The Blood Gospel - James Rollins & Rebecca Cantrall

The Blood Gospel by James Rollins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


James Rollins delivers again. This is his second combination effort with Rebecca Cantrell after the short story The City of Screams.

The plot is fast paced and has multiple twists and turns which suit Rollins style of writing. Cantrell makes the impossible believable and that takes the novel to the next level.

The Order of Sanguines is an ancient Order formed from the reformed strigoi . They walk in the path shown by Jesus and are true to their vows given to him.

The strigoi are mindless vampires who slake their bloodthirstiness by feeding and turning humans.. the order has long fought against them. But now a new threat has emerged strigoi mated with human known as the Belial, who follow a foe who is as remarkable as he is ruthless.

In the center of this tug of war is a Gospel written by the Lord himself in his own blood, to help mankind at its most perilous moment.

The lot is gripping and writing keeps you on the edge hungry for more. The Book 1 of a new series in The Order of Sanguines is good enough to keep me on the tenterhooks for the remaining two books of the trilogy.

The chemistry between Father Rhun Korza, Sergent Jordan Stone and D. Erin Granger is dynamic enough to keep the plot and the action moving forward.

The explosive revelation of who the antagonist is in the whole plot at the end makes the ending all the more better. A good read in all.



View all my reviews

The Second Messiah -- Glenn Meade

The Second Messiah by Glenn Meade

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I had high hopes from the book. But lately most of books that I am reading have been disappointing me to some or the other extent. The title "Second Messiah" sounds intriguing, but book never really takes off or meets the expectations.

The Second Messiah is never revealed. I never understood what the fuss was all about. The book did talk about the new Pope opening up the Church and going back to its simple and humble roots, but nothing ever comes out of it. The story and the revenge being taken by Hassan Mallik never fits.... it makes the entire plot look like plotted while the author was riding a merry-go-round.

The angle between Lela and Jack is botched, the characters never develop. Hassan's quest for revenge seems misplaced, Father Beckett could have been such a powerful character, the idea could have been made into so much more, but instead all we see of the Holy Father is fear, anxiety and lots and lots of second guesses.

I wanted to read this book badly, and at one point was even thinking of buying it, but after reading a copy through the library, I'm glad I waited. A one time read only that too when burrowed... If you have anything intriguing on your shelf to read and less time, I would suggest to get on with it and give this a miss....



View all my reviews