Strong Review of The Compass Room by MWSA

There are a handful of trade magazines and review outlets that function as the standard-bearers for thriller writers.  The big three, in my mind, are Kirkus Reviews, BookLife (Publishers Weekly), and Midwest Book Review (MBR).  A strong review from any one of them is a major validation of the work.

To those three, I add the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) given the genre I work in, namely geopolitical and military thrillers.  The MWSA reviews works related to the military, whether fiction or nonfiction, and works written by military veterans.  They also award deserving books an MWSA Gold, Silver, or Bronze Medal.  

The MWSA is not an award mill.  They take their work seriously and offer rigorous critical reviews.  Most book submissions do not reach the standard for an MWSA medal.  I should know.  The reviews of my debut novel, Alter Road, were ... biting.  But they were spot on.  Alter Road did land some strong reviews from readers, which encouraged me to continue writing.  MWSA's reviews of Alter Road helped make a better writer.  (I have since published an edited second edition of Alter Road.)

My second novel, Friendship Games, earned the prestigious Kirkus Star from Kirkus Reviews and a MWSA Bronze Medal.  Now I have very Big Head.  

The follow up to Friendship Games - The Compass Room - has now earned very strong reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Booklife (Publishers Weekly), making my Big Head even bigger.  And this week I can add MWSA to the stack for a nice little trifecta.

The MWSA call The Compass Room "a high octane geopolitical thriller" that is "intellectually engaging and relentlessly paced."  

I'll take it.

Mark James is the Kirkus-starred author of geopolitical thrillers Friendship Games and The Compass Room. He has taught political and economic geography for over twenty years.