Mortal Threat, by A.J. Tata

First of all I want to the Publisher and Net Galley for making a review copy of this book available to me at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

Mortal threat is an entertaining novel that delves into today's world and the crisis that we face with Ebola, HIV and ISIS. It also shows the problem that can occur when an elected official (in this case the President of the United States) starts to think to highly of himself and takes on the belief that he is the "savior" of the world. But it's not just the U.S. President it is also two men who head up two of the largest Media Outlets in the World. When men start to play God bad things happen.

The gist of the story is that the CIA is funding research to find the cure for Ebola and HIV. What really happens is that the cure is found but that is tied back to the "Tree of Life" from the Garden of Eden and the power of God to bring aboutu healing.

So the book is going to have strong religious overtones. It will take you through a guided course of discovering where the Garden of Eden truly was and whether it still exists today and whether the "Tree of Life" is still there and functioning.

I enjoyed the book very much, so why only three stars? Well I thought the writer needs to develop his writing skill a bit more. For me there were several streams of plot that are never truly resolved in the book. Yes, you can leave a cliff hanger, which is great, but there still needs to be some resolution to certain parts of the story.

Because these internal plots aren't resolved you are left feeling that you didn't get the full story.

Will there be a sequel, I certainly hope so, if for no other reason than to answer the multitude of questions that I have.

BUT, this is an exciting read.

Enjoy!

Full Tilt, by Rick Mofina

A journalist is on a personal crusade to find her long lost sister. Authorities tell her that her sister died in a cold river but Kate knows in her heart that she is still alive. Then her sisters necklace that is the twin to hers is found in a barn where a fire took two lives and leaves a grizzly trail of other bodies. A serial killer is on the loose and has Kate's sister been one of his early victims or is she still alive after 15 years of being missing?'

Themes that are addressed in the book are grieving, loyalty, hope, fear and crippling doubt that sometimes weaves itself into the issues. Each theme is subtlety woven through the story in the lives of many of the characters. A further theme is the mindset and background of a serial killer, how he becomes one, what drives him, etc.

The final theme is that a journalist is as good as any detective or FBI agent when they are driven by a story and truly want to get to the truth that underlies everything. Kate does her work well and eventually the FBI, the police, and State Troopers come to understand how good she is at fact checking a story and uncovering the truth.

Kate's work will help lead them to the killer. It will help her find out the truth about her sisters disappearance. It will also make her a target of the killer as he is driven to make mistakes and wants Kate to pay for that.

The story is well conceived, it is well written and it will match up with any other mystery, police thriller, journalist thriller that you have ever read.

Enjoy!

The Last Sicarius, by Van R. Mayhall, Jr.

I want to thank iUniverse and Net Galley for making a review copy of this novel available to me for free in exchange for a review.

In this second novel regarding the Apostle Judas, Van Mayhall has extended his thriller to push the reader to the edge of their seat and beyond. In the first book, Judas the Apostle, we found Dr. Cloe Lejeune, an ancient languages professor, drawn into a mystery surrounding an ancient jar her father had found in WWII when he fell into a cave. This ancient jar became a sought after item when it was revealed that it could contain The Judas Gospel, supposedly written by Judas about his three years with Christ.

The last novel ended in the death of the Kolecktor who was the evil person pursuing Cloe and her friends and the Judas Jar. But with him dead it seems that all is well. That is until the Vatican comes back to Dr. Lejeune and informs her that they want to find the cave and the other jars. Then it turns out that the Kolecktor's servant and estranged son have taken over the search or the jars. They are trying to put an end to the Sicarius who are the ancient group of Jews who are protecting the jars.

This novel draws on history and draws also on the institute of the Vatican to bring about a well documented work that is so close to actual truth that it provides the reader with a work that they will be drawn into and won't be able to put down.

Will Dr. Cloe Lejeune, her son and the Catholic Priests be able to thwart the new Karik and his thugs while protecting the Last Sicarius and the Ancient Jars containing many of the works of the early church fathers?

The book is amazing. I will state that there are some things that happen in the book that I found sad, because you come to appreciate the different characters so well. But that just helps to make the story very realistic.

Again, this is a classic case of Good verses Evil and the question of who will win?