Train in the Distance

By Larry Butchins
Published by Amazon
(CreateSpace), 2018. 289 pp
Kindle $4.99; Amazon $14.99, £11.31
Reviewed by Pnina Moed Kass

It is clear from the back jacket blurb that Larry Butchins is a man of many talents - from acting to seemingly every aspect of writing. I am assuming this is his first novel, a thriller that owes much of its stylistic heritage to Daniel Silva. It's high praise for any spy thriller that warrants the comparison. The adventure leaps from South Africa to a number of trouble spots in the Middle East, including Israel. It covers a tumultuous span of time, shifting from apartheid-tense South Africa to the 1990's and the first Intifada in Israel.

This reader enjoyed the wit and sarcasm of the author's take on life in Israel, particularly society as viewed by a new immigrant. Frequent moments in this novel seem to be a thinly-veiled memoir and so my guess is that the reader with a background similar to Butchins' will enjoy the book from several vantage points.

An entertaining read and particularly recommended for ex-South Africans.