New World Orders / Edward G. Talbot

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Thriller

Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: YES
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Author:

Edward G. Talbot is the pen name used for the collaboration of two authors, Ed Parrot and Jason Derrig.

Parrot is an avid runner, cyclist, and race-walker who competed with the United States team in the 50km event at the 2005 Pan-American Race Walking Cup. He lives with his wife and daughter in Florida where he works as a computer programmer and web developer.

Derrig lives in Maine with his wife and two daughters. He is an active cyclist and skier and works for a national restaurant chain.

The Talbot collaboration has written another novel, Alive from New York, a terrorism thriller and two short story sets (three stories each) – A Funny Pair of Shorts which is humorous and A Horrifying Pair of Shorts which is horror, obviously. For more information, visit their website.

Description:

In the 1960s a group of the world’s most powerful and wealthy men study the evidence and come to a conclusion. Global warming has advanced too far to reverse. Their solution: cover-ups and a plan to save the chosen few.

Appraisal:

When I was young, one of my Uncles was heavily involved in an extreme rightwing organization. Even at a tender age, I thought their conspiracy theories were farfetched. Among other things, they thought a cabal of rich and powerful with ulterior motives controlled the United States government. But what if this was true? New World Orders explores this possibility. Maybe we should have been wearing tinfoil hats after all.

New World Orders follows Jack Crowley, an editor for a National Enquirer like tabloid, and Jim Patterson, a Washington, DC police detective, who together first uncover the conspiracy in the 1980s. The authors do well weaving actual world events within their story. In the book, these events happen for different reasons than the media reported and are often faked. Some are events conspiracy theorists would have us believe weren’t what they seemed. This makes the story more believable since the events are real. The main characters are the kind of people a reader will naturally be pulling for, even Jack Crowley, the tabloid reporter.

I also found myself laughing as the authors spice up the story with real people we might not expect. Among others, Elvis has a cameo and, for those quick enough to spot it, there is a brief appearance by a Mayor-to-be of Las Vegas. Thriller fans should find New World Orders a great escape.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars