Category: Branches Books

The Demon Crown – Science, History and Action Collide!

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The Demon Crown byJames Rollins  Sigma Force #13

The Demon Crown is  Book # 13 in the Sigma Force series from James Rollins. I think  it just may be the best book in the series.  I have written before that I love books that not only are good stories, but also teach me something new. Well, James Rollins does that just about as well as anyone writing today.

I don’t believe that there are many authors ,who provide six plus pages of notes to their readers, explaining what aspects of the story are true and what was made up by the author. However, that is just what Rollins does with each book. In The Demon Crown there are both a variety of historical and  scientific facts that form the basis of the story. So I learn a lot during this Sigma Force adventure!

About the Story

In The Demon Crown the Sigma Force must battle an act of eco-terrorism the likes the world has never seen.   While on sabbatical from the Sigma Force Gray Pierce and Seichan are caught up in that attack. An attack by swarm of ancient deadly wasps that may require nuking the Hawaiian Islands to contain the threat!

The swarm is linked to a piece of amber that James Smithson called The Demon Crown. He claimed that what was trapped in that block of Amber, discovered in a salt mine near the Baltic Sea could unleash “the very hordes of hell upon this world”

The Crown is discovered in 1903 by Alexander Graham Bell, when he went to Italy to bring the bones of James Smithson to America. The Crown remained sealed in a hidden room in the Smithsonian until 1944. In that  year the Demon Crown was stolen. And now the thief is unleashing those hordes on the world!!

Now Gray, Seichan and the rest of the Sigma Force have three days to discover who.has unleashed this terror. And to find a cure for the havoc the swarm is causing on the environment and the people of Hawaii and on Seichan.

While Gray and Seichan are tracking the perpetrator in the Pacific, another Sigma crew travels to the Baltic and Poland to track down the source of the Demon Crown. As such  they hope to find a method to combat the deadly wasps and maybe a possible cure. The trip takes them to Tallinn, Estonia then along the ancient Amber Road to Poland and finally the Weiliczka Salt Mines! The question throughout their quests is will they be in time!!

Bottom Line:

As far as I’m concerned The Demon Crown is a five-star book! It has everything I look for in a thriller. An action-packed fast-moving story, with great characters and a barrel load of stuff that was new to me!

I knew very little about James Smithson the Englishman who bequeathed his scientific collection to the US. That inheritance formed the foundation of the Smithsonian Institute.

Additionally the scientific information about the wasps was at times over my head but was utterly fascinating. And the thoughts of containing an environmental attack like the one portrayed in The Demon Crown was scary!

The Weiliczka Salt Mines

Finally, the information about Amber and the Weiliczka Salt Mines was also extremely interesting. Since I knew nothing about the history of salt mining in Poland. So I obviously didn’t know anything about the Cathedrals, rooms and various carvings I  the subterranean labyrinth of the mine. Here is a picture of the show piece of the mine the Chapel of St. Kinga all carved out of salt! You can read more about the mine at Wikipedia and at the web-page for the mine.

 

Anyway The Demon Crown is great so check it out! As for me, I’m returning to the town of Promise Falls , New York  via Linwood Barclay’s latest Parting Shot

 

 

Don’t Let Go Another Winner from Harlan Coben

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Since I reached my 60 book goal earlier in the month, I have finished two addition books. The first book I finished was Don’t Let Go. The latest thriller from Harlan Coben. The second was Visitation Street by Ivy Pachoda. Both books were really good reads. My take on Don’t Let Go follows:

About Don’t Let Go 

Don’t Let Go is another fast-paced thriller from Coben. In this episode New Jersey Detective Napoleon “Nap” Dumas….

….hasn’t been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks—and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke up with him and disappeared without explanation. For fifteen years, Nap has been searching, both for Maura and for the real reason behind his brother’s death. And now, it looks as though he may finally find what he’s been looking for.

