Book Review: Bone Box

Bone Box. Jay Amberg. Amika Press, March 13, 2015, Paperback and Kindle editions, 247 pages.

Reviewed by Ed Sarna.

Bone Box by Jay Amberg is a fast paced thriller reminiscent of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. The story centers on the discovery of possible religious artifacts that, if legitimate, could threaten the foundation of early Christianity. A team of archeologists, headed up by beautiful French-Turkish archeologist Sophia Altay, uncovers an ossuary, a stone box that first century Jews used to rebury their dead. The discovery takes on added importance when the inscription on the box leads them to believe it may hold the remains of Jesus of Nazareth.

Sophia is concerned that when word gets out, people will try to stop the authentication of the remains for any number of reasons. Before she can act on her concerns, the contents of the box disappear. There are people connected to the excavation that may or may not be whom they seem. Into this mix comes Joseph Travers, an American dispatched to Turkey to evaluate the operation and make recommendations to those funding the dig. Before long, he is pulled into the action and races against unknown forces to find and protect the remains. While trying to retrieve the contents before they are damaged, destroyed, or fall into the wrong hands, Joseph and Sophia, working together and separately, become embroiled in deception and murder.

The cast of characters is well developed and nuanced. Our perception of who is good and who is not changes over the course of the book. Just as we think we understand what is going on, the plot twists and we have to question our original assumptions. Along with the fast moving plot and well-defined characters, the locations become another integral part of the story. On one hand, the nicely detailed descriptions of the cities and the countryside made me feel as if I were travelling well-trodden ground. On the other hand, there is also the feeling that we are strangers in a land with its own rules, rules that often make no sense. Foreboding builds and we are never really sure whom to trust, which adds to the anxiety level. Surprises continue all the way through to the end, but even then, we are left contemplating what just occurred and what may follow.

I enjoyed reading Bone Box and am anxious to catch up on Mr. Amberg’s other thrillers. This book should appeal to readers of action packed stories, including fans of Dan Brown and other authors of religious thrillers.

Jay Amberg received a BA from Georgetown University and a PHD from Northwestern University. He has taught in both high school and college, and is the author of eleven books, a number of which are also thrillers.

Book Review: Vermilion

Vermilion. Z.L. Melton. Chicago: The Godhead Publishing, June 15, 2015, Trade Paperback, 166 pages.

Reviewed by Ray Paul.

Vermilion, by Z.L. Melton, is the story of Hollander, a young Midwestern farm boy coming of age in a tenant farmer's home with his parents and three sisters. The dynamics of the family, his father's demands, his mother's Christian spirituality, and his sister's purity are the factor's that drive his daily existence. However, the mysterious drifter who takes root in one of the outbuildings and the tall, quiet man who owns the land he and his father work, both bring him a vision of a different life than the one he lives, and presents challenges he must understand and overcome. As a reader, I ended my journey feeling Hollander fully capable of succeeding in his.

One of the enjoyable aspects of Vermilion is the rich language Mr. Melton uses throughout the book to feed his story to his reader. From the first page, I tried to define the language. By the book's end, I settled on a definition. The language is rural, Midwestern Christian, and it really works. In total, I loved the writing and the story, and I highly recommend it to readers of all ages starting as young as junior in high school. That being said, I will share one criticism. The story ends too soon.

Book Review: Pale Horse

Pale Horse. James H. Roby III. Published by James Roby, Sept. 3, 2012, Trade Paperback and Kindle, 282 pages.

Reviewed by Sue Merrell.

Pale Horse, the third book in James Roby’s Urban Knights series, is a fast-paced, high-stakes adventure that reads like a movie.

Although I did not read the first two books, I can tell that Roby’s hero, Jordan Noble, does not mess around with small time crooks and second-rate solutions. A former Special Ops officer in the Air Force, Noble has returned to his home town of Detroit to run Urban Knights Security with his military buddy, Eric, and two other buds: street-smart Malcolm and computer guru Don.

But Uncle Sam can’t let Noble out of his sight for long. Navy Intelligence recruits Jordan to help track down an Iraqi arms dealer who is unaware he is a walking Ebola time bomb. Saif Al-Matwalli, the arms dealer, is staying with family in the Detroit area, and the intelligence community is counting on Noble’s connections to find him before the disease he is carrying sets off an epidemic.

But even without Ebola, Al-Matwalli is a dangerous character who is using a gang of Detroit thugs to gather the makings of a serious bomb.

The situations are believable and the characters are interesting, from the tight-knit Middle Eastern family to Noble’s savvy, sometimes girlfriend, Robin. A reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Robin is in Detroit to cover a Homeland Security exercise.

Roby’s pacing is excellent. The story moves along quickly from one confrontation to another. Nothing is small potatoes here, with the latest in high tech equipment available, plenty of firepower and helicopters to drop in just when everything looks hopeless. Although these are major confrontations —leaving a football field littered with bodies in one case—the author manages to keep a sense of humor. He notes, for instance, that the outgunned Detroit street gang would rather look cool standing up and holding their guns sideways than take cover.

