This is part two of what we call a "doubleshot review" where two reviewers give their take on the same book. If you missed the first half where Judi Moore gave her take on this book earlier this week, be sure to check it out too.
Genre: Thriller
Description:
“Jacob Stearne’s Top Secret mission to secure the nation’s future is
thrown into chaos by his arrest for murder.
A group of young physicists sequester in Latvia to finalize a green
technology worth trillions of dollars. Billionaires want to steal their work.
While oil-rich nations want to destroy it. The president has tasked decorated
veteran Jacob Stearne with bringing their research back to the US—which he
intends to do as soon as he can break out of jail and beat a murder rap.
With an over-zealous police captain running the manhunt in
dead-or-alive mode, Jacob is forced to find the real killer while fleeing the
law. With ambiguous help from a dubious crew comprised of a young stripper, a
claimant to the Russian throne, and the naïve physicists, he quickly discovers:
everyone lies.
As the Latvian dragnet closes in, and betrayals come from friends and
foe alike, Jacob must rely on Stearne’s Law for survival: Paranoia is the
result of acute situational awareness. To save the scientists and
repatriate the research, Jacob must outwit a Russian oligarch. But this time,
as he holds a bomb with a ticking timer, he may have run out of luck.”
Author:
“His near-death experiences range from talking a jealous husband into
putting the gun down to spinning out on an icy freeway in heavy traffic without
touching anything. His resume ranges from washing dishes to global technology
management. His personal life stretches from homeless at 17, adopting a
3-year-old at 19*, getting married at 37, fathering his last child at 43,
hiking the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim at 59, and taking the occasional nap.
His writing career ranges from humble beginnings with short stories in
The Battered Suitcase, to being awarded a Medallion from the Book Readers
Appreciation Group. Seeley is best known for his Sabel Security series of
thrillers featuring athlete and heiress Pia Sabel and her bodyguard, the
mentally unstable veteran Jacob Stearne. One of them kicks ass and the other
talks to the wrong god.
His love of creativity began at an early age, growing up at Frank
Lloyd Wright’s School of Architecture in Arizona and Wisconsin. He carried his
imagination first into a successful career in sales and marketing, and then to
his real love: fiction.”
For more, visit Seely James' website and like his Facebook page.
Appraisal:
My only potential complaint about this book, that sometimes it felt
like there were too many people and things going on to keep track of, was also
part of its charm. Keeping track of who were the good guys and who wasn’t was
tough, since the status seemed to keep changing, both in my eyes and those of
the protagonist Jacob Stearne. As perceptions and stories changed Stearne had
to adjust his approach, both to complete his primary task and to get out of
Latvia, hopefully unscathed. Throw in Symone, a 15 year-old stripper who helps
Stearne, but also isn’t quite up for the action that gets thrown at them, and
it gets more tense.
In all of the above I didn’t mention the “God” that keeps appearing
and having discussions with Stearne. This is specifically the ancient Roman god
Mercury. No one else seems to see him and the “conversations” they have must be
telepathic because no one else nearby hears anything. Does Mercury help? I’ll
let you decide when you read the book.
Overall, I found this book was a fun and intense read. It at times got
me thinking about real world issues (what would I want to happen if the premise
of this story was real, for example). Definitely one that thriller readers
should enjoy.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Some mildly adult content.
Although part of a series, #13 of 13 thus far, this can be read as a
standalone.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 115-120,000 words
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