The mysterious  Nike missile base located in Nap’s hometown is . Nap discovers that his brother Leo, along with Maura and several others were members of the Conspiracy Club in high school.

The Nike base was the obsession of the Conspiracy Club. The base became an agricultural research center, when the military discontinued its use. However, The club didn’t think that was the case. And they continued to observe it. Now fifteen years after the night that Leo and Diane died, the other members of the club are being killed! Did the military kill Leo and Diane? And why are they killing again after fifteen years?

Thoughts About Don’t Let Go

Once again Harlan Coben creates a great paging turning thriller about a man on a quest. Both the character and the storyline of Don’t Let Go are terrific.  As Nap tries find Maura the love of his life, but also to unearth the truth about his brother’s death. Goodreads writes this about the book…

With unmatched suspense and emotional insight, Harlan Coben explores the big secrets and little lies that can destroy a relationship, a family, and even a town in this powerful new thriller. Read More

I always enjoy both Coben’s stand alone thrillers, as well as, his Myron Bolitar series. (Myron does make a question appearance in Don’t Let Go) And as a native New Jerseyian I love the setting. I do wish though that his characters would visit South Jersey!

I also enjoy the use of the Nike base in the story. As a baby boomer I can relate to the air raid drills where we hid under our desks! I also know where there is at least one Nike base here in Burlington County, NJ.

Author’s Website
Wikipedia
Goodreads
Amazon

Harlan Coben

About Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben (born 1962) is a renowned #1 New York Times bestselling American author known for fast-paced thrillers and mysteries characterized by multiple twists, domestic secrets, and long-buried past events resurfacing

John Verdon -Shut Your Eyes Tight – (Dave Gurney #2)

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Shut Your Eyes Tight - John Verdon

Shut Your Eyes Tight – John Verdon

Originally posted on March 14, 2012. Updated October 2025 with new links, images, and notes.

So yesterday I did it. I reached what I thought was an unreachable goal. When I finished Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon, I reached my goal of reading 60 books in 2017!

Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon is the second book in his Dave Guerney series. The main character in the book, Dave  Guerney, is a retired New York City homicide detective. He is a gifted detective and is the most decorated detective in NYPD history.

 An intriguing Case Comes to Dave

Fellow NYPD detective Jack Hardwick brings the case that forms the plot for Shut Your Eyes Tight  to Dave. The case is four months old case and involves the beheading of a bride on her wedding day. Jack brings Dave the case because he thinks the police are moving in the wrong direction. And he believes the Dave the Super Detective can use his skills to solve the case.

Initially, the case seems  to be a pretty open and shut. The new bride, of a noted psychologist, was the victim.   While the killer appears to be a Mexican who came to work for the psychologist as a gardener and rose to the position of assistant to said psychologist. The Mexican was the last person to see the bride alive and he has now vanished!

But after for months the police are no closer to finding the killer, than the day of the murder. Hardwock believes there is much more to the case than  do the two officers who are heading the investigation. He brought the case to Guerney for that reason . He believes that the great detective Guerney can solve the mystery.

Dave thinks the case is intriguing. His wife Madeleine sees it as a diruption of their new idyllic life.  Despite Madeleine‘s objections, Dave decides to help the victim’s mother and investigate for two weeks. Then report what he found to the mother and the police.

Dave Finds Out the Case IS like an Onion

When Jack Hartwicks brings  the  case to Dave, he says the case was like an onion. The removal of each layer reveals something new. And that’s just what Dave’s investigating reveals.

As Dave investigates his discoveries  turn the simple slam dunk case into the search for a serial killer! The question then becomes can he ever get to the center of the onion,  before he or his wife are the necat victims!

Bottom Line

I am now a fan of Dave Gurney the character and John Versin the writer. I look forward to moving onto book # 3 Let the Devil Sleep.  In fact I just checked the e-book editon out of my library! 

Anyway I enjoy the characters that Verson has created,  both Dave and Madeleine and the surrounding cast. I also enjoy the plots that Verdon has created.  The storyline in Shut Your Eyes Tight was like an onion and each new discovery gave the case a new look until the final pages!

Goodreads Rating. 3.97  My Rating 4.0. So Check it Out

Update Note : Since this post was written in 2012 John Verson has written six more Dave Gurney books. I have read one of them book 1 # 3 Let the Devil Sleep . I think it’s time to pickup this series again! Book #4 Peter Pan Must Die is in my Kindle Library!

Links

Author’s Website
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Amazon

John Verdon

John P. Verdon is an American novelist. In 2010, Crown/Random House published his first mystery thriller, Think of a Number, the debut novel in the Dave Gurney detective series. Wikipedia

Born: 1942 (age 83 years), The Bronx, New York, NY

Education: Fordham University, Regis High School

Assassin’s Code – Ward Larsen – Slaton v. Terrorists – in France

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Assassin’s Code -Ward Larsen (David Slaton #4)

The other day Assassin’s Code by Ward Larsen became the 59th book I have read this year. That leaves only one more book to read before the end of the year to reach my goal of 60 books read!  It is also the third David Slaton novel I have read this year. Previously, I read Assassin’s Game and Assassin’s Silence in February and March respectively. All three have been terrific reads.

About David Slaton and Assassin’s Code

David Slaton is a retired kidon or an assassin. He worked for Mossad. After his last to adventures David along with his wife Catherine and their son Davy was living on a catamaran in the islands off of the Philippines.

One day his wife received a request for David to search for her missing husband. He had left on a fishing trip and not returned home.  It had been reported that his ship had been seen tied to the abandoned ship, Esperanza When he finds and boards the Esperanza, he encounters four men who have apprently been sent to kill him.

Slatin escapes leaving the men wounded or dead. He takes with him a memory stick with the name Slaton written on the side. Among the files on the memory stick is a picture of a man. It is the terrorist Ali Samir, who Slaton had assassinated  fifteen years earlier!

Meanwhile in France terrorists have struck again a bomb has rocked Grenoble. It has set France’s counterterrorist unit into action. The investigation into the bombing is led  by rising-star Zavier Baland. It is Baland who bears an uncanny resemblance to the terrorist Slaton had executed.

Hold on, could it be a terrorist long thought dead is now one step away from heading France’s  DGSI? More importantly what can David Slaton do to stop him?

My Thoughts about David Slaton and Assassin’s Code 

In David Slaton Ward Larsen has created one terrific character. David is an extraordinary assassin.  But he is also a husband and father and he  knows his work puts his family in danger. (See Assassin’s Silence) At least twice he has retired and gone off the grid to keep them safe. However, his sense of duty keeps drawing him back into service.

In Assassin’s Code that duty is to prevent a terrorist from ascending to the top of France’s counterterrorist unit.

Ward Larsen has created a fine character in David Slaton. In Assassin’s Code, he has also created two great characters: Zavier Baland and the assassin turned terrorist Malika.

Assassin’s Code plot twists and turns with the final answers to a myriad of questions are not revealed until the final pages.

When reading Assassin’s Code the reader can’t help but relate the actions and attack’s in the book to the current situation in France and Syria.

Bottom line :

Great read! So check it out! And also check out Assassin’s Silence and Assassin’s Game

Goodreads Rating: 4.38.    My Rating 4.5.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Ward Larsen

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Winterlong – Mason Cross (Carter Blake # 3)

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A Wild Ride as Winterlong tries to Eliminate Carter Blake

Winterlong is the third installment of Mason Cross’s Carter Blake series. So after chasing down two serial killers who were part of Winterlong with the mysterious Mr Blake in this book Blake is targeted for elimination  by Winterlong.

Carter Blake left Winterlong five years prior to the start of this tale. His deal with the then Director of the organization was – you leave me alone and I won’t tell what your operatives really do!  For five years that deal held but now there’s a new director and she wants to tie up any loose ends. Carter Blake is a loose end!

