30 Days Hath Revenge by C. Kevin Thompson

30 Days Hath Revenge

Book 1 of the Blake Meyer Thriller Series!

A Clandestine Mission. A Cryptic Message. A Chaste Promise.

Blake Meyers dreamed of a peaceful end to a dutiful career with the FBI. Married now, his life was taking him in a new direction--a desk job. He would be an analyst. Ride it out until retirement. Be safe so he could enjoy family life.

But when a notable member of the IRA is murdered in his London flat, Blake's secretive past propels him into the middle of an international scheme so twisted and sadistic, it will take everything Blake possesses--all of it--to save the United States from a diabolical terrorist attack.

The Guru's Review: 

Reading this novel gave me yet another confirmation that just because this is a debut novel it does not have to be a dud or you feel the author needs to put in more hard yards before they publish next. 

I was immediately taken in by this novel. Not just with the plot and charactersation but with the writing. Thompson writes very well. It is immediately evident. This is one very strong asset to him as an author. His command of the English language and how he constructs it for this novel forms one very solid foundation upon which the plot, pace and charactersiation rest. It did not surprise me to discover that Thompson has won Awards for his writing, the first edition of this novel was a Silver Medalist in the Readers' Favorite 2013 Book of the Year Awards in the Christian Fiction category. 

The pace in this setting is frenetic. It never lets up. It is this that keeps you coming back for more. In some novels of this genre and calibre, it can end up with the characters being in a plot driven storyline and the main character being taken for a ride with the fast paceness of the plot. Here, the reader can feel that everything is happening to the main character or characters and they have no or not much control over what is happening to them. In this novel, Thompson has avoided this pitfall. It is very much a character driven plot. This lends itself very well to Blake being able to use his extensive experience and knowledge of his field to find out answers to the terrorist threat to his present and that of the world's population.

Just as Thompson has an excellent, competent command of the English language, the same degree of expertise can be said for the construction of this novel, the characters but especially the plot. There are no thin areas of plotlines, characterisation or pace. There is depth to all these aspects. Blake is one self-made man who knows who he is and what makes himself tick. He is extremely relational and even before the events and characters of his past start to influence him, Thompson has developed him enough to have the reader endeared to him and on his side. This bides well when the events of his past threaten him and the rest of the world. You are already on his side and rooting for him. Doing it this way establishes his credibility as a character and gives the reader the confidence to continue to read without any doubt of Thompson's development of Blake. 

Another aspect of Thompon's characterisation is the layered construction of the plot and how this affects Blake. The terrorist plot that exists in Blake's past that is now affecting his present also adds layers to the professional and personal life of Blake and his family. It sets the stage for him to show how versatile and resourceful an agent he is, in simultaneously fulfilling the responsibilities his profession as an Agent and protecting his family. 

I can see why Thompson is successful with this novel. He as researched it well and applied it effectively. Clues to this success can be found from his Amazon bio: 

He is a huge fan of the TV series "24," "The Blacklist," "Blue Bloods," "Designated Survivor," and "Criminal Minds." He loves anything to do with Star Trek, is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, and reads lots of books.

Apart from Blake, I have a soft spot for Harrison Kelly. I really enjoyed this character. It is an asset for an author's ability to successfully depict the nationality of the character. While reading the sections involving Kelly and Blake, I felt very much at home with his mannerisms and language as Thompson has depicted Kelly as pretty much how us Australians speak and behave. 

I also enjoyed Agent Julee Scarfano. She seems a more than capable operative and is very good as being a go-between for Blake and Connell when Blake needs to bypass the restrictive rules and regulations of the FBI in order to go rogue. I hope that Thompson includes Julee in the remaining 5 novels in this series. The almost love-hate relationship between Connell and Blake adds another layer of suspense that I enjoyed. This seems to be a characteristic of novels in this military, special ops genre. I never get sick of the main character thwarting and bypassing rules and regulations to get things done in dire circumstances of a mission when rules and regulations would restrict its outcomes. Connell seems to waver between sticking to the confines of the FBI operation procedures and giving Blake what he needs within this. He fails miserably and nearly loses Blakes respect for him or at least has it damaged. 

This novel is described by Thompson and others as a Christian thriller due to its exclusion of sex, profanity and other gore. I would challenge this. These exclusions make this a clean read and that does not make it Christian. Some secular authors write clean reads with these exclusions and their novels are far from being Christian. 

What makes this a Christian thriller is the inclusion of spirituality based on Biblical themes and doctrines and who God is. There is only a little of this in this novel. I felt that if it was omitted, it would not have any great impact on the overall plot or even on Blake to whom it was directed. Consequently, this omission would have made it a clean read and indistinguishable from a secular novel. However, with this inclusion, Thompson gets Blake thinking about the meaning of life (cliche not intended!), the question of evil and its effects on the human race and where he all fits into this. There was potential there for Thompson to develop this further and as a result, develop the character of Harrison who is the sole Christian character and who provides the spiritual/ biblical input to Blake. I hope that this is included more and developed further in the sequel, Triple Time, and the remaining books 3-6 that are to come over the next few years. 

