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by M. J. Simms-Maddox (Author)
And so it was that, as Priscilla completed her first novel, that she reckoned no one would believe anyway was not entirely the case.
The sixth installment in 'The Priscilla Series' begins with the Central Intelligence Agency director expressing his discontentment after learning that his special agent, public relations executive Priscilla J. "PJ" Austin-Bernhardt, a modern-day Black American woman of diverse ancestry living a double life and not known for being maternal, is pregnant. He has an assignment for her.
Meanwhile, after giving birth to her son Austin, Priscilla experiences problems with her mother-in-law, who wants to raise the child. After establishing her role in that regard, Priscilla announces to her family that she is taking her six-month-old baby boy, his nanny, her assistant, and her chauffeur/bodyguard on a trip to the South of France, where she intends to try her hand at writing.
Shortly, the five-member entourage settles into a cozy, quaint villa in Marmande, France. Priscilla develops a writing streak.
She soon becomes acquainted with another writer, but he is not who he pretends to be. It was then that her CIA handler unexpectedly issued her the new commission. Even more unanticipated, the CIA relocates her and her entourage to a safe house near Luzern, Switzerland. Then, something more unforeseen happens, and the story takes off from there.
Everything happens so fast.
After not hearing from Priscilla or anyone else in her entourage for an extended period, her family and the CIA send unexpected guests to check on them. Of course, they are there to do more than check on the entourage; they are there to protect Priscilla throughout her secret mission. But she was unaware of any of that at the time.
On the other hand, however, she is aware that her secret mission is inside the war-torn former Yugoslavia, where war is raging.
Readers will gain insight into the turmoil that Eastern European nations, particularly the former Yugoslavia, endured as they transformed from communism to democracies in the 1990s. But the Eastern European nations were not the only ones transforming; so, too, was Priscilla. Disguised as one of her aliases, she sets about her mission and soon realizes that she is not the only one with a double; her target has one, too, more than one.
Even more unexpectedly, Priscilla does something that shocks her CIA handler, inadvertently undermining her mission. But readers must read the story to discover what she did.
The story depicts how secret agents from different countries often work together. Besides, one never knows when they might require the goodwill of another agent. Not only that, but readers will also see how agents in the same Secret Service agency tend to buck horns, so to speak. And so it is for Priscilla and one of the CIA special ops with whom she has sparred for years.
As the protagonist's perilous predicament intensifies, she is embedded in a camp with what she describes as "interesting-looking people" who play a pertinent role in her mission, which she eventually discovers. Throughout their interaction, Priscilla acquires appreciation for how some refugees maneuver foreign territory to seek new lives.
There are many twists and turns in the story that readers will not see coming.
However, there is one certainty: Priscilla is a secret agent to the core. Nothing gets in her way, not even sad news from home or her baby's life on the line, which makes this a gripping terrorism thriller.
At the climax, among other things, the CIA special op, who has expressed concern about Priscilla's capabilities as an agent for years, finally accepts her as his equal.
Ultimately, however, as Priscilla completed her first novel, that she reckoned no one would believe anyway was not entirely the case.