The hunt truly begins when the other Winterlong operative who is operating under the same deal as Blake is executed! Once Blake is confronted with the news of this execution he knows he is going to have a fight on his hands and he needs that information he has on Winterlong as a chip to bargain for his life. His only hope is to get that intell before Winterlong gets it.

Thoughts on Winterlong

I thought  The Killing Season was a very good debut novel. I liked book two The Samaritan a little  better. Finally after many weeks of sitting on my library books to  be read shelf I got to Winterlong. It was worth the wait. I believe that this is the best Carter Blake book yet. And I am not alone here are the ratings for the book at Goodreads The Killing Season (Book 1) 3.90, The Samaritan (Book 2) 3.93, Winterlong (Book 3) 4.27!

One of the aspects of a series book that I always think about is can the book be enjoyed without reading the other books. The answer is probably yes, But I do believe that you really need to read the first two books before diving into Winterlong. Books 1 and 2 in the series established several things. First, Blake is good at what he does (finds people who don’t want to be found). And secondly, some Winterlong operatives enjoyed the killing part of their job just a little too much.

The one thing that was not revealed in the first two books was what fully went on in Winterlong and why did Blake leave  The answers are revealed in Winterlong and they’re scary!

Bottom Line   Rating 4.5/5

This year has been a good year for me and thrillers. Among the 37 books that I have read this year I have met some great new characters. Cross’s Carter Blake is one of my favorites. Other characters who I discovered this year are Ward Larsen’s David Slaton and Chris Holm’s Michael Kendricks

Winterlong is presented in a variety of ways. First Carter Blake’s current trials are told in the first person. While the events that led him to leave Winterlong are told in third person flashbacks. The pace of the story is rapid, As such, the reader wants to keep reading page after page. So Check it out!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Mason Cross

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The Killing Season a Fine First Visit to the World of Carter Blake!

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📚 Series Spotlight: Carter Blake #1 – The Killing Season by Mason Cross

The Killing Season

Only five books were released in this series between 2014 and 2018, but I read them all—and they were really good. Here’s a look back at the one that kicked it off: The Killing Season, the debut novel by Mason Cross.

📖 About the Book

Carter Blake is not his real name. He used to work for a top-secret government unit known as Winterlong, but now he’s a man for hire, specializing in finding people who don’t want to be found. He’s eerily good at it—able to anticipate a target’s next move like a chess master.

In The Killing Season, Blake is hired to track Caleb Wardell, aka “The Chicago Sniper,” who escapes from death row just two weeks before his scheduled execution. The FBI brings Blake in to assist, and paired with Special Agent Elaine Banner, he begins a deadly cross-country pursuit.

The tension is high, the pacing fast, and the stakes feel real.

👤 About the Author

Mason Cross (born 1979, Glasgow) studied English at the University of Stirling and has worked as a tax officer, project manager, and even a pizza delivery driver. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Scribble, and First Edition. The Killing Season was his first novel, and it made quite a splash:

Longlisted for the 2015 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

🔍 Thoughts on The Killing Season

I really enjoyed this one. It was well-paced, suspenseful, and packed with a few great surprises.

I did think the prior connection between Blake and Wardell felt a bit forced—but it worked for the plot. The idea that Blake could consistently outmaneuver the FBI stretched believability a little, but hey—that’s why he’s the guy they call, right?

There’s a deliberate mystique around Blake; we don’t learn much about him, but that fits the “lone wolf” archetype. I immediately picked up the second book, The Samaritan, and can confirm it also starts strong.

Rating: 4/5 – Highly Recommended for fans of Gregg Hurwitz’s Orphan X or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher.

