Though I have heard
of him before, this was the first time that I got a chance to read Russell
Blake’s work.
The story begins with
a vivid description of how a scroll gets stolen. Right from the first line of
the first chapter, the author manages to grab your attention. Then we move on
to our protagonist, Steven Archer. We are given a glimpse into his life with
Antonia and his life after her. Steven is the head of a software company and a
cryptologist by hobby. He had managed to combine his business and pleasure by
coming up with a software that deciphers cyphers. Soon contacted by a colleague’s
daughter, Steven gets embroiled in a situation that could very well cost him
his life.
What is a story
without secret societies and some ruthless and powerful villains? While Steven
& Natalie try to decode the seemingly impossible to break cypher, they are
pursued by some powerful forces - some of who want to bury the secret of the
cypher and some people who want to use the secret of the cypher to meet their
own sadistic needs.
The author portrays a
beautiful picture of the places in the story that makes you feel that you are
there when it all happens. For the first time readers like me, the character of
Steven Archer Cross develops right alongside Natalie. Their interaction and
relationship development is also something that I enjoyed reading in this book.
The fact that this is
also a fast paced story and zero dragging on uselessly, it will keep you hooked
on from the first page till the last. A fantastic plot, great twists, detailed
research and amazing narration is the USP of this book. It is literally
unputdownable!
I am going to go back
and read the other Russell Blake books as soon as I can get my hands on them!
Review Copy received from "World Literary Cafe"
Oh wow! Fab review. This is a read I'd enjoy...I'm sure of it.
ReplyDeleteFast-paced and visual writing with lots of suspense? YUP!
In fact, I just reviewed a similar thriller on my blog (no history-related theme though, more modern).
This one reminds me of Steve Berry's work (blurb-wise).
_yay_ @
BookthatThing!
:) Thanks! Will check out!
DeleteThanks for the wonderful review. You captured the essence of the story marvelously. Glad you liked the book. It's doing well on Amazon, and folks seem to like it, so all's well...
ReplyDeleteThanks Russell! Of course its doing well! What's not to like in your book???
Delete