the books previously mentioned religion/God seems to be part of the plot.

In Conspiracy it seems to be a character, as I mentioned, it is Alex's character.

Something else that struck me, only because of my age and my memory for a particular movie: There is an exchange between Alex and her new best friend, Ben (note; I'm not giving any of the story away) who is a veteran of the Iraq war and who has a leg prosthesis. Ben describes how he puts the prosthesis on his leg. That rocked me because I recalled a scene from the 1946 Movie, The Best Years of Our Lives,in which Harold Russell a veteran of the WWII who lost both arms describes how he has to put his prostheses on to Teresa Wright who is in love with him.

Anyway, I wouldn't let a little thing like Christianity stand in the way of a good read.

So, Conspiracy in Kiev (by the way, my mother's family left Ukraine in the first decade of the 20th Century) gets the coveted 5 stars because it my simple criteria for fiction. It entertained me.

I have found this book to be a very interesting read for several reasons. First of all, I have some young friends, Christians who immigrated from Ukraine as religious refugees several years ago. My parents have worked with the family for several years now. T. is a sister to me. My father walked her down the isle when she married S. Reading Noel's extensive research helped me to understand the history of what has gone on between Russia and Ukraine, and what some of the current political problems are, and the struggle for idenity that the Ukrainian people have.

I have been very intrigued by the character Alex. And I was quite amused by some of the reviews that said that they were offended that there would be a Christian that would drink, or that there would be some language. Well, we are all flawed, and even as Christians, we still sin and need forgiveness. If anything, we see how much Alex needs the comfort, divine guidance that she is asking for, and strength
from her favorite Psalm 121. So why shouldn't a Christian character be flawed and
human just like the rest of us?

And to those that are upset or offended that there is some "Christian message" to this book, well was I offended when I read Harry Potter that there was witchcraft, which is something that is against my personal beliefs? NO. Take a chill pill.

This book has a great story line, interesting suspense, and great action. Yes, it
is long, and it is hard at times to see where the plots are going to converge. I am
looking forward to Midnight in Madrid, and then to the third book. And then I am sure I will look up more of Mr Hynd's books, and see what he has written.

This is one aspect of the Kindle that I really enjoy. The free book offerings
introduce me to authors that I have never seen before.

And Zondervan, I am impressed that they have published a set of novels like this.
It is about time.

The author of this book, Noel Hynd, has succeeded in creating a story that is not only riveting in its fast moving and interesting plot, but is the very definition of verisimilitude.
The reader cannot help but appreciate the many hours of research that has obviously gone into the creation of this book.
If Mr. Hynd has not actually taken you from your armchair and placed you on the streets of Kiev in the company of Ukrainian gangsters and those government officials seeking their elimination, he has done something very like it.
Robert Flitman

Whilst this book is a very easy "holiday read" - no brain power required, it was extremely pedestrian. There was nothing new, nothing unusual or clever and way too much focus on religion. I don't like to read a book which fronts as a novel, but is a "back door" attempt at pushing religion.

The first chapter of this novel held out a little promise. It started in a sexy location, brought in a character that seemed personable, and killed him under weird circumstances that left me with questions. Ordinarily, these questions would be answered over the course of the novel. Indeed, they may have been. I couldn't tell you, because I can't bring myself to continue reading the thing.

The next few chapters don't introduce anyone who isn't a roll-your-eyes stereotype. Sentence structure is often awkward. Setting up the main character's role as a government investigator was a snooze, and her internal monologue was the sort of writing where you flip ahead to see where the passage ends. Somewhere along the way, the author also lost track of the "show, don't tell" rule of storytelling; we are told, for example, that the main character is a sharpshooter, something that would have been much more interestingly shown to us during an action scene than told to us in a piece of long-winded, tell-don't-show exposition about her relationship with her fiancé (which itself was clumsily wedged into what seemed to be an exposition about how petulant the main character got when forced to spend a long day at her government job).

There are more offenses, but I think I've given you the flavor of the thing already. In "Conspiracy in Kiev", Noel Hynd makes a hack like Dan Brown look like Ernest Hemingway. Hynd may do better elsewhere, but I'll never find out.

One point of consolation: I got the thing for free (unless you count the time wasted).

I found the book to be quite a good read and the main character very likable. The other reviews that found the book "preachy" etc are quite a mystery to me. The ones that say it is "Bush bashing" etc are just as enigmatic too. The religion and politics in this book are very middle of the road, nothing extreme either way. This is coming from a reviewer who is Christian and a strong conservative. I might not agree with every choice the main character (Alex) makes or every opinion that she has but so what? It is a novel after all. I found it refreshing that I could read a good thriller without all the smut but it certainly wasn't remotely preachy.
My only complaint was that I felt the story dragged a bit at the beginning but the pace does pick up later. I suppose since it is a trilogy (which I will read) it is logical for the character development in the beginning to be deeper than in a standard stand alone novel. I thought at times the details of certain settings could be trimmed a bit too but these are minor things. It was also nice to see the research that went in to the book about the Ukraine. Overall a very good read. If you like thrillers I think this is an excellent choice

The likelihood of the events described in the book kills the plot. I can't say much without spoiling this review.