Maybe I expected more of these Biblical themes and spirituality due to the fact that Thompson is an ordained minister. I have found from reading other novels from Ministers/Pastors they have no problem including Biblical themes of redemption, salvation, evil, death, spiritual warfare, sexuality and other themes concerning the ills of this world (suffering, addictions, domestic violence, to name a few) in greater detail than what Thompson has, without it being preachy or "fire and brimstone" type narrative. 

The above is the only shortcoming I see in this novel. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and the writing ability of this author. I am glad to have approached him to write a review and be part of his launch party for this series. 

Strongly Recommended. 4/5 Stars.

World Building 5/5

Characters 5/5 

Spiritual Level 3/5 

Story 5/5 

Enemy Spiritual Level 0/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

To buy or read a preview of 30 Days of Revenge, click on the BUY/PREVIEW icons below:

Assault on Saint Agnes by Joseph Courtemanche

Assault on Saint Agnes

When terrorists assault Saint Agnes Chruch in St. Paul, Minnesota, they expect to find a congregation of lambs: they get Bobby Krutz, instead. An unrepentant Cold Warrior, Kurtz destroys the terror cell with violent finality. 

Against his will, Kurtz is pulled back into the life he left behind decades before. He reluctantly picks up the burden of hunting the terrorists in our midst. He risks his life, and his marriage, in a single-minded pursuit of victory over evil.

Working with a shadowy government agency, Kurtz uses all of his skills and experience to fold a plan that would plunge the Twin Cities back into the Stone Age. The final battle rages across the plains during a Christmas Eve blizzard in a story that will leave the reader pleading for more of Kurtz and his team of experts. 

Release date: April 18th, 2016 from Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but an autographed copy is available now at a reduced price from the author's website: Commotion In The Pews

The Guru's Review: 

I was asked by the author to review this novel before its release date and was provided a free electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. 

I really enjoyed this story. For a debut author, Courtemanche writes well and has a solidly constructed novel. I should not be surprised as the author lists his writing background and "training" in his bio, 

Assault on Saint Agnes is the recipient of the Genesis Award for best-unpublished work in 2015. That was awarded by the American Christian Fiction Writers. Assault on Saint Agnes has also finished second in the Athanatos Ministries Christian Novel Contest, and was a finalist in Operation First Novel. All three contests are highly regarded in the industry. 

Quite an impressive writing resume! This novel is not overly as fast paced as novels of similar genre, but the pace is fast enough to keep you coming back for more. This author definitely knows his subject matter and the novel is built upon the experience the author's career, as described by himself,

.......former Police Officer and Middle East/North Africa analyst....a distinguished veteran of the Naval Security Group of the United States Navy, and an Arabic Linguist with training at the University of Minnesota and the Defense Language Institute (Honors Graduate) .......holds several military awards, including two flag letters of commendation for his work in providing real-time intelligence support to commanders in the field. His experience provides the background that’s crucial to his writing in the thriller genre. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and holds degrees from two other colleges as well. 

Seeing this novel revolves around Bobby Kurtz, it pays that Courtemanche has depicted him very relatable and one who the reader becomes endeared to. Somehow, I feel that Bobby is based somewhat on the author seeing that this main protagonist is depicted in an environment based on the author's past career. I can see nothing wrong with this and it definitely adds depth, and character to this "character"!

Courtemanche also portrays well the interpersonal relationships between Bobby's fellow agents and the hierarchy of this organization including their procedures and protocols. Again his past experience shines here and adds to the realistic feel of this novel including any action, suspense and intrigue. It sure does draw you in! This author really shines in creating the special ops plot and genre and he translates this past experience and expertise brilliantly. 

Courtemanche's research also extends to the terrorist plot line including the Muslim ideology and mindset for revenge, death, and destruction as part of following the Koran and its directives towards the American infidels. This is depicted well and shows the hatred towards the American people. I have read enough of these types of novels to know that how Courtemanche has depicted this is close to reality.

I am not a great fan of the romance genre either secular or Christian based, but when romance is included as part of the plot or a subplot, I do enjoy it, especially when it is written by a male author and a Christian one at that. I loved the romance created by Courtemanche between Bobby and his wife Grace, it shines of what Christian married love should be and needs to be. I look forward to more romance from this author as I feel he does this well and shows great potential for developing this further in future novels.

This is one very clean read, no sex or sexual innuendo, swearing, but there is violence and I feel in a novel like this you cannot get away with leaving this out, this is the reality of this type of plot as it does reflect real life. There are themes of redemption, sacrifice and relying on God but I would have preferred these to have been more obvious and developed as to their Christian/biblical source and the main character showing more of his faith in the events of this novel. There is great opportunity for the Christian worldview to be expressed in more detail here and it would have enhanced this novel better and taken it away from it being viewed as a clean read. As it is, it does not stand out as obvious Christian fiction until you get to the end of the novel. 

Here, what I am talking about is evident and very obvious in this scene that is very Christian/biblical orientated and presents the Gospel beautifully, and Courtemanche's love of his God shines through here. It shows the power of the Cross in changing a heart of hate and evil indoctrination towards God and the power of His might and Spirit to bring him into a right relationship with God, taking him from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light. Very powerful and I don't see this as preachy or as bible bashing the reader. It fits in very well with the plot. 