Roby’s real life background in the military and a personal history in Detroit give the story the ring of authenticity. With such a good story, I am disappointed that Roby did not have the copy edited. Mistakes are rampant and distracting, interrupting the flow.

I’m also confused as to why the author provides so little physical description of his characters. He is precise and detailed in so many other areas. No one drives a “car” in this book. The author always gives the make and model, whether it’s a Corvette, a BMW, or a Honda. And people don’t shoot guns, either. Roby cites the proper name of each weapon. I am sure such details are meaningful to readers who are familiar with arms and can imagine just what the gun looks like.

But we get no such details about the characters. Since “urban” is often used to describe African Americans, we can assume that the four Urban Knights are black. Some of their comments seem to confirm this suspicion, but the author never describes them as such. Occasionally the author will mention “bronze skin” in describing a character, but most of his characters get no physical description at all.

For instance, Mike Horner, a Special Ops friend of Nobel’s, appears frequently throughout the story. Yet, I was surprised three-fourths of the way through the book, when Noble tells Horner he cannot possibly understand the situation because Horner isn’t black. Specifying the races of characters may not be necessary in some books, but when race is an issue, as it often is in this story, it’s only fair to keep the reader informed.

If Pale Horse is any indication, Roby has a good knack for coming up with exciting adventures and the Urban Knights series could have a broad audience.

Book Review: London from My Windows

London from My Windows. Mary Carter. Kensington Books, July 28, 2015, Trade Paperback and Kindle, 352 pages.

Reviewed by Lisa J. Lickel.

Ava Wilder is the daughter of a British ex-pat and slightly disengaged mother. Traumatized as a child by her father’s death, she develops agoraphobia, a debilitating fear of crowded or enclosed public spaces. Twenty years of therapy and coddling have allowed her to live on her own, maintain a career as a sketch artist, and a relationship with a boyfriend, but she has little other contact with the outside world. When her father’s only sibling, an actor named Bev, passes away and leaves Ava her London home, Ava forces herself to move beyond therapy and medication to find try to find out what exactly strained her relationship with her mother and her late aunt.

The streets of London are intimidating, and Bev’s will is being contested by her quirky best friend Queenie, who Ava learns to her horror, is also her new flat mate. Despite this, Ava slowly gets to know her aunt’s life story through the bits and pieces revealed by her theatrical, dramatic, and party-loving entourage. But the flat came with strings, and if Ava cannot complete the list of challenges that Aunt Bev has left for her within ninety days, she gets nothing. Bev’s list is daunting, and Ava considers giving up. Despite making new friends, conquering a lot more than she ever thought she could, and finding true love, Ava might just curl up under the bed and stay there.  

Mary Carter is a lyrical and witty writer and manages to portray a serious condition with charm and humor. London from my Windows contains a lot of introspection and smart commentary, sprinkled with just a little bit of whining. Carter’s character grows a lot throughout the book, and she tackles her foibles admirably. The characters are a group of people who realize that the idiosyncrasies, fears, and things that hold us back are best shared. Friends are for support and mutual encouragement, no matter which side of the pond one is from. Carter has included a discussion guide for book clubs and teachers.

Author Mary Carter is the workshop leader at The Writer’s Loft in Chicago and is the author of a number books and novellas, several of which are based in Europe. Her work has been translated into seven languages. Carter’s new murder mystery series published under the name Carlene O’Connor will appear in early 2016. You can learn more about her at marycarterbooks.com.

Book Review: Break Shot

Break Shot. Darren Musial. Amazon Digital Services, Inc., April 20, 2015, Trade Paperback and Kindle, 181 pages.

Reviewed by David Laipple.

The next time you’re in the mood for a murder mystery, read Break Shot, and get to know a Chicago hero who carries an iPhone but takes care of business like a rough-and-tumble hero should. Max Deacon is a former Special Forces captain whose occupational skills transfer in civilian life to a position in a Chicago pool hall. He is part bartender, baby-sitter, and enforcer and he accepts whatever challenge comes his way with some backup from his friend and fellow Iraq veteran, Moose Delevan.

Max knows he has a few flaws, but he wouldn’t consider one of them his sense of justice and willingness to act on it. A good deed attracts the attention of the seedy underside of Chicago, and his skills are tested when he becomes a murder suspect for the Chicago Police and a kidnap victim of the real murderer. Max proves the equal of every test, though, as he maneuvers the kidnapper into one last shoot-out and the seedy kingpin into the arms of the Wisconsin State Police.

The author, Darren Musial, informs his debut novel with a black belt in Karate and the heart of a poet. Darren writes Break Shot in 45 fast-paced chapters that keep the reader engaged. It is a fun read that reminds us there are sub-cultures of desperation in a big city.