Also, there is no clear end for the book. I understand that it's part of a "trilogy", which I'm not going to read.

A positive aspect is that the author describes characters, their manners and scenarios with extreme reality. I was hoping the plot would develop better by the end of the book but I got a little disappointed.

Personally I didn't like the constant "God", "God", "Christian" references in the book, which looked somewhat 'fake'. I got the impression sometimes those 'chunks' were inserted after the draft was ready, perhaps to please the Editor - which I found to be a 'Christian Publisher' after I was halfway through the book.

Given the above points I wouldn't recommend this book. I got as a freebie so I don't regret reading it. There are just better things out there.

When I downloaded the Kindle version of this book I didn't realize that it was a "Christian" book and when I read various angry readers comments I was a little put off as I'm pretty totally irreligious. However, I decided to start it and see.

I ended up not really understanding what people were complaining about. It really is a good story. It's exciting, it is suspenseful, it has a good plot, lots of history and current events portrayed accurately. It's not a great book but it's definitely a page turner. The Christian parts were so minor as to blend in with the story line.

For example, I certainly didn't begrudge a mention that the heroine went to church to pray before she left on a dangerous mission. That's her choice. I also felt okay about her being glad that her fiancé went to church with her on Sundays. Going off at one point on an assignment to investigate who was hassling Christian missionaries among the Indians in Venezuela was actually interesting. (However, I must admit that there was one thing that struck a false note. There was no mention of love-making between the protagonist and her fiancé. Thus the implication was that this attractive FBI and Treasury agent crack-shot and undercover agent didn't ever spend the night with her fiancé, and was presumably still a virgin at 29. I found that to be a bit much, and it seemed totally silly, but perhaps it was necessary to satisfy the publisher).

Putting that aside, I liked the book and it grabbed me and I barely notice the Christian elements. I will probably read the second in the series. I suspect the people who rated it one star didn't actually read it at all but just were angry at being sold a "Christian" book without being told. (It's not much of a "Christian" book actually, it's a spy and intrigue story with a heroine who is mildly to moderately religious).

This book needs to be tagged as a Christian novel. Like others, I downloaded it for free for some easy reading. I don't mind a character who goes to church, but the book was so overloaded with Christian metaphors and salvation by religious artifacts that it became just plain silly. It wasn't really obvious until halfway through the book, so by the time you realize the extent of the underlying messages, you've invested enough time in reading it that you just put up with it. The ending was completely unsatisfying, using the "Deus ex Machina" technique to save the heroine. The author also provided a half-hearted discussion on missionaries -- for anyone who isn't Christian, the concept is rather offensive.

I downloaded this as my first Kindle "purchase" for free! I love mysteries and since it was free and I was trying out my new toy, I downloaded it. I got totally absorbed in the book and read it in a few days. I'm not sure why other readers think it was preaching. The main character was Christian and went to church and thought about it. So what? There were a lot of interesting political points in the book as well as well written summaries of important recent historical events (the Orange Revolution, and some background about Chavez's early years in power). I thought it was well written and generally avoided sounding like a political opinion regarding American foreign policy (which I felt more throughout then book than the Christian thing). If you like political intrigue, spy novels, and mysteries, don't miss a very entertaining read!

I was not surprised this was written by a man. No women would write a female that is supposed to be so brilliant and competent with weapons then have her be so hesitant and so hung up on the morality of doing her job. She has been in government for years and just now finding it to test her morals? I am glad it was free and I deleted the other off my kindle I will not be reading it.

The character build up is very slow. The constant changes of scenes disrupt the story flow and makes the reader slightly confused. I have read better novels in the same genre.

The story took forever to get going. I found the main character a wet blanket I prefer characters in a thriller to enjoy adventure or at least the mystery and adventure they go through to bring out the best in them. This should be advertised as Christian fiction.

I'm actually not a fan of the spy genre, but I figured I'd download it for free on my Kindle. I'm so happy I downloaded this book because this was my best read this year. I couldn't put it down - I was up into the wee hours of the morning wondering what the next page would bring to Alex.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. I love the protagonist, Alex DeLuca. She is intelligent and hard working. I could relate to many of the little things she does in this book (going to work, going to the gym, getting a work assignment you don't like). The other characters in this book are also wonderful and complex. You want to hate the Russian underworld boss, but he's intelligent and you sense his desire to change. Rizzo, the cynical Italian police detective, is also a great character and there's an unexpected twist within his story.

I found the book richly detailed and full of interesting history. I downloaded Midnight in Madrid and stayed up until 4 a.m. reading it last night. I can't wait to complete the series.

There are far better books in this genre, written by authors with a better understanding of their characters and settings. Enough said.

Sorry - seems kind of amateurish. Just could not get into it and the characters lacked spark, in my opinion. Didn't realize it was considered "Christian" fiction or I wouldn't have bothered with it in the first place.

Got this as an e-book for free. Looked like a good spy/intrigue book. Halfway through, I realized this was more about Christian values and faith and less about the action. I deleted it from my Kindle. I have nothing against faith-based books as long as they are advertised as such. If you are looking for an exciting, fast-paced novel don't waste your time.

