The Bone Chase, by Weston Chase ~ 2.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Conspiracy Thriller, Mystery

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: December 1st, 2020

336 Pages

Synopsis: In true The Da Vinci Code fashion, a taut thriller filled with rival factions vying for control of the truth in a giant global conspiracy.

There were giants on the earth in those days—at least that’s what the Bible says. But where are they? Did they ever really exist?

When out-of-work math teacher Ethan McCleod is sent a mysterious box, he and his ex-girlfriend begin to unravel a mystery 10,000 years in the making—and he is the last hope to discover the world’s greatest conspiracy. Chased by both the Six-Fingered Man and the Council of David, Ethan must survive the chase—and find the truth.

I have to admit that Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code was a guilty pleasure of mine when it first came out, and when I read the premise of The Bone Chase, it gave me similar vibes. Unfortunately, I ran into many issues with this. Ethan is an affable protagonist, but some of his decision making left me scratching my head. I never really understood the difference between the two groups who are after Ethan, nor was I able to fully grasp their motivations. And, what could have been an enjoyable plot was further complicated by the numerous technical details and ancient archeological log entries. These slowed the pace considerably and ultimately prevented me from fully connecting with the story or its characters. In the end despite its exciting premise, The Bone Chase just wasn’t for me. As usual though, if your interest has been piqued, I recommend you check out other reviews because there are some readers who liked it.

The Institute, by Stephen King ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Conspiracy Thriller, Contemporary Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction

Thanks to Scribner for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 10th, 2019

576 Pages

Synopsis: In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in the middle of suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.” 

In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machine. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.

I may have mentioned that I love Stephen King a few times, but I want you to know that I don’t let my hero worship put blinders on me. There have been some of his books that have disappointed me over the decades Dreamcatcher and Lisey’s Story to name two. However, I’m thrilled to say that The Institute is not one of them. Actually, in my opinion it’s one of his best novels to date and is joining my favorites alongside Carrie, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, The Stand, Misery, It, Hearts in Atlantis, On Writing and 11/22/63. 

This is going to be a fairly short review because I’m determined not to let any spoilers slip, but there are a few things I’d like to share about why I loved this story so much. Part of why I love Mr. King’s writing so much is his characters. Some of his biggest monsters have been all too human ones: Annie Wilkes from Misery, Henry Bowers from It and Big Jim Rennie from Under the Dome. These are all “regular” people who wind up being just as terrifying as King’s supernatural creations like Pennywise and Randall Flagg. This is the case with Mrs. Sigsby and the other evil masterminds running the Institute. They may try to tell themselves that what they’re doing to the children they kidnap is for the greater good, but make no mistake, they’re sadistic, evil bastards. (Sorry for the language!) While I was reading all I wanted was for them to die in the slowest, most painful way possible. In stark contrast are Luke and the other children. King does an absolute brilliant job capturing their minds and voices. Each personality fairly leaps off the page fully formed which makes what is done to them even more horrifying. Avery, at ten-years-old, yet the most powerful with his gift, just about broke my heart. The other main character is Tim Jamieson, an amicable everyman who finds himself in a small southern town filled with some interesting people. Seeing how Luke, who is trapped in Maine (It’s Stephen King. Where else would a sinister shadow government be kidnapping and torturing kids?) and Tim are ultimately brought together is captivating, and I literally could not tear myself away. The only reason why it took me five days to read this is that I found myself having to take breaks because I became too emotionally involved in what was happening to the kids. It was either that or I was going to throw the book across the room because I kept getting so angry.

The Institute is the perfect example of how, over the years, Stephen King has gone from a horror writer to a genre-defying one. While clocking in at almost 600 pages long, not one single word is wasted in what amounts to in my mind, a perfectly crafted novel. The mystery behind what the Institute’s true motivations, is drawn out through the course of the story and further adds to the pulse-pounding suspense. I guarantee that Constant Readers are going to be thrilled with The Institute, particularly if you love some of King’s other adolescent heroes from previous books like Firestarter, The Body, and It. And if you’re new to Stephen King, or even have mixed feelings about his writing, but you enjoy horror, science-fiction and conspiracy thrillers, I highly recommend you give this a try!

The House Of Secrets ~ By Brad Meltzer and Tod Goldberg – 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Conspiracy Thriller, Historical Fiction, Mystery

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis: When Hazel Nash was six years old, her father taught her: mysteries need to be solved. He should know. Hazel’s father is Jack Nash, the host of America’s favorite conspiracy TV show, The House of Secrets.

Even as a child, she loved hearing her dad’s tall tales, especially the one about a leather book belonging to Benedict Arnold that was hidden in a corpse. 