🗣️ What Others Say

“Pulse-pounding. Mason Cross launches into The Killing Season with no-holds barred… one of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher.” – Lisa Gardner

“Mason Cross has created an enigmatic character in Carter Blake… taut, intelligent writing that oozes suspense. A highly impressive debut.” – Matt Hilton

“An American setting, universal themes, top-class writing, Scottish author—it’s a recipe that makes a deadly impact.” – Daily Record

🔗 Further Exploration

Stay tuned—I’ll be revisiting the rest of the series soon!

The Seventh Plague – James Rollins

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The Seventh Plague - James Rollins

Originally Posted July 2017 Revised and Updated April 2026

I do believe that I say this every time I read a new novel by James Rollins. I don’t know why I put off reading James Rollins books! His latest The Seventh Plague has been sitting on my “to be read” pile of library books for more than a month! Mistake! I finished it last night and it was great!

Winning the Battle- Books vs. Other Media

After finishing Charlie Donlea’s last book The Girl Who Was Taken I was reading his biography at his website. In it he writes about what makes a book good enough to win the battle between books and other media alternatives….

….And the answer is

The book has to call me back to it. If a story makes me think about it after I’ve put it down, if it makes me wonder what will happen next, if it makes me ponder where the characters are going and what is in store for them—then, when I’m free and able to spend leisure time on entertainment, hands down I’m reaching for that book before anything else.

 

Well, The Seventh Plague certainly kept calling me back! Typically, as I read a book I read to the end of a chapter and then go do something else. It seemed that every time I got to the end of a chapter in The Seventh P:lague, bam, something happened! And that something made it very hard to put the book down! It always left me feeling, I can’t wait to get back and see what happens!

Book: Edward come back

Me: I’ll be back as soon as possible!!

About The Seventh Plague

So let’s get back to The Seventh Plague. In the book James Rollins  blends a lot of history and science into an action packed compelling story! The story when archaeologist Harold McCabe who has been lost for two years in the desert in Sudan unexpectedly comes stumbling out of the desert. He wants to tell his story. However, he dies before his story is told.  After he dies, the doctors performing the autopsy on his partially mummifid body become ill with a mysterious disease. Soon the  mysterious disease starts to quickly spreads through Cairo.

More people become ill, after McCabe’s body is returned to Britain. A British doctor becomes concerned and calls her friend, Sigma Force director Painter Crowe. She is concerned because the archaeologist Harold McCabe had been searching for proof  that ten plagues of Moses are more than a fable..He believes that they really happened  And as the pandemic spreads the Doctor begins to believe that they may have happened So  the question becomes… can they happen again? The Sigma Forces’ assignment find out what’s happening an stop it. The only problem is that someone may not want them to stop it!!

In the novel, Rollins mixes the lives of  Doctors Stanley and Livingstone, Mark Twain,and Nicholas Tesla(?)  with the plagues of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt ! Oh, there’s even something about elephants thrown into the mix!

If you like action adventure, mixed with history and science coupled with compelling characters look no further  than the Sigma Force novels of James Rollins! Those books don’t only call you back to them. You also learn something from them. Is there anyone who may be more interesting than Nicholas Tesla?  In addition, the members of the Sigma Force and even the villains are great characters who face challenges on a global scale. But they also have lives outside of their work, so they also face the personal challenges of everyday life!

Finally, you can read most of the Rollins novels separately.  But like any series it’s always more fun knowing what has happened to the characters in their prior adventures. But don’t let that stop you. Read The Seventh Plague and then the rest of the books will call you to them

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James Rollins

About James Rollins

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers. His writing has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than 20 million books. The New York Times says, “Rollins is what you might wind up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together.” NPR calls his work, “Adventurous and enormously engrossing.”

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Can Steve Hamilton’s Nick Mason Find His Exit Strategy?

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Exist Strategy – Steve Hamilton  (Nick Mason #2)

 

Exit Strategy is the second. book in the Nick Mason series from author Steve Hamilton. The Second Life of Nick Mason  was the first book in the series and it introduced readers to a different kind of hero. Nick Mason was a prisoner serving 25 years as the result of a robbery gone wrong. While in prison gang kingpin Darius Cole offers Nick his freedom, but not without a catch. The catch is that Nick has to carry out any mission assigned to him. And if he doesn’t hs ex-wife and nine-year old daughter will pay a heavy price. The missions – kill people who Cole needs dead!!

