Book Review: Sakura Spark by Tomson Cobb

Sakura Spark is—as the cover tells us—a thriller about Jago Hale, investigative journalist and ex-military man. And it’s absolutely amazing.

Jago lives a lavish life after having left his secretive past behind. He writes articles, spends time doing what he likes, and tries to forget. That’s until a break-in at his house pulls him back in, forcing him to return to his old habits. Not really wanting anything to do with it, but at the same time finding himself at the center of it all, Jago has no choice but to follow the breadcrumbs hoping they’ll lead to some answers. If he’s lucky, maybe even about his wife’s death.

Cobb’s writing is sharp and detailed, clear and fast-paced (just the way I like it), but at the same time beautiful and well-composed. This book doesn’t waste time on intricate backstories, instead utilizing small drips of information here and there, just enough to paint the picture while simultaneously stringing us along, the carrot constantly just out of reach.

In case I wasn’t clear earlier, I loved this book. It’s a thriller, a drama, even a bit of a love-story, and it’s very well executed.

The downfall of these types of books—in my opinion—are usually that they become too long, spending too much time on things that in the end doesn’t matter. There’s nothing of that here, and it shows.

I in one sense found Jago’s past and his life outside of the plot to be the most interesting thing about this book. Jago’s character is interesting, so much so that I often forgot what he was doing in the moment. I kept wondering how he’d gotten to be where he was, what his life was like before, and how his life would change at the end of this. And well, at the end of this… Let’s just say I got answers to questions I didn’t even know I had.

If you’re into espionage thrillers, I highly recommend you give Tomson Cobb’s book a chance. Go check it out here.