Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: John Stafford

A HAND of VENGEANCE (Call of Vengeance Book 4) by John Stafford – Occult Fiction, Espionage Thriller, Metaphysical Fiction

In A Hand of Vengeance, the fourth volume in John Stafford’s Vengeance series, the Darkness stops at nothing to destroy Brady, the boy who can call the angels, and continue its never-ending war against The Holy Mother and Her forces of good on earth.

More of an action novel and less of a polemic than previous novels in the series (A Prayer of Vengeance – Book 1, A Sword of Vengeance – Book 2, and A Song of Vengeance – Book 3) the book begins in 1983 with the intended assassination of Pope John II by four girl assassins trained by Gudren Himmler, daughter of Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler, introduced in the previous book and an actual historical figure. Without intervention, the nefarious plan might just succeed.

The Darkness is just getting started, including the murder of Mother Theresa in India come to fruition. Fans of the series will find the fates of key figures of great interest include Brady’s grandfather, Giovanni, the Vatican’s Father Anthony, and Brady’s young daughter Grace, whose special powers become increasingly crucial to the saga. Equally riveting revelations include how the forces of Good influenced global decisions and influenced cultural icons, including the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” and J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Evil moves on to assassinations.

Among the more chilling developments, a facility in India tortures innocent orphan girls. The workers extract the girls’ blood at the peak of their terror to produce a human blood-based “fountain of youth” elixir consumed by rich and powerful people worldwide. Dining on the flesh of young children is also a featured meal for Darkness followers.

With time, 20-something Brady leads the worldwide fight against the Darkness, with the Vatican and several nations backing his efforts. The latest mission ll takes them to London to interrogate Gudrun Margarete Elfriede Emma Anna Burwitz’s (a.k.a. Gudrun Himmler’s) right-hand man. Then the team travels to Paris, where they destroy a chateau where trafficked children died in front of audiences for their “elixir.” One more battle between the Light and Darkness emerges in Calcutta, India, but this one does not leave the forces of Good untouched. The consequences are monumental, the loss of lives for the Light inconsolable. This time, Brady and the Light will not save everyone, but a new family emerges with Brady’s powers to carry on the war against evil.

Stafford weaves historical events into his storytelling.

While alternate history plays a role in every Vengeance book, this latest book sees events from the assassination attempt on President Reagan to the near-fatal bombing of Margaret Thatcher as chess pieces in the war of the Darkness against the Light. While reading previous novels would offer a greater understanding of the events in this book, readers who come across this stand-alone novel and crave militant Catholic occult fiction will find it a good read all on its own.

August 23, 2021
A SONG of VENGEANCE (Call of Vengeance Book 3) by John Stafford – Global Thriller, Christian Suspense/Thriller, Supernatural Thriller

A Song of Vengeance: A Novel (Call of Vengeance book 3) by John Stafford begins right on the tail of where A Sword of Vengeance left off. In this novel, much like the two before, Stafford displays his talent for weaving in real-world individuals into his Global Thriller tale.

Reeling from the damage inflicted on the Forces of Darkness by Brady, the young American master of The Light and his compatriots, the Evil One seeks revenge. It is now 1980. The Temple Mount in Israel, now consecrated with Christ’s blood after Brady’s successful mission, literally vaporizes any soldier of the Darkness who enters its doors. At a meeting at the Temple Mount, Iranian loyalists—in this telling, Iran seems to be the headquarters of the Devil on Earth—receive instructions by the Darkness to hunt down Brady, capture or kill his wife, Michelle, and kidnap her unborn baby.

One of those at the meeting is a young Imam named Rouhani. Current events fans will recognize the name as the powerful former President of Iran. Also attending is the Banker, a treacherous Vatican priest who controls funds purloined from the Holy See used to fund Darkness missions across the globe.

A new agent of the Darkness emerges.

Meet Gudren Himmler, daughter of Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler, a historical figure who assisted Nazis on the run after World War II. In this book, she connects Nazis and anti-Israel Arabs. Among her many activities, she accuses Saudi Arabia of desecrating Mecca, which she hopes will bring about the fall of the Saudi family and its ties to the United States. She explains this to an Arab who will deliver her messages to the appropriate people and whose lover, unfortunately, winds up being a barbecued lunch for Gudren and her guest.