About the Books of Steve Hamilton

I have been a fan of Steve Hamilton and his character Alex McKnight since I read the second book in that series Winter of the Wolf. I had gone to the library to check out his first McKnight novel A Cold Day in Paradise but it was checked out. So I settled for Winter of the Wolf and I’ m glad I did because I have read every book since!!

From Steve Hamilton’s website:

About: Exit Strategy

Darius Cole has a problem, He has been granted a retrial based upon an Anonymous Juror violation. His problem is that  the two key witnesses that testified against him in his first trial twelve years ago are still around and ready to testify again! They both are in the Federal Witness Protection Program.

Like Darius Cole, Nick Mason has a problem. It is Darius Cole! Nick hates the life he has to lead. All he wants is to get back to living a normal life, particularly with his nine-year old daughter Adriana. That can’t ever happen unless Nick figures out an exit strategy from Darius.

So with that on his mind Nick is given an assignment kill the witness set to testify against Cole. Once gain it pains Nick to be directed to kill. Mason becomes more determined to break free of the clutches of Cole, but can he do it before the next assignment breaks him!

Bottom Line

Exit Strategy is a strong 4 star book for me. The book really has everything you’d want. An engaging main character in Nick Mason.There are also a ton of engaging secondary characters. They include  Mason’ daughter and ex-wife, Cole’s woman Diana who is Mason’s house mate. She is as much a prisoner of Cole’s as Mason is. There is also police detective Frank Sandoval. Sandoval has been on Mason’s trail since the crime that sent Mason to prison.

Then there is also a great storyline. Although I do think that some of Nick’s escapes during his missions were a little hard to believe. But those things are not enough to dampen my enthusiasm for the book. It certainly didn’t slow down the rapid reading pace that the book had me reading!! So Check it Out!!

Book 31 for 2017

Vicious Circle – Joe Pickett vs. the Cates Family Part 2 – C.J.Box (Joe Pickett # 17)

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Vicious Circle - C J Box

 

Earlier in the week, I finished Vicious Circle the latest book In the Joe Pickett series from C.J.Box. It’s the seventeenth book chronicling the adventures of Joe and his family. Like all of the books in the series. It’s a great read.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, Joe Pickett is a game warden living in Saddlestring Wyoming. Joe has a way of being in the wrong place at the wrong time which makes for many exciting adventures and the loss of a lot of government trucks.

Typically, somewhere along the way Joe is assisted by his friend the shadowy Nate Romanowski. Nate operates on the edges of the law and serves to offset Joe’ Dudley Do-Rightish nature.

Joe is also a family man with a wonderful wife, Marybeth and three daughters. Natural daughters Sheridan and Lucy and adopted daughter April, He even has the mother in law from hell – Missy(surname whichever man she is married to now) Missy believes that her daughter unlike herself has married down.

The Beginnings of the Vicious Circle

 

Two books ago in Endangered Joe’s adopted daughter April ran away with Rodeo Champion Dallas Cates. The Cates family is bad news. If something bad happens in the county the first people the police look for are members of the Cates family

So when Joe’s daughter April ran away with Dallas Joe was rightly upset. And when Dallas she is found beaten on by the side of the road and she ends up in the hospital. Dallas becomes the focus of Joe’s wrath. Needless to say things didn’t end well, with Dallas ending up in jail!

Now Dallas has been released from prison and he is back in Saddlestring. And He’s coming for Joe and his family!

Bottom Line

lVicious Circle like most of its predecessors, is  a four star book for me. One of the best aspects of the Joe Pickett series has been the development of the characters over the  course of the series. Joe has been Joe with a few changes through the years.

