Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

Click to purchase

What if the outcome of WWII were determined by something of a decidedly supernatural and evil nature? This is the question Maselo poses in his latest, The Einstein Prophecy.

After being injured while on a mission for the Cultural Recovery Commission, Lucas Athan finds himself teaching at Princeton. Though both the student body and staff have shrunk as a result of the war, war hero Athan is exactly the kind of man the university will pull strings to have on their roster. But his job with the CRC hasn’t ended. The very ossuary he was tasked with recovering when he was injured – a sarcophagus of historic significance that Hitler tagged for his own collection – has been recovered and the government wants Lucas to continue his work. The primary goal is to find out exactly what Hitler’s interest in the piece may be.

Simone Rashid and her father know all too well what the ossuary represents and what it is capable of. They were, after all, the ones who discovered it in the first place. But even Simone doesn’t understand the full potential of the ossuary or what Hitler’s goal may be. What she does know is that if she isn’t able to intercept the piece or at least warn the people involved, no good will come of opening the ancient coffin.

The Einstein Prophecy is what would happen if The Monuments Men and Indiana Jones had a baby and invited The Manhattan Project to the shower. (The CRC is a fictional creation based on the Monuments Men.)

The story is set in 1944 and Einstein, Gödel, Oppenheimer, and a few others all make appearances. Of course, too, there’s the very real history behind Hitler’s obsession with the paranormal and the occult, the also very real Manhattan Project (which does play a big role in the story), and the biblical history of the ossuary as well. Maselo uses the actual history of the era and the key players to anchor a tale that is based in mythology/theology to create an action packed mashup that’s a quite fun read.

If you’re a fan of James Rollins and the like, you’ll love The Einstein Prophecy.

10/15 Becky LeJeune

THE EINSTEIN PROPHECY by Robert Maselo. 47North (August 1, 2015).  ISBN 978-1477829400. 326p.

Click to purchase

(Fake) Paranormal Investigator

Jillian doesn’t believe all the paranormal mumbo jumbo her father peddles but she does know that an all but orphaned teen has to earn money somehow. Umbra Investigations is Jillian’s somehow – a PI agency focused on cases of an unusual sort. In other words, taking advantage of the same folks her father does.

But then Jillian gets a case that definitely sounds more serious: a missing person, and she’s been hired to find him. Of course the person hiring her believes the missing guy has been cursed and the new boy in school who has suddenly latched himself onto Jillian also believes this to be the case. (He blackmailed his way into partner status.) Nevertheless, Jillian needs the paycheck more desperately than ever and is determined to solve the case even when the clues start to point in some pretty unbelievable directions.

A writer on Grey’s Anatomy with a slew of other show credits to her name, Jen Klein definitely has the chops for a clever and catchy novel and she absolutely delivers in her debut! Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator is a fun blend of Veronica Mars sass and Buffy the Vampire Slayer supernatural and is perfect for fans of both.

But Jillian Cade is no Veronica or Buffy – she’s all Jillian. She puts up a bad-ass front all the while dealing with some heavy stuff, most prominently the recent weird death of her mother and her father’s abandonment. And things only get harder for the teen. Confronted by the fact that not one but two people are threatening to out her as a fraud, she knows she has to solve this case.

I expected the whole story to be “(Fake) Paranormal” and was quite surprised to find that wasn’t at all the case. There are some pretty big revelations both for our skeptical heroine and for the reader as well. Considering all of that, I assume that Jillian Cade is the first in a series and will most definitely be looking forward to more.

10/15 Becky LeJeune

JILLIAN CADE by Jen Klein. Soho Teen (September 1, 2015).  ISBN 978-1616954345. 288p.