Tag: mystery

Book Review: Exodus ’95 by Kfir Luzzatto

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Entertaining, fast-paced mystery/thriller 

Exodus95About the Book

Publisher’s description: Claire, a young graphic designer, learns a secret that her dying New York neighbour has kept for twenty years: the whereabouts of Moses’ Biblical staff. Claire needs the help of an Israeli engineer and the money of a Russian oligarch to recover the staff before her body betrays her. But first she needs to stay alive in a race with fanatics, who will do anything to keep the staff from coming to light.

Then the LORD said to Moses: Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

Book Facts

  • Format: ebook
  • Publisher: Pine Ten
  • No. of pages: 309
  • Publication date: 1st May 2017
  • Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Find Exodus ’95 on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34399500-exodus-95

To pre-order/purchase Exodus ’95 from Amazon.co.uk click here (link provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme)

My Review (3.5 out of 5)

This was an entertaining read that I would categorise as “train, plane or automobile” – in other words, it would keep you nicely entertained on a long journey without being at all taxing. I guess I would describe it as Raiders of the Lost Ark meets The Da Vinci Code meets The Manchurian Candidate!

Claire and Dan, an Israeli engineer who unknown to him has information about the whereabouts of the fabled Moses staff, team up to retrieve it for a Russian oligarch who has his own nefarious past. That would be too easy, so a rival Egyptian is also after the staff.   The author keeps the action flowing with plenty of twists and turns, cross and double cross and a “Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that” moment about a third of the way in which takes the story in a whole new direction.

Okay, so elements of the story are pretty far-fetched – at least, I hope they are, otherwise recent events between the United States and Russia take on whole new possibilities! – but it’s all competently done and keeps you wanting to read on to the end.

I’d like to thank the author for providing an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

In three words: Entertaining, fast-moving, action

Try something similar…Sanctus by Simon Toyne

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KfirLuzzattoAbout the Author

Kfir Luzzatto is the author of seven novels, several short stories and two non-fiction books. Kfir was born and raised in Italy, and moved to Israel as a teenager. He acquired the love for the English language from his father, a former U.S. soldier, a voracious reader, and a prolific writer. Kfir has a PhD in chemical engineering and works as a patent attorney. He lives in Omer, Israel, with his full-time partner, Esther, their four children, Michal, Lilach, Tamar, and Yonatan, and the dog Elvis. . He is an HWA (Horror Writers Association) and ITW (International Thriller Writers) member.

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Book Review: Sanctuary by T.M. Brown

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SanctuarySecrets and lies abound in this mystery set in small-town America

About the Book

Description (courtesy of Goodreads): Sanctuary introduces newly retired publishing executive, Theo Phillips, and his wife, Liddy, to the time-lost South Georgia town of Shiloh. They leave the shadows of Atlanta and move into a quaint home of notoriety. While making new friends, they discover twenty-first-century challenges threaten the town’s laid-back lifestyle. Theo’s interest in a memorial launches him into investigating tragic events that have left Shiloh unsettled. Theo and Liddy’s retirement dreams take a turn that could unravel both them and the idyllic life they and many others look for in Shiloh.

Purchase links*
Amazon.com
Deeds Publishing

* links provided for convenience, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review (3 out of 5)

The mystery at the heart of the book is well-plotted and has lots of different threads that come together satisfactorily at the conclusion of the book. I liked the depiction of the town of Shiloh that initially seems a bit too perfect but is shown, below the surface, to be dealing with darker issues.

However, I felt the book would have benefited from more aggressive editing and could have been around 100 pages shorter without losing any of the entertainment value of the central mystery narrative.  It seemed to me there was quite a lot unnecessary detail, such as descriptions of what people were wearing, and some scenes that didn’t add much to the forward flow of the story. A number of times conversations, mainly between Theo and other characters, were then relayed to someone else, especially his wife Liddy. Now, I know this would happen in real life but, as readers we already know the information, we don’t need to be told it again!

I did feel the book tended towards overwriting, such as excessive use of adverbs, adjectives and repeated use of certain phrases – there is a lot of grinning, grimacing and scooting. No-one just smiles or grins, they have a ‘polite but wrinkled smile’, ‘a curious smile’ or a ‘polished grin’, a ‘relaxed grin’ or a ‘hopeful grin’. In other words, too much ‘tell’ when ‘show’ would be better.

The author is clearly a person of faith and, although I didn’t personally object to the many religious references, they did seem largely superfluous to the main story. However, if aim of the book is to appeal to the Christian fiction market then I guess this may not be such a problem. In fact, I feel the book explores themes that will resonate with people of all faiths and none – duty, integrity, family, community and the search for truth.

Despite the issues I’ve identified, I did find the story entertaining and I can see the author spent a lot of time making sure the plot threads knotted together at the end. Finally, as a UK reader, I want to thank the author for introducing me to some new phrases – like a “honey-do” list!

I received a review copy courtesy of the author in return for an honest review.

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In three words: Entertaining, Christian, mystery

TMBrownAbout the Author

After 30 years traveling in business, T. M. Brown returned to college and completed his degree with Magna Cum Laude honors. After seminary, he became a teacher, coach and preacher in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida until he retired in 2014. Since then, beyond his ongoing devotional and bible study writings (www.coachbrown.org), he tackled the challenge of authoring Southern Fiction stories. When not writing or leading a bible study, Mr. Brown and his wife of over 40 years enjoy traveling and spoiling their five grandchildren spread between Georgia and Kentucky.

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