But all three of his girls have grown from little girls to young women. In addition, wife Marybeth has gone from library volunteer to the library’s head administrator.

Other characters have also changed. Nate Romanowski has gone from an ex-Seal on the run from the law to a free citizen, who may still be willing to operate outside the law. While Joe’s mother in law is now on her sixth?? husband as she continues to marry up and up. So if your willing start at the beginning and enjoy the ride.

At a minimum readmEndangered first. Now you still may be able to read and enjoy Vicious Circle without reading Endangered, but I still think it’s better if you know what happened in the first half of the vicious circle!!

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Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

C J Box author of Storm Watch

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

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If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

William Kent Kreuger
Michael Robotham
Michael Robotham
Peter May
  • William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
  • Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
  • Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

Assassin’s Game by Ward Larsen is a Home Run!

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Assassin’s Game – Ward Larsen (David Slaton #2)

 

I went to the library a couple of times last week to pick up books that I had on hold. I of course had to look at the new books, while I was there. One of the new books, Assassin’s Silence by Ward Larsen caught my eye. I had never seen the book before and was unfamiliar with the author. Anyway I picked it up and read the rave reviews on the back and decided that it was my type of book!.

I discovered, when I got home, that it was only book three in the David Slaton series. I went to my library’s website and discovered that they didn’t have book one in the series but they did have book two Assassin’s Game. One of the copies that they had was an e-book. That was fine with me. It saved me a trip to the library! It  also meant that I could start it quicker! So start it I did and it was a real page-turner for me! I loved the book and finished it in a couple of days!

About Ward Larsen

 

Since the release of The Perfect Assassin in 2004. Ward Larsen has released seven more novels. Two of those Stealing Trinity and The Messenger are stand alone thrillers. Of the remaining five books, three are part of the Jammer Davis and two are part of the David Slaton series. Jammer Davis is an aircraft accident investigator and of course David Slaton is an assassin.

Ward Larsen is  former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Larsen flew over twenty missions in  Operation Desert Storm. He has served as a federal law enforcement officer, airline captain, and is a trained aircraft accident investigator. Larsen is also a three-time winner of the
Florida Book Award. And I better get started on The Perfect Assassin because it is currently being adapted into a major motion picture by Amber Entertainment!

About Assassin’s Game

 

David Slaton is a kidon or assassin for Israel’s Mossad. In Assassin’s Game, Slaton is brought back into the game by Mossad. His target is an Iranian scientist who is one the verge of providing Iran a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile. Mossad has made several attempts to kill the scientist, but they are thwarted each time, by Iranian intelligence. Because they fear there is a traitor supplying Iran information about the hits, a decision to go outside their service is made. Since the world thinks that David Slaton is dead he is the perfect choice for the assignment.

But David is living a quiet life in the Virginia suburbs. He has a new wife and is adjusting nicely to that life. After David’s ex-Mossad boss’s meeting with David’s wife in Sweden, ends in a shoot out and David’s wife’s disappearance, David is forced back into the game, to save his wife and to keep the bomb from Iran. The shoot-out in Stockholm left his boss in a coma and several agents dead. And it put a Swedish police detective on David’s trail!

Bottom Line:

Assassin’s Game was a terrific page-turner! I loved all of the well-drawn characters. David Slaton and Swedish detective Arne Sanderson are both characters that you could root for! The storyline was superb. with some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming!! It kept me guessing right up until the final pages. Bravo Mr. Larsen!

It’s been many years since I read Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal, but I agree with Stephen Coonts who wrote…..

“Ward Larsen has written a stunning thriller, one that ranks right up there with The Day of the Jackal. Frankly, this is the best nail-biting suspense novel I’ve read in years.”

So Check it Out! As for me I can’t wait to get started on some of Larsen’s other books. I already have Assassin’s Silence checked out of the library now. So I can I can start that right away, while I’m searching for those Jammer David books!!

Book 13 for 2017 – Rating: **** (five-stars)

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of Ward Larsen

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