Such are some of the forces of evil arrayed against Brady and his friends. In this newest volume, quite literally, the Devil is in the details.

Meanwhile, back in Ohio, Brady and company now live on a fortified farm, with detailed plans for their protection that include both military-like fortifications as well as assistance from their Heavenly protectors.

For the first time in the series, Brady’s grandfather, Giovanni, one of the many ongoing characters in the series, helps Brady understand his role as the leader of the anti-Darkness forces. Giovanni spells out the historical war between the forces of good and evil. He directs Brady’s attention to recovering mystical stones that fell from heaven at the same time the angels fell. The quest for the stones becomes the main adventure in the remainder of the book. As the men ready for their journey, the Army of Darkness cooks up plans of their own.

In contrast to the Darkness followers, Stafford develops Brady’s circle of supporters with strength, mission, and clear focus of purpose.

Brady’s family expands as other people join their Catholic family, including growing support from the Mighty Men of King David, an Israeli militant group. The daughter of its commanding officer has now married one of Brady’s brothers. Marriages and details of rich family life take the edge off some of the novel’s more violent passages. There’s even a surprise visit at one of the weddings from a VIP. Since this is a Catholic-themed book, it’s not hard to guess who shows up.

All the books in the series relay credible details, whether in the construction of Brady’s fortified farm, military-style attacks by the forces of both good and evil, or acts of vitriolic violence by the Darkness. As the Devil wages war on human society and uses major historical events and figures to do his vile deeds, readers will be relieved to know that the Evil One may have met his match. Fans of Paranormal Global Thrillers will surely devour this series. Start at the beginning with A Prayer of Vengeance.

July 26, 2021
A SWORD OF VENGEANCE: A Novel (Call of Vengeance Book 2) by John Stafford – Dark Fantasy / Horror, Men’s Adventure Books, Thriller / Suspense

In the second volume of the Call of Vengeance series, author John Stafford takes the fight overseas in A Sword of Vengeance.

Brady, the young American hero of the first volume, A Prayer of Vengeance (see our review), continues his crusade to decimate The Beast, the Evil One, the darkness, whatever your favorite term, wherever it exists. Along with his three brothers, his girlfriend, and an ever-expanding crew of like-minded supporters, they take on Beelzebub in Israel’s Temple Mount and France.

This time, in 1980, the book leaps into revisionist history as Pope John Paul supports an attack by Brady and his companions on the evil spirit that has taken over the Islamic Imam of the Temple Mount. By freeing the most sacred building of the world’s three major religions of its evil, in coordination with the Vatican, Brady makes it possible for the Pope to convene a most secret meeting of the Council of Cardinals, telling them that he is casting out the Devil from the Vatican along with those who waver from the faith with an Act of Consecretion to the Sacred Heart.

Simultaneously, the Dome of the Rock, housed within the Temple Mount and supposedly the place where Mohammed ascended into Heaven, will be consecrated with holy water containing the blood of Jesus, casting out The Angel of the Fallen from the sacred spot.

While these acts will mean much more to Catholic readers, the planning surrounding these events reads more like a combination of graphic thriller and supernatural thriller in one. Brady and his three brothers, his girlfriend Michelle, and some additional crew members find themselves on a luxury yacht at the beginning of the book, bonding with the Mighty Men of King David, an Israeli military group of 40 men led by a general and his daughter. They enjoy a great food-filled celebration with each other, capped by seeing Brady, infused by the light, elevating into the air so they can see for themselves the miracle of who he is: the man who talks to the angels.

But before the storm, there is a coupling to celebrate.

A joyous union among the team comes as a surprise to all involved. Nevertheless, family and friends have managed to remain hidden on the yacht before the nuptials. The wedding procession preceding the landing in Israel and the possibility of death all make the bonding aboard the yacht so special.

Backed by the Israelis, Brady and company make their way into the Temple Mount in a military-style operation and perform their miracle, but not without tragedy. But Brady uses his unique talents given him by the Mother of God to save a life, taking unto himself the wounds suffered by another.

Brady roots out evil in the church, as well.

