Book Review: Spider’s Web by Shannon Condon

*I received a complimentary copy of this book, and I’m leaving a voluntary review*
Another great book I’ve just finished, Spider’s Web is the third book in the Magdalena Series, and follow Maggie and her special ops team as they take on secret missions for the government.

I haven’t read the other books in the series, and even though this is the third, it works well as a standalone. Even though I was confused about some of the information of the past books that I was fed, it was kind of like a puzzle for me, trying to piece together and understand what had happened before.

This book is very many things on top of each other, spy thriller, crime mystery, family drama. It’s a big all-in-one. To give you a hint of the plot, we’re thrown straight into it when Maggie is kidnapped. Where will she be taken, who’s her kidnappers and why do they want her, and will her team get to her in time? This is what’s at stake for Maggie, and though she’s quite a capable special ops agent in her own right, she can’t do it all by herself – she’s going to need her friends to help her.

The characters are beautiful and well-written, and I love how fleshed-out they all are. There’s so much background, so much history behind them making them come so very much alive. I particularly liked Maggie at the center of it all; on one side she’s woman with a tough, hard exterior who can handle anything; but on the inside she’s has a vulnerable, soft core of emotions. Watching her battle her anxiety and panic attacks made her especially interesting to me.

Condon’s writing is beautifully phrased and delicately constructed, with just enough mix of narrative and dialogue according to my taste. She never drones on, and she describes just enough to give you a taste of the world she’s created, letting you imagine everything else.

I felt perhaps the book lost a bit of it’s pace around the halfway mark, slacking off a bit toward the end, but as I said, this isn’t just a thriller or a mystery, this is a delicately interwoven story of action, love, and family, and at times it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

Spider’s Web comes highly recommended from me! Check it out.