Prime
by Jeremy Robinson (2013)
with Sean Ellis

When a raid on an insurgent safehouse leads to a clue to decoding one of the world’s greatest mysteries, the Voynich manuscript, which reveals a recipe for creating the ultimate biological weapon of mass destruction, Delta operator Jack Sigler must forge a new black ops team to avert catastrophe. While bullets fly, he recruits a group of deadly warriors with dangerous secrets, assigning each member a chess piece callsign and dubbing them Chess Team. But nothing is what it seems…and no one can be trusted.

As the search for the truth about the manuscript moves across Asia and into the darkest reaches of human history, Chess Team must battle enemies beyond comprehension—nightmare creatures of myth and perverse creations of science—to preserve a secret as old as life itself. In 2009, bestselling novelist Jeremy Robinson launched the adventures of Jack Sigler and Chess Team. Now, learn how it all began in this full length novel!

Witness Chess Team’s beginning as King, Queen, Bishop, Rook, Knight and the elusive Deep Blue come together to form the only military force smart enough and dangerous enough to face the world’s most deadly, most high tech and most monstrous threats.

This is the first book of the series I have read although it was written as a prequel after the first in the series (2009). It came in a storybundle deal last year. It’s everything I expected from Robinson, but this time even more action and pacing. Perhaps it’s  his collaboration with Ellis that makes this novel different. Here the genre is military action with a bit of history and pseudo-science thrown in. Not as good as his own books where you get a lot more science fiction. Still, a recommended read,

The Golem and the Jinni
by Helene Wecker (2013)

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master, the husband who commissioned her, dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York in 1899.

Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free – an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world.

The Golem and the Jinni is their magical, unforgettable story; unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures – until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

This is a long book at 175,000 Words (440 pages) and I was disappointed it ended. The author is talented (it’s her first book) and the writing draws you in to the environment and characters. It’s best described as ‘magical realism’ rather that fantasy as everything takes place in a recognizable New York in the 1990s. Engaging, thoughtful and ultimately an expression of human values, this is one of the best books I have read for a while. The nearest comparison would be Erin Morgenstern’s ‘The Night Circus’.

Heart Readers
by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (1993)

In each generation, twin boys were born, heirs to a throne only one could hold. King Pardu decreed that when the time was right, he would abide by the old magic and call in heart readers to see into the boys’ souls. But the king doesn’t foresee treachery by his ambitious chief advisor.

The first novel read by this author. Well written with memorable characters. It’s the story of accession to the throne in a fantasy world. Given the amount of sex and violence, definitely an adult story.

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern (2011)

It was originally written for the annual writing competition NaNoWriMo.

The Night Circus is a phantasmagorical fairy tale set near an ahistorical Victorian London in a wandering magical circus that is open only from sunset to sunrise.

I read this as it was on the Kindle Women list. A very unusual book in it’s structure and tone. I wouldn’t have continued reading if it hadn’t been for the author’s ability with prose and the anticipation that ends each chapter. Essentially a fantasy, but I can see why is has gained admiration with the literary types.

Recommended (by almost everyone).

Unity
by Jeremy Robinson (2016)

Euphemia Williams, known to her few friends as Effie, and everyone else as Eff-Bomb, will punch you for looking at her funny, for using her full name or for noticing that she’s a genius. But when an elite global entity known as Unity takes note of her intelligence and offers her a chance to escape the hum-drum life of a foster-child, she signs up. At best, she expects her time abroad to be a vacation. At worst, an actual challenge. But what she finds, upon being swept up in a futuristic transport, is far, far worse.

Review
This is the first of Jeremy Robinson’s Books I have read that is in first person, it’s also the first with a female protagonist. The plot is a mix of ‘Hunger Games’, and his recent Kaiju thrillers. It all works as well as his other books, lots of action, suspense and at the end it’s obvious this is the start of a new series. My only complaint it that for a 16 year old girl, Effie sure sustains a lot of damage but just keeps on going. Maybe there is a bit of genetic engineering involved. I’m sure all will be revealed in future novels.. Can’t Wait.

Vixen 03

In 1954 Vixen 03 is down. The plane, bound for the south Pacific and bearing several canisters of a particularly virulent organism, vanishes. Believed ditched at sea, Vixen has in fact crashed into an ice-covered lake in Colorado.

Review
This is my first Clive Cussler novel. I owned a hard copy for a long time before switching to ebooks. It’s not surprising that this is a well written and paced novel, although only the forth Cussler book, it’s the work of an experienced author.

It has an interesting start and proceeds with an intriguing story following Dirk Pitt until a surprising change of location to South Africa. This part isn’t done as well, describing a political revolution seems out of genre for Cussler and things easily become confusing. The story moves on with suitable twists and action that accumulate to a final conflict in America. A good read, but not to the level of Desmond Bagley or Dick Francis.

Kronos
by Jeremy Robinson (2008)

Two years after his wife’s death, oceanographer and former navy SEAL, Atticus Young, attempts to reconcile with his rebellious daughter, Giona by taking her on the scuba dive of a lifetime-swimming with a pod of peaceful humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine. But the beauty of the sea belies a terror from the deep-a horrific creature as immense as it is ancient. There is no blood, no scream, no fight. Giona is swallowed whole by the massive jaws. Only Atticus remains to suffer the shame of the survivor and his inconsolable grief turns to an unquenchable thirst for revenge.

Drawn by the spectacle, Trevor Manfred, a ruthless billionaire, approaches Atticus with a proposition: Trevor will make available all the advanced technology of his heavily armed mega-yacht, the Titan, to aid Atticus in his death-quest. In return, Trevor is to receive the beast’s corpse as the ultimate hunting trophy. But in the midst of the hunt, Atticus makes a terrifying discovery that changes the way he sees the ocean’s creatures and begs the question: what is Kronos? The answer sets him on a new and much more deadly course.

Review
Another thrilling and entertaining thriller from Jeremy Robinson. This is a bit more conventional in structure; it’s got a monster, bad guy (with henchman) damsel in distress (daughter) and love interest on the side.

Can you guess what happens ?
It’s not too difficult but as usual it’s all in the telling and while this is his fifth book it reads like the author is an old pro. I’m sure authors like Desmond Bagley, Hammond Innes or Alistair MacLean have done similar stories. Here is another engaging thriller.