That Girl Started Her Own Country is another book in Holy Ghost Writer’s Count of Monte Cristo series. Though the cover states that this book is the sequel toThe Sultan of Monte Cristo, the book takes place generations later in modern day Miami. According to the introduction, That Girl Started Her Own Country will one day be the sixth book in the series rather than the third, but whether you read it third, sixth, or as your first encounter of Holy Ghost Writer, it is an easy book to read. It is a completely new tale with newly introduced characters. It follows the intrigues of a strong, mysterious woman who has given herself the name Zaydee. Zaydee is a woman with a dark past and is hiding when she is arrested by the FBI for unknown reasons and booked for the bogus charge of assaulting a federal agent. Incarceration is not a hardship for Zaydee, however, as she soon learns who to befriend in order to maintain her freedoms. Known to the court only as “Princess Jane Doe,” (a name given to her in sarcasm by the agent who booked her, because of her possible royal connections) and “Pippi Longstocking,”she is using her newfound royalty status to control the trial as well. Zaydee refuses to go down without a fight, but it will take all of her cunning ways to keep her past at bay and her future secure. 

Holy Ghost Writer’s novel is one of mystery and intrigue, and readers will quickly realize that he has rekindled Edmond Dantes’ spirit in the heroine Zaydee. Zaydee is wise, charming, and fearless. She doesn’t take no for an answer, nor does she back down from a fight. Though her actions can quite often be labeled as criminal, she is easily admirable as well. Her character is honestly a delight to read about. However, I often felt as if her adventures, or lack of adventure, were not doing this intriguing character justice. Though the story starts in the middle of the action—the story starts with her thinking on her past that led to murder accusations and her present that involves her being a computer hacker and confronting a man who has embezzled thousands from her—I never truly felt the excitement that I have come to expect from Holy Ghost Writer after reading The Sultan of Monte Cristo. I also spent most of my time while reading this book wondering how this one could be a sequel to the previous. While links between the two are eventually revealed, I worry that with the slower pace of the book these revelations may occur well after some readers will lose interest in the tale. 

I, however, continue to be impressed by Holy Ghost Writer’s willingness to do something new and creative in the literary world. His books in the Count of Monte Cristo series, this one included, are fun, mysterious, and have wonderful over-the-top heroes that are a joy to follow. I truly look forward to finding out where Zaydee’s story will take her, and how That Girl Started Her Own Country will merge into the rest of Holy Ghost Writer’s series.