I got hooked into Conspiracy in Kiev (and Midnight in Madrid, also) off a free Kindle download and now I am a huge fan. I think I read something of Noel Hynd's several years ago, but if this is a "return to form" I'm impressed. No spoilers, but the action starts in Washington where learn of the life and romance of the m ain character, Alex, who works for the Treasury. Things happen in various places around the world and then suddenly we're absolutely absorbed in Alex, her career, dangers with a Ukrainian-Russian mobster, an a path across Europe and south America.....

The book seems to be part of a serious. I'm anxious to continue.....

The plot & characters were good, though the book has a slow start, but I found the language in the book offensive - I caught uses of [...], damn, and hell - and may have missed others. In addition, the main character - a "Christian" got "buzzed" and drunk - I am disappointed in Zondervan for publishing this and calling it Christiam fiction - they should have higher standards

This is probably one of my surprising reads of the year. I had been a bit wary of this book because it was an unfamiliar author and I'm usually not a big fan of books that take place in Eastern European countries. However as soon as I started reading the book, I was hooked in completely. Alex is a character that I absolutely adored from the beginning. She's the type of heroine that you want to be, and that you like very much. She's strong, yet you can see her weaknesses. I really enjoyed all the historical facts that were presented in this book. As a historian, I appreciated how the author used real history and didn't create events to make the story better. It's interesting how real life events can be just as interesting (or even better) in comparison to fictional tales. Some readers might find these bits boring, as the history of Ukraine and the former Soviet Union are told in details but they are relevant to the plot of the story and shouldn't really be skimmed over. The story is extremely well researched and I actually felt like I had traveled to Europe along with Alex. With so much going on in the book, one would think the storyline would be hard to follow. However it's not and it makes for a very fast paced read. One other thing I really liked is that even though the author is male and writes as a first person female, Alex acts like a rational woman and does not fall into cliched stereotypes. I personally enjoyed the downplay of romance in this book.

There is quite a bit of violence in this book. The story is very action packed and many characters do die. In fact, it seemed that there was someone that died in almost every chapter. Characters also do drink socially throughout the story. This book felt very realistic in the way situations were handled. Events that take place in this book could pretty much be ripped from headline news. To be honest, I don't consider this book Christian fiction at all. It may be by published by a Christian publisher, but the story doesn't really project anything preachy. Alex does grow stronger in her faith but it is not a main focus point. In fact I would just consider this book to be a good international suspense thriller. By far and away this was one of the best suspense books I've read all year. Tight storyline, thrilling action sequences, an engaging heroine and a page turning read make this one of my favorite reads of the year. VERY HIGHLY recommended.

I grew up reading the stories of Ludlum, MacLean, Higgins, and LeCarre. I loved the intrigue, double crosses, and action that permeated these tales, as well as the occasional deeper themes. It's hard to find novels with that same feel these days, perhaps because most readers don't have the attention span for multiple subplots and characters. In the mainstream market, Daniel Silva and Alex Berenson have stepped to the plate, but there are few parallels in the Christian market.

Welcome to Noel Hynd. Here's an author who cut his teeth in the trenches, and now applies superb research and plotting to his Christian suspense debut. "Conspiracy in Kiev" is the story of Alex DeLuca, a standout female FBI agent sent to Ukraine because of her language skills on an assignment to help protect the US president on a diplomatic visit. Tensions are already high in the region, with the heavy hand of Putin ever hovering and the seedy side of Ukraine criminal life bubbling to the surface. Hynd takes his time setting up the background of the characters and locations, and weaves in subplots effortlessly. He expects readers to pay attention and show some intelligence, and those who do so are rewarded with some great action scenes, superlative insights into global situations, and spiritual struggles that seem genuine. One scene between a Ukrainian gangster and Alex DeLuca is a masterpiece of conflict, humor, realism, and gritty tension.

I'm thrilled to see Hynd delivering his trademark suspense, and he should be enjoyed by those within the Christian market as well as those outside of it. This is not preachy fiction. This is first-rate writing that rises above some of the one-dimensional, one-trick ponies out there. This pony's only hurdle is finding readers who want something more than another Amish story or run-of-the-mill serial-killer book. I'm going out now to find "Midnight in Madrid."

This is Noel Hynd's first book with Christian publisher Zondervan, although he has a significant back-list of books in the general market.

Special Agent Alex DaLuca of the US Treasury is assigned to follow up the business dealings of Yuri Federov, a notorious but charming Ukrainian gangster. Accompanying a US Secret Service team (that includes her fiance) on a presidential visit the Ukraine is the start of a well-written, fast-paced adventure that utilises all Alex's skills and stretches her faith.

This book is well-researched and well-written, and I look forward to reading more of Hynd's releases for Zondervan. This is the first of a trilogy - the second is "Murder in Madrid".

My copy of this book had an advertisement for "The Enemy Within" at the back. Please note, "The Enemy Within" was not written for the CBA (Christian) market, and has some "colourful" content that would not be approved by a CBA publisher.