“You were a coward,” she lashed out. “Think of all the people Hitler killed, people who were willing to die rather than disclaim their heritage. You’re a liar and a coward!”
“I suppose it’s true that I am a liar and a coward,” he said, remaining calm in the face of her onslaught. “I could have told the truth and been killed for it. But I was never a religious man, Maddy. Being labeled Jewish was a dangerous inconvenience. That’s all I gave up.”
“Just like you gave me up, when I became inconvenient,” she spat out.
(from Heart of Deception, page 150 in the ARC)
I enjoyed M.L. Malcolm’s Heart of Lies despite its flaws, namely some undeveloped characters and unnecessary scenes, but I was so intrigued by the story of Leo Hoffman, who tries to do well but always finds himself embroiled in some sort of trouble, that I couldn’t wait to read the sequel, Heart of Deception (originally published as Deceptive Intentions). The sequel picks up where the first one leaves off, and there’s enough of an explanation of the events of the first book that Heart of Deception can be read as a stand-alone novel.
Heart of Deception opens in 1942, with Leo, a Hungarian national, still acting as a spy for the Americans in the hopes of earning his citizenship so he can return to New York and be a true father to his daughter, Maddy, who lives in a boarding house owned by her best friend’s mother. Having seen nothing of her father for a few years, Maddy can’t help but feel abandoned, and she still blames herself for her mother’s death during the Japanese invasion of Shanghai when she was just seven years old. Maddy feels unloved and unwanted — though the O’Connors take good care of her — until her Aunt Bernice enters her life. Bernice, still grieving the loss of her sister, doesn’t think much of Leo and doesn’t want Maddy to have anything to do with him.
Meanwhile, Leo is working undercover in Morocco as the Allies gear up for the invasion of North Africa, and then travels to France with the now-famous spy Christine Granville to rescue Jews from the Gurs internment camp. However, the novel barely touches upon Leo’s espionage work during World War II, and his being Jewish and eventually captured by the Germans is glossed over despite the fact that they could have added much excitement and action to the story.
Malcolm follows these characters until 1963, and after the few chapters about Leo’s wartime activities, she shifts gears and focuses solely on Maddy — her on-again/off-again passion for the piano, her failed relationships, and her inability to find herself due to her troubled relationship with her father.
I find it difficult to write up my thoughts about this book because I thought the story was interesting, but I also felt that the writing was inconsistent and that too much time was spent on the more uninteresting (at least in my opinion) plot points. The book opened beautifully and pulled me right into the story with the poetical description:
If the city of Tangier had been a woman, she would have been a whore, and a wealthy one. Brazenly straddling the northwest tip of Africa, she brushed one of her sultry thighs up against the undulating waves of the turquoise Mediterranean Sea; the other unfolded west, perpetually teasing the unquenchable desire of the gray Atlantic Ocean. (page 3 in the ARC)
Passages like that one were few in the remainder of the book, especially toward the end, when what could have been several captivating chapters about Maddy’s dangerous relationship with a man from her past is reduced to a few pages in which Malcolm simply tells us what happens, neatly tying up the loose ends in the process. Additionally, there are some secondary characters that are given a great deal of importance in the beginning of the novel — namely Harry, who was in love with Maddy’s mom before she married Leo — only to disappear after they serve their purpose of loosely connecting some plot threads.
Even though I was disappointed that Heart of Deception wasn’t more about espionage during WWII and felt that it slowed down after Leo faded into the background, I liked it more than Heart of Lies and am not sorry I read it. I empathized with Leo’s desire to be part of his daughter’s life and make up for lost time, and I felt bad for Maddy even when it seemed like she kept using her father as an excuse to make bad decisions. Malcolm does a good job showing how the absence of a parental figure can damage a person’s self-esteem and how the need for passion and acceptance can get them into trouble.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to participate in the blog tour for Heart of Deception. To follow the tour, click here.
Disclosure: I received a copy of Heart of Deception from HarperCollins for review purposes. I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Sounds like an interesting sequel to the first, but I have a hard time reading books with inconsistent writing. I’m going to pass on these for now.
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I just have a problem with the telling vs. showing.
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I would have loved less plot and more character development — I wanted so badly to love these two books!
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More character development would have been great, along with more of a focus on WWII. I think I liked them way more than you did.
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I’ve been curious if the books have been changed much from their initial versions or if it’s simply been a title change — I did wonder if perhaps Malcolm was asked to expand the books this telling-rather-than-showing was the result?
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It would explain what I saw as inconsistent writing. I have no idea what, if anything, was changed, though.
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Interesting that you liked it more than the first book despite it not focusing on the plot points you were most interested in.
I really need to get around to reading the first book … I’ve had it since BEA last year and I really DO want to read it!
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I think I liked it more because the scenes with Leo were more interesting because of the espionage. I just wish the story had focused more on that.
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Even though it wasn’t quite what you had hoped I’m glad you enjoyed it. Not sure it’s for me but does sound interesting.
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It was worth reading for sure.
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It’s always interesting to read a book and think about how we might have written it differently based on what we’re interested in. You picked up on some really great themes, though, that would probably make this a great book club pick.
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I agree. There definitely is a lot to be discussed by a book club!
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Thanks for the great review. I’m not sure this book is for me.
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Thanks for stopping by to read it!
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I’ve read some mixed reviews on these books. Haven’t read either one but I’m still curious. Thanks for the review!
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My pleasure! They were really hard books to review because I did like them despite having some issues.
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Sounds like both of Malcolm’s books have a lot of unrealized potential.
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Yes, but they’re still worth a try!
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I’m glad that you enjoyed this one overall. Thanks for reviewing it for us. I’m not sure if this is one that I would ever read but I enjoyed your thoughts on it and at least I have a feel for the book.
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You’re very welcome! I hope I explained myself well enough, giving a balance of what I thought worked and what didn’t.
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The premise sounds good, too bad it dissapointed. Good for you on reading the first one, then giving this one a try as well. I do like the cover though.
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I like the cover, though I’m not sure how it applies to the book.
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I like it as well, even though I didn’t read the first one. Great review!
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Thanks! It certainly can be read on its own.
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I agree with you -there were parts of the book I really enjoyed and then parts that I did not like-for example Maddy’s relationship with her boyfriend. Some areas were overdeveloped and others underdeveloped.
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Great minds think alike! LOL
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