Shopping, spas, espionage in new novel

Move over, Austin Powers. Watch out, James Bond. There's a new British spy around! She's stealthy, she's sly and she's oh-so fabulous! Her name is Olivia Joules, and she's the main character in "Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination," the most recent novel from Helen Fielding the author of "Bridget Jones Diary." \nOlivia Joules is a fashion and entertainment writer for a British magazine. While in Miami covering a face cream debut, she meets the debonair Pierre Ferramo. Naturally, she is immediately drawn to his irresistible charms. However, something bothers her about him: He reminds her of Osama bin Laden. Everyone, of course, thinks it's just a product of her so-called "overactive imagination,", but she's not so sure. \nSoon Olivia is traveling all over the world, from hip hotels in Miami and Los Angeles, underwater caves in Central America, the deserts of Sudan and everywhere in between, to try to prove that her new acquaintance is a terrorist.\n"Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination" is an exciting book that women everywhere will enjoy. Olivia is a woman for the 21st century -- she's tough, intelligent and she can take care of herself, but she's still doing what every young woman does: She's looking for love, going out for drinks with her mates, shopping and succeeding at her job. \nThe book isn't exactly believable. Much like Britain's other favorite spy, Olivia gets into (and out of) crazy situations that probably would never happen. However, Olivia, like James Bond, is a lovable and dynamic character. The book is quite enjoyable. It's full of action and excitement, and no one ever knows exactly where Olivia is going to end up next.\nThere's a certain warmth and humor in "Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination" that is nicely melded with the action and tension of the situations Olivia encounters. Even in the most dire circumstances, Olivia has snide remark or interesting thought to break the tension. To be honest, and a little clichéd, Olivia Joules is like a James Bond for the 21st century woman. \nUnfortunately, the book drags in a few spots. It gets a little tiring to read expositories about Olivia's shopping or pampering when all you really want to know is whether Pierre Ferramo is going to blow up the United States. Obviously, Fielding is trying to show exactly what's going through Olivia's mind during all parts of her adventure, but it gets a bit tedious at moments. \nIt was also annoying that Fielding left a few loose ends. During the book, she continually eluded to Olivia's past life, which seemed crazy enough to merit a book of its own. However, Fielding never really explains what happened to Olivia prior to this book. Of course, it's difficult to reveal that information without dedicating a chapter to boring exposition. If Fielding exposed these bits of Olivia's life, she'd need to piece it all together. I hope this less-than-stellar aspect will be revisited in a sequel or prequel, because all women need a little more Olivia Joules and her overactive imagination in their lives.