This scene ends this novel really well and I can see the potential for Courtemanche to include more of these redemptive and spirit filled elements throughout the plot of his future novels. I feel that Christian fiction needs to stand out as such without bible bashing, preaching and turning readers away from the Gospel but rather pointing them towards this Gospel and its author. I can see that Courtemanche has great potential to do this in future novels.

I am very much looking forward to future novels from this very promising and talented author. 

Strongly Recommended

World building 4/5

Characters 4/5

Story 4/5

Spiritual level 3/5

Spiritual Enemy Level N/A

Average Rating: 4/5

The Diaries of Pontius Pilate by Joseph Max Lewis

Description: 

The Diaries of Pontius Pilate opens when a member of an archeological team is murdered along the shores of the Dead Sea. We learn that the murderer and victim are both spies, observing the expedition and grappling with the fact that the team has just discovered some controversial artifacts. 

In fact, Archeologist Kevin Elliot and his Deputy, Jill Gates have unearthed twenty copper scrolls etched with the results of Pontius Pilate’s year long criminal investigation into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They manage to open one scroll far enough to take a series of digital photographs of the writings and email them to a Professor of Ancient Latin for translation. Unaware of the scrolls content, Kevin and Jill are unprepared when they’re caught between an ancient conspiracy of global power that’s determined to destroy the scrolls along with everyone connected to them, and a small, fledgling volunteer group, the only force on earth that stands between Kevin, Jill and certain death.

 

 Review:

A Secret Society, a touch of Indiana Jones, a Sacred Artifact, Special Ops team. The search for the Truth

Briliant debut novel by Joseph Max Lewis.

A mixture of a secret society, special Christian ops team, Christian artefacts proving the divinity of Jesus, two humble archeologists, a cat and mouse game to save/destroy the artifacts and the Gospel message interspersed throughout.Lewis has obviously done his research into the background of how a special ops works and this is well done here. The idea of having a special ops team who are Christian is a new concept for Christian fiction. A few other authors have done this, but mainly that the main character is a Christian in a conventional ops team. In Lewis's novel, the ops team are all Christian and their motive for existing is to take a stand for Christ and defending who He is and what Christianity stands for, hence they are in their element in rescuing the two main characters, who despite not being Christian, have the artifacts that prove the Divinity of Christ.

Lewis has included a conversion account of one of the main characters. This is great as a witness to those reading this novel who don't have a relationship with Jesus, but I found it happened just a little too fast and easy after the events immediately preceding the character accepting Jesus. I would have preferred the author to have outlined the need for accepting Jesus in a bit more detail showing how the events this character has been through has highlighted their need for Christ. However this was not a distraction or weakness in the plot or pace of the novel.
 
I loved the account of Pontius Pilate's journey to find the truth behind Jesus' death and resurrection. This was a brilliant piece of writing and very touching. It definitely added credibility to the whole plot and the reason why the enemy special ops are so determined to find and destroy at all costs the copper scrolls containing the diaries of Pontius Pilate and his journey to the Truth.There definitely has to be a sequel and I understand from the author this is in the works!! Cannot wait for this.
 
You cannot put this down. There is action, adventure, suspense, and the plot flows at a pace that keeps it hard to put down and when you do, you come back for more.Lewis has the qualities of a talented writer and a love for God to continue with Christian fiction and being a vessel for God to use this media to show who He is and that He truly does desire to draw all men unto Himself through what He has achieved on the Cross for all mankind.This is a very worthy read and highly recommended. An author to follow and support.
 
Highly Recommend

My Rating:

One Day in Budapest, An Arkane Thriller Novella By Joanna Penn

 My rating : 


I read this on September 13th, 2013


www.thecreativepenn.com


Description: 

A relic, stolen from the heart of an ancient city.
An echo of nationalist violence not seen since the dark days of the Second World War. Budapest, Hungary. When a priest is murdered at the Basilica of St Stephen and the Holy Right relic is stolen, the ultra-nationalist Eröszak party calls for retribution and anti-Semitic violence erupts in the city. 

Dr Morgan Sierra, psychologist and ARKANE agent, finds herself trapped inside the synagogue with Zoltan Fischer, a Hungarian Jewish security advisor. As the terrorism escalates, Morgan and Zoltan must race against time to find the Holy Right and expose the conspiracy, before blood is spilled again on the streets of Budapest.

One Day In Budapest is a chilling view of a possible future as Eastern Europe embraces right-wing nationalism. A conspiracy thriller for fans of Daniel Silva, where religion and politics intersect.

If you love a fast-paced thriller, download a sample or buy One Day In Budapest now.

 

Review: 

Typical style of Joanna Penn and in style of the ARKANE Thriller series. A well researched history of Budapest, the effects of WWII and the country's Jewsh history and its legends and myth all wound together in a fast paced novella outlining one day's adventure for Morgan Sierra.

This ending lays a clue to the next ARKANE thriller, and by the sounds of it, this next one is going to be a good one!!