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One of the bullet points written about this latest novel by Robert Harris indicates that it is unlike anything he has done before. That statement is very much true. Harris always gives us a well-written book, a plot second to none, and of course characters that are painted in the most mesmerizing manner with portraits of them that allow each to live for the reader. The plot is a very pleasant surprise and not what the reader expects. But assuredly the change in the novel’s direction is one that will be well received and quite satisfying.

Christopher Fairfax, a young priest arrives in a remote village in the hinterland of England in the year of the book 1468. He was sent there in order to hold services for the village’s previous priest who had just passed away. The area around the town is overrunning with ancient artifacts such as glass, human bones, paintings and other miscellaneous memorabilia stemming from long ago. The previous priest had been an ardent collector and exhibitor of what he found. He was killed in a freak fall while moving around in one of the areas he had been working in.

Fairfax becomes fascinated by the collection and determines he will make an inroad into the meaning of what is freely available on the ground. He will work in the area and become amazed at what he is unearthing. His very faith is shaken to the core by the interpretation of the findings and. he is almost killed in the search and also finds time to have a romantic interlude with one of the ladies living there.

The strength of Robert Harris’s book lies in what is discovered and the facts this leads to. It is only fair to say that this is certainly one of the author’s best books and any more of the plot revealed would surely take away the joy of following the path Harris makes. A very well done novel and another in the series of excellent books created by Robert Harris.

11/19 Paul Lane

THE SECOND SLEEP by Robert Harris. Knopf (November 19, 2019). ISBN 978-0525656692. 320p.

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Nothing like a good old fashioned ghost story to get a reader’s attention. But couple that with a well done novel set in the England of 1917 still engaged in a world war raging just across the channel. The combination of the two events in the hands of an author at the top of his game is a sure bet to capture and keep readers glued to the book.

On an island off the coast of Devon, Lord Highmount has set up a seance in an attempt to contact his two sons who have been killed in the war. Lord Highmount is a manufacturer of materials important to the war effort has had secret plans for an effective gas mask turn up in enemy hands in Berlin. It is to determine if enemy agents will come to the seance that two people have been dispatched by the British intelligence service to attend the event. The first is Kate Cartwright a young lady that is able to see the departed and possibly communicate with them. The other is Captain Donovan recently returned from the trenches of France and a first-class secret operative.

The guests gather at the residence of Lord Highmount and we immediately learn that most of them have something to hide. The story develops as a major storm shuts down the island and prevents any travel between the mainland and the residence. Part of the tale involves Kate and the mysterious Captain Donovan developing romantic feelings towards each other. Nice touch and probably foretelling future novels involving the two.

Events proceed and the reader is treated to two seances with events described by Ryan and allowing the plot to thicken. A good story and coupled with a good writing style means a good book and an interest in future novels by the author.

11/19 Paul Lane

A HOUSE OF GHOSTS by W. C. Ryan. Zaffre (October 3, 2019). ISBN 978-1785767111. 400p.

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A story based on the Hebrew legend of 36 Righteous men, whose hidden presence in the world keeps it from destruction. No one knows who these men are, but according to the legend, if they are ever all killed the world will be destroyed.

James Manning and Covina (Dewey) Duwai are detectives working for the New York City police department involved with a special unit handling special crimes. They are called to investigate a case of two men being murdered via the same method, and then it is discovered that two others were killed in Russia in a similar fashion. Investigating the cases, Manning and Dewey enter the Jewish community in New York in which the concept of 36 Righteous Men appears. If all of them, wherever they are, are killed then so the legend states the world comes to an end.

The novel is narrated by Dewey who becomes Manning’s helper and chronicles the events as investigations into these murders goes from New York to Israel and moves into an excavation site in the desert.

The book is a quick read, interesting enough to finish, but unfortunately, the premise behind it and what happens is more than a little far fetched. I’ve read other Steven Pressfield books and will pick up what he writes, but this one is far from his best.

11/19 Paul Lane

36 RIGHTEOUS MEN by Steven Pressfield. W. W. Norton & Company (November 5, 2019). ISBN 978-1324002895. 360p.

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The present novel is indicated as Avanti Centrae’s first book in the series about a super-secret division of the CIA. This group is dedicated to investigating possible harmful activities of people or groups with an initiation into the past. Centrae begins the novel in Spain with the description of a battle fought in the year 1057 led by the King of Aragon and against an invading army of Moors. He captures a secret weapon first wrested by the conqueror Alexander the Great.

The scene then shifts into the present time when Maddy Marshall and her twin brother Will Argones  attempt to visit their estranged father who has summoned them. They hear shots when approaching his house and in an ensuing attack both their father and Will’s wife who was with them are killed. Immediately after the battle is over Maddy, Will and a friend that appears on the scene are sent by their father via his will on a mission to find the lost secret weapons of Alexander. In the course of the action, they travel to Spain, then to Israel and then rapidly elsewhere. In Israel, they are forced to undergo testing which involves a contest of kill or be killed in order to continue. Why they submit to this trial and other dangerous tests is beyond me but does form part of the novel’s plot.

We learn that the hiding of the secret weapon the Spanish royal family of Ferdinand and Isabel were involved and many of their descendants were killed in the search for the secret weapon. Employing a good deal of literary license that certainly stretches the imagination Maddy, Will and their friend move forward in the search. The novel is a fast read though not by any means an all-nighter. It is something to pick up for the idea postulated and enjoyed on that basis.

11/19 Paul Lane

VAN OPS: THE LOST POWER by Avanti Centrae. Black Opal Books (November 9, 2019). ISBN 978-1644371596. 376p.

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Marked for Retribution series, Book 3

This is the third book featuring private detective Kate Weller and appears in its ending as if the author will turn to other material for her next novel.

Kate is working for the Nate Price Investigations team but has found the man she wants to marry, and the book opens as she travels to his home to meet his family. At the same time, the Investigators have been invited to spend a restful week on a private island owned by Julian Frazier, a friend of one of the agency’s wealthy clients. They can bring their significant others with them, and of course, Kate has already done so. Unfortunately, a restaurant owned by Eric’s family (her boyfriend) has a key employee who becomes injured, and Eric, with the help of Kate, has decided to wait the few days until the employee returns and then joins Nate Price’s team on the private island.

The Price group has arrived on the island and after a welcome, has been told by Julian that he would like them to play a game of solving a mystery. When they agree, they are advised that Julian’s wife was murdered several years earlier, with the murderer known but not convicted due to key evidence being disallowed by the court. Julian would like the group to find out who it was that paid for his wife’s murder and also the cover-up later. To help out he has paid very well for the individuals that were involved in the original investigation to come to the island and allow themselves to be interviewed by the Price group.

This very well done novel follows the game and investigations that Price’s group is involved with. In spicing up the book, the writing includes the reactions of everyone to the presence of a psychopath who intends to really involve all in the murders of four of those present. Kate and Eric do arrive several days after the others have gone to the island and are involved in a very satisfying ending. Questions are who are the psychopaths and what really happened to Julian’s wife causing her death.

11/19 Paul Lane

ISLAND OF LAST RESORTS by Mary Ellis. Severn House Publishers; First World Publication edition (November 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0727889348. 224p.

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