Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Spies & Politics

  • BEYOND CONTROL by Lawrence Verigin – Eco-Thriller, Spies & Politics, Thriller/Suspense

    BEYOND CONTROL by Lawrence Verigin – Eco-Thriller, Spies & Politics, Thriller/Suspense

    Now we reap the bitter consequences of what was diabolically sown in the first two books in the award-winning, exciting Dark Seed trilogy. In author Lawrence Verigin’s third book, the agents of The Club have implemented their evil plan and drive forward in complete denial of the unintended consequences that are now Beyond Control and threaten all human life on earth. Can these perils be stopped and reversed? Nick Barnes and his team have been left discredited and seemingly powerless to vanquish the dark forces behind this ecological thriller.

    Nick Barnes finds himself victim to his own circumstances that are now also Beyond Control. At the start of this book, he struggles against convincing evidence that cleverly frames him for a serious crime, landing him in jail.

    The twisting tale turns as the enemy runs its ominous empire unchecked. There is no guarantee that Nick’s plan will work, yet as the group sets out to track the evil conspirators across the globe, tragic environmental dangers loom on the horizon. The Club follows the trail of chaos left in the wake of the enemy and are able to understand the global catastrophic events that will ensue if the evildoers cannot be stopped. However, not everyone is able to see the truth in what these few see. Denial is powerful and feels safer than the dire truth Nick and his companions offer.

    In fact, the members of the Club see the lethal dangers growing quickly because their foes’ inexcusable misuse of the science they are now wielding without understanding and without conscience. It’s up to Nick and his band to act, but their fight is against deluded fanatics, and in such fights, painful losses are inevitable. Is a final showdown with The Club something Nick’s group can win?

    Author Lawrence Verigin writes to entertain while bringing attention to socially relevant subjects. His research into agricultural science is impressive, seamlessly weaving information into the narrative of the story, giving readers a satisfying and captivating set of novels.

    Beyond Control is a fight to save the earth’s population from the seeds of devastation. It’s a thrilling portrait of our hero’s will to treasure life. However, Nick is up against a completely different worldview, and the stakes in this venture are high. Against him, greed is being led by a brutally selfish, power-hungry adversary who coldly explains his evil actions as justification being in the eye of the beholder.

  • The MONROE DECISION by Patrick Clark – Spies & Politics, Terrorism, Thriller

    The MONROE DECISION by Patrick Clark – Spies & Politics, Terrorism, Thriller

    As a treaty expert for the Department of State, Aaron Monroe travels the world extensively, unquestioned and unsuspected. This allows him to efficiently fulfill his orders. You see, in reality, Monroe is an undercover operative for the covert arm of the US Council for Homeland Defense. He is the best at what he does—taking out targets, sanitizing scenes, and scooting away undetected.

    On holiday in Italy with Sarah, his wealthy, beautiful, Eurasian girlfriend, he abandons her in Venice for one day to keep an appointment in Trieste. A final “go” from his handler in Washington D.C. and Aaron tracks his targets, an al Qaeda and ISIS financier and a senior ISIS commander, to a decrepit villa in one of the city’s oldest areas.

    While clearing the building, after gaining entry and eliminating these men, Aaron finds an office equipped with multiple closed-circuit TV screens monitoring four locked, basement rooms. Three are crowded with young teenaged girls and one with pre-teen boys.

    Now what? A quick call to his handler, a decision—leave the captives for the police to find— sanitize the scene and get out undiscovered. During the cleaning process, Aaron finds a ledger written in what appears to be Arabic in the deceased financier’s satchel. As the ledger may contain valuable information, he slings the satchel over his shoulder and poof! He’s out of there.

    At Sarah’s insistence, Aaron relents and allows her into his shadow world. They trek around Europe and the United States, seeking to expose the international human trafficking ring that kidnapped those children to sell as unsullied brides for ISIS fighters and suicide bomber trainees.

    This dangerous quest takes them into the highest echelons of government and industry, where the lust for power and wealth supersedes human decency and democratic ideals. Ultimately, Monroe is forced to question whom he can truly trust and, perhaps more importantly, if anyone really has his back.

    The Monroe Decision explores relatively uncharted territory within the thriller genre. Clark uses socio-political facts and incidents from today’s headlines and accurate, detailed descriptions of familiar and exotic locations to create a mesmerizing yarn, replete with assassination, romance, betrayal and the triumph of good over evil.

    Clark offers no downtime for his readers: plot, characters, atmosphere, setting, and pacing coalesce into a smooth, captivating read that’s hard to put down. Our advice? Clear your calendar, turn off the phone, lock the door, and enjoy.   

     

  • THE GALICIAN PARALLAX by James G. Skinner – Spies & Politics, Thriller, Terrorism

    THE GALICIAN PARALLAX by James G. Skinner – Spies & Politics, Thriller, Terrorism

    Lieutenant Sergio Quiroga of the Civil Guards has smelled something fishy brewing in the northwestern autonomous community of Spain known as Galicia for some time, and it’s not the world-renowned Port of Vigo.

    Not directly, anyway. It’s the cartels that are using the port to funnel drugs into Europe via the yachting enterprise, but what’s worse, the cartels have ties to the terrorist faction known as Al-Qaeda. The deeper Sergio delves into the latter organization by way of the former, the more he learns of their shifting plots to attack on European soil. Without the support of his superiors, Sergio must immerse himself in the Galician underworld in order to stay ahead of this thing. He eventually enlists the aid of British consul Stan Bullock to decipher exactly where and when the onslaughts are to take place.

    Largely set against the backdrop of northwest Spain following the 9/11 attacks, Skinner capitalizes on factual events to craft his narrative, such as the Madrid train bombings of 2004 and the bombings in London of 2005, to name a couple. And even more often he peppers in smaller-scale acts of aggression dually to punctuate the characterizations of Sergio and Stan and keep the looming threat they both face alive and machinating. To that point, Skinner also fills in the blanks of his international playing field by briefly focusing on the subsidiary parties such as the cartel leaders, Sergio and Stan’s superiors, and even the then President George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden.

    The Galician Parallax is certain to make a shrewd birthday gift for your diplomatically savvy uncle who likes to read about the second Bush administration and the concurrent War on Terror as if he were reading a series of dailies. The author maintains that he uses information based on facts to inform his readers rather than just trying to keep them entertained. On the other side of the coin, those readers more inclined to pick up a tight-knit character drama with some thrills here and there may be left wanting. Ultimately, Skinner, in his didactic world-building, challenges his readers and forces them to decide if they want to be informed or entertained. On the fiction side of things, Skinner imbues Sergio and Stan with their own personal struggles and desires to keep the reader caring about the story’s primary focal points.

    Make no mistake, The Galician Parallax is strong message serving to expose the cartel involvement in well-known terrorist organizations around the world. A timely and informative thriller set in Galicia, Spain. Shrewd writing about the international playing field of cartels by James G. Skinner!