Description
<p>It’s hard to be committed to anyone when you don’t know whom to trust.</p><p>Alexis Toles, a former FBI agent turned undercover CIA agent, is quickly finding that out in Nancy Ann Healy’s newest political thriller, <i>Commitment</i>.</p><p>Alex embeds in a secret organization of intelligence operatives known as The Collaborative. Its partners include operatives from the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI, US Department of Defense, and an entanglement of foreign intelligence agencies.</p><p>It’s about half a year after the death of President John Merrow, a friend and someone she respected. But she remains committed to overthrowing The Collaborative as she works with a onetime adversary who believes the organization’s involved in the president’s death.</p><p>Meanwhile Alex; her wife, Cassidy O’Brien; and Cassidy’s son try hard to live as a family but must first overcome personal struggles, including a nasty custody battle with Cassidy’s ex-husband, Congressman Christopher O’Brien. The family has their own share of secrets that, if unleashed, could affect their hopes for the future.</p><p>There’s no place to turn without discovering people who are not who they claim to be. That can’t stop Alex. She must remain committed to the cause, both at home and as she works against The Collaborative.</p>
Story Behind The Book
Why do we say "I'm not pulling your leg"? Or "he kicked the bucket"? I don't mean etymologically, I mean logically. Why do we use idioms?
I became fascinated by that question when I discovered that Russians say "I'm not hanging noodles on your ears" when they're not pulling your leg. To us that sounds ridiculous. But let's face it, our idioms don't have a leg (pulled or not) to stand on either. They're just as nonsensical. And they're not alone:
To seize the moon by the teeth: attempt the impossible (French).
To reheat cabbage: to rekindle an old flame (Italian).
When the crayfish sings in the mountain: never (Russian).
Cleaner than a frog's armpit: to be poor, broke (Spanish).
Sadly I'm enviously monolingual.I have to admire these lingustic gems from afar. However, my linguistic longings and shortcomings have not been in vain. For the slake of my fellow semantic thrill seekers, I’ve started dealing in fresh foreign phrases. I’ve collected some of the most novel (new to the English speaking ear) and intriguing expressions from ten languages. They’re published in an easy to score book. It can save you the decades of effort otherwise needed to actually learn the ten languages themselves.