Brady must face one more assignment overseas: to release dozens of children captured by an evil sect of the Church. Corrupt priests and nuns capture children and allow unspeakable evil to be done to them in an annual bacchanal at a chateau outside Paris. With the same religious fervor, Brady takes on the task. The house’s defense by Iranian shooters hidden in the bushes causes considerable damage to the would-be rescuers, including people near and dear to Brady and his people. In the world of this series, Iranians do the Devil’s work.

As in the first book, the evil fought here may repulse some people. The descriptions, in some instances, are uncomfortably vivid. Yet, the writer believes that the need to portray the good properly must be accompanied by a strong showing of the evil that must be cast out forcibly and by any/every means necessary from the world. Readers will find these books well-written and intriguing additions to the supernatural thriller genre – but quite graphic.

July 12, 2021
A PRAYER of VENGEANCE (Call of Vengeance Book 1) by John Stafford – Christian Supernatural Thriller, Catholic Horror Novel, Dark Fantasy Thriller

The Beast watched gleefully on that sad Good Friday, watched with grim satisfaction as the Son of God died.

And so was a little boy who witnessed the grieving mother, her tears and pain beyond description, her sorrow etching deeply on his own soul. He promised himself and God that he would vanquish the evil that killed her son. “I will never let this happen again,” the boy said to the woman, and she touched his face with her hand and said, “And so it shall be.”

The boy gave the Beast the sign of death, the acknowledgment that Roman soldiers gave to an enemy in battle. The Beast accepted the challenge and thus began the struggle between good and evil, the Light and the dark, that would last unto the present day.

This story, or fable, is at the heart of A Prayer of Vengeance by John Stafford.

The first of a four-book series opens in 1976 and takes the epic struggle of good versus evil at face value. It tells the story of a teenage boy in the 20th Century, a linear descendant of that boy. He witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion and inherited vast powers to fight the Darkness in his hometown of Beavercreek, Ohio.

Readers expecting a soft-edged Sunday sermon approach to the eternal battle between good and evil will not find it here. Instead, the book begins with as vile a depiction imaginable of a young girl’s rape, disfigurement, and death by Ray and his buddies, the embodiment of the Darkness living on earth.

Enter Brady, the counterpoint to Ray.

Brady enters the scene as an all-American high school teenager the students and faculty all but worship. Everyone wants him as a friend. The high school coach wants him for his football team. Yet Brady is in training for something else that he dare not tell another living soul.

It takes a while before Brady reveals his unique powers. When he calls the Light, he elevates above the earth with arms spread in a Christ-like manner and protects those who need protecting. Brady heals the sick and the wounded by allowing their injuries to flow into him, onto him.

When his high school friends plan a long-standing prank, painting a nearby train bridge with the school’s colors before a big football game, Brady understands the danger awaiting them from unanticipated trains and assumes the critical role in getting the bridge painted. When a train inevitably shows up, Brady brings forth the Light and protects a classmate from certain death. No one there remembers afterward precisely what happened. Such is Brady’s power to do good and yet defend himself and those he loves from his enormous powers.

Brady learned to call the Light at age five.

At 13, he was additionally schooled by his grandfather, who taught him the prayer of vengeance, recited when the Light was called forth. Once he called on the Light, the Darkness, the Beast’s presence followed. Brady would then absorb the damage done by the Darkness, and the victim’s healing would take place.

Once the reader understands Brady’s unique powers and accepts this more muscular version of Catholicism, the inevitable wars between Darkness and light ramp up; even as more people disappear at the hands of Ray and his predators, more people are attracted to Brady and become part of his circle of guardians. The ultimate goal? To destroy the Darkness once and for all.

Catholic horror describes A Call of Vengeance just right.

Catholic readers are in for a polemic as well as a religious-themed supernatural thriller. The author clearly intends it to be such. Non-Catholic readers will find a large cast of characters, several of which are clearly set up for sequels by the end of the book.

This book is clearly not for everyone. The atrocities in the first chapter alone may keep readers from proceeding further. Yet, those whose reading interests embrace the supernatural in its many forms will find A Prayer of Vengeance a bracing reading adventure.

June 21, 2021