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Germ Click title to read excerpt or buy from CBD.com By Robert Liparulo / Westbow Reviewed by Kevin LuciaGerm is a true work of art.In a stunning follow-up to last year’s pulse-pounding thriller Comes A Horseman, Robert Liparulo’s new thriller, Germ, brings to life the all too real specter of biological warfare in an epic storyline that reads much like The Stand meets The Bourne Supremacy. While Comes A Horseman was an enjoyable, solid first entry for Liparulo - portraying realistic characters laboring under harrowing conditions - Germ is a true work of art. From the moment Special Agent Goodwin Donnelley’s car barrels down a highway under hails of bullets, the action is relentless - however, the timing is near perfect. Just when it seems too much, too fast, the pace slows; the reader and characters catch their breaths…. …and the bullets start flying once again. An old, bitter grudge has brought the world to the brink of destruction. A virulent strain of Ebola has been designed that’s not only deadly and fast acting, but can also target specific individuals based on their DNA makeup. The implications are astounding: anyone anywhere is at the mercy of a virus tailor-made for their genetic blueprint. The threats are manifold: those on the “list” are doomed to die painful, bloody deaths as their organs liquefy inside of them, those who’ve learned of this new bio-weapon are hunted by a mysterious, deadly assassin that not only seems omniscient and omnipresent, but able to resurrect himself from death. The clues are there, buried on a microchip smuggled into the U.S. - but will Special Agents Julia Matheson and Goodwin Donnelley unravel its mysteries in time to save thousands of lives, or will bio-terrorism destroy what we know of the world, leaving in its wake thousands of deaths and a new world order - based on fear and the mercurial whims of man driven mad by grief? Robert Liparulo has taken a very realistic threat and crafted a story that ranks right up there with any of Robert Ludlum’s novels. The dialogue is real, the characters painstakingly crafted, and it’s not hard to see this projected onto the big screen in a Hollywood adaptation - maybe with Ron Pearlman, (Hellboy, Blade III: Trinity), as the reluctant pastor turned combatant Stephen, and Ashley Scott, (who certainly proved her action-chops and stunt abilities on the WB’s short-lived Birds of Prey), as Special Agent Matheson. Most importantly, Germ - like many recent CBA, (Christian Bookseller Association), releases, embodies what “faith fiction” should be: an excellently written and crafted work of fiction that adheres to a sense of moral value and worth, realistic and accessible to all, yet at the same time inoffensive for a Christian to read. Germ will grab you by the collar, and won’t go until you reach the end of its roller coaster ride. |
About Kevin Lucia |
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Germ Click title to read excerpt or buy from CBD.com By Robert Liparulo Reviewed by Susan SleemanGerm will keep you mesmerized.Imagine the Ebola virus spreading like the flu, then add a twist. The virus was programmed to hunt you down and kill you by targeting your DNA. And if not you, then thousands around you. Robert Liparulo not only imagined this scenario, but entertains us with a fast moving thriller filled with the gruesome details of what such a virus could do in the hands of the wrong people. The book follows FBI investigator Julia Matheson with the help of Dr. Allen Parker as she traces the virus to it's origin. She must stop this deadly problem before it stops her or worse yet, a terrorist group unleashes it in an attack we could only imagine in our worst nightmares. If you can get past the gruesome opening chapter, and I hope you do, the book will keep you mesmerized. Action filled, Germ keeps readers on the edge of their seat. Liparulo provides technical details to make the plot believable yet keeps it entertaining. He tosses twists and turns in when you least expect them and keeps the story moving at a fast pace. Strong dialogue rounds out this novel and makes it a keeper. Review by Susan Sleeman The Suspense Zone |
©2006-09
Susan Sleeman
Susan Sleeman
is the author of Nipped in the Bud, available May of 2009 from Heartsong Presents: Mysteries, an imprint of Barbour Publishing.