Now, years later, Hazel wakes up in the hospital and remembers nothing, not even her own name. She’s told she’s been in a car accident that killed her father and injured her brother. But she can’t remember any of it, because of her own traumatic brain injury. Then a man from the FBI shows up, asking questions about her dad–and his connection to the corpse of a man found with an object stuffed into his chest: a priceless book that belonged to Benedict Arnold. 

Back at her house, Hazel finds guns she doesn’t remember owning. On her head, she sees scars from fights she can’t recall. Most important, the more Hazel digs, the less she likes the person she seems to have been.

Trying to put together the puzzle pieces of her past and present, Hazel Nash needs to figure out who killed this man–and how the book wound up in his chest. The answer will tell her the truth about her father, what he was really doing for the government–and who Hazel really is.

The House of Secrets is one of those books that are tough to review without giving away any spoilers, but I’ll endeavor to do my best. It’s basically a giant puzzle, with all these various clues and pieces thrown out there in the wind. First and foremost there’s Hazel’s mysterious background. She’s a very complex character and tough to figure out. What put me firmly in her corner is when she takes truth serum in order to get some answers. She’s willing to do whatever it takes to uncover the truth, even if she uncovers some unpleasant truths about herself. There’s also the question of exactly whose side her brother Skip is on. He and Hazel have an odd relationship and I found myself questioning his motives throughout the book. And the biggest puzzle piece of all involves the death of Jack Nash himself, and what exactly was he up to while hosting his show and tracking down Benedict Arnold’s bibles. The truth behind the books caught me completely by surprise. It’s a huge twist which had me gasping out loud. There were a couple of things which prevented this from being a perfect novel for me. The first involves a trip that Jack takes for his tv show back when Hazel and Skip are still children. He should have known the potential for danger, yet he still brings Skip along anyway. Up until this scene, Jack isn’t really portrayed as a careless or neglectful father, so this didn’t make a lot of sense to me. The second issue I had involves the main villain. Through most of the story his motivations are unclear, but when they’re  revealed I thought it a bit anticlimactic and it left me rolling my eyes. Overall though, this is another outstanding book by Brad Meltzer. I haven’t read anything by his co-author Tod Goldberg, but I can say that they make a very good team. The writing is seamless and I found it impossible to determine which chapters were written by whom. The House of Secrets is a perfect beach read, especially for fans of books like The Da Vinci Code. It’s a perfect blend of historical fiction and thrilling mystery that makes it difficult to put down.

The Pendragon Protocol ~ by Philip Purser-Hallard – 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adventure, Conspiracy Thriller, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Knights of the Round Table, Science Fiction, Techno-Thriller, Urban Fantasy

  I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was a little nervous to pick up this book. Philip was so generous to send me an autographed copy even though I lost the Goodreads contest. Modern day Arthurian knights seemed just my cup of tea, but what if I didn’t like it? Lesson learned: I worry too much! This was honestly one of the most interesting books I’ve read all year! The premise is centered around this covert government agency in contemporary London called The Circle. Can you see where this is heading? It gets even better! The upper echelon of this group are the modern day incarnations of the original Knights of the Round Table. I’m not even going to try to explain how this comes about because I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. Let’s just say it’s not through reincarnation or any of the other ways that have already been written about. In addition to having all the memories and powers, (yes, powers!) of the original knights, they have all sorts of high tech gadgetry too which would make James Bond jealous! This is a good thing because they have to fight villains such as serial killers, eco-terrorists, and neo-nazis. The story is told by a narrator who calls himself Dale the Tale. The hero of the book however is Jory Taylor, aka Sir Gawain. Unfortunately for every modern day heroic knight there is his nemesis which in this case is The Green Knight who captures Jory. As he’s being held prisoner, Jory discover there is much more to the myths he has been told and always stood by. The more he discovers the more personal it gets and now he has to prevent a terrible plot that’s about to unfold. First, let me say that for anyone who’s read updated Arthurian stories before, The Pendragon Protocol is unlike anything you’ve ever read. I’m not even going to try to compare the writing to that of other authors because it wouldn’t be fair. It’s just that unique. I can say it’s a blend of science fiction, historical fiction, urban fantasy, fantasy, techno-thriller, and conspiracy thriller. It even has a dash of comedy in the form of Dale the Tale who I loved! I also liked Jory who’s not your stereotypical perfect hero. This is the type of character I wish I could meet in real life. In addition to being character driven it’s also plot driven which I truly appreciated. All too often I’ve found books being either, or. Being a Yank, I also liked the political overtones of England, both historical and contemporary. I cannot recommend this book enough! It’s exciting and suspenseful, and I finished it in two days. Best news yet: this is the first book in a planned trilogy. I don’t know when the sequel The Locksley Exploit is coming out but I cannot wait!

Update:

*** The Locksley Exploit will be coming out summer of 2015!***