One Day in Budapest by J F Penn

A relic, stolen from the heart of an ancient city. An echo of nationalist violence not seen since the dark days of the Second World War.

Budapest, Hungary. When a priest is murdered at the Basilica of St Stephen and the Holy Right relic is stolen, the ultra-nationalist Eröszak party calls for retribution and anti-Semitic violence erupts in the city.

Dr Morgan Sierra, psychologist and ARKANE agent, finds herself trapped inside the synagogue with Zoltan Fischer, a Hungarian Jewish security advisor. As the terrorism escalates, Morgan and Zoltan must race against time to find the Holy Right and expose the conspiracy, before blood is spilled again on the streets of Budapest.

One Day In Budapest is a chilling view of a possible future as Eastern Europe embraces right-wing nationalism. A conspiracy thriller for fans of Daniel Silva, where religion and politics intersect.

 One Day in Budapest  is my first taste of author J F Penn's writing, and at just 105 pages (in the print copy), it is an ideal way to sample her work. The novella features Dr Morgan Sierra from the ARKANE thrillers, but is stand-alone and can be read separately from the ARKANE series.

This is a story packed with action from start to finish and Penn has a real depth to her writing that is incredibly skilful.  There are not many authors who could produce such a vivid story, involving some well-drawn characters and incorporating great historical detail in such a few chapters.  One Day in Budapest really does deliver all of the above.

Morgan Sierra is a strong female lead character, just enough detail of her background is given to be able to understand just what sort of person she is, and why she finds herself in the middle of an explosive situation. The story is set sometime in the near future, the reader does not know the exact date.  The quite frightening thing about this is that one could really believe that the events were happening today, the plot is relevant to events happening in our own world and draws on horrific episodes from our not so distant past.

One Day in Budapest is a great introduction to J F Penn's writing.  It is skilfully written with a fast and believable story line that will please fans of thrilling, suspenseful fiction.

My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review.

Joanna Penn has a Master's degree in Theology from the University of Oxford, Mansfield College and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
She lives in London but has spent 11 years in Australia and New Zealand.  Joanna worked for 13 years as an international business consultant within the IT industry but is now a full-time author-entrepreneur.
Joanna is a PADI Divemaster and enjoys travelling as often as possible.  She is obsessed with religion and psychology and loves to read, drink pinot noir and soak up European culture through art, architecture and food.

You can sign up for Joanna's newsletter and find out more on the ARKANE world at www.JFPenn.com/arkane
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