Showing posts with label Lion of Babylon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lion of Babylon. Show all posts

Sunday

Rare Earth - Book Review

Having been a great fan of Davis Bunn for many years (see The Presence) I was thrilled to find this novel of his very cheap on Amazon in the kindle store.

Again it will never be able to sit beside the other Davis Bunn books I collected over the years but I am building up quite a collection now in my kindle.







Synopsis:

Davis Bunn Strikes Gold Once Again!

Marc Royce stares down from the helicopter on the Rift Valley slashing across Africa like a scar. Tribal feuds, drought, and dislocation have left their devastation. And he sees a new wound--a once-dormant volcano oozing molten lava across the dry landscape--and clouds of ash obscure his vision. His undercover assignment is similarly obscured. Supposedly dispatched to audit a relief organization's accounts, Marc finds himself amid the squalor and chaos of Kenyan refugee camps caught in a stranglehold of corruption and ruthlessness.

But his true task relates to the area's reserves of once-obscure metals now indispensible to high-tech industry. The value of this rare earth inflames tensions on the world's stage as well as among warring tribes. When an Israeli medical administrator, Kitra, seeks Marc's help with her humanitarian efforts, they forge an unexpected link between impoverished African villages and another Silicon Valley rising in the Israeli desert. Precious metals and inventive minds promise new opportunities for prosperity, secure futures, and protection of valuable commodities from terrorists. As Marc prepares to report back to Washington, he seizes a chance to restore justice to this troubled land. This time, he may have gone too far.





About the Author:  CLICK HERE






My Thoughts:


Being the second book in a series I am always skeptical that it will be almost a rehash of the first one but in a different setting.  Well this was definitely in a different setting from no.1 but was certainly not a rehash of the same plot.

I had been looking forward to meeting up with some of the other characters from the first book as it seemed to me that we had met characters that Davis Bunn would want to write more about but in this I had been wrong.  I think this led me to be a bit disappointed as I had thoroughly enjoyed certain characters so really did want to see friendships rekindled.  The characters in this story never seemed to become as well known or understood as those of the first in the series and even by the end of the novel I was not thinking how much I would like to see what they would have to contribute to another one.

I think the setting was good and the story was clever and very up-to-date which I presume means it was well researched but I found it harder to actually picture the scenes and to remember where certain people were at different times which had not been a problem in the previous one.

Having lived in various countries and worshipped  with many different nationalities I could understand and appreciate the bond between the Christians in the story and especially see the trust there can be between them.

I am already on to book 3 in the series and looking forward to wherever Marc Royce finds he is needed but hope that it is more of the caliber of the first one with better relationships defined between the main characters.


                                  You can now read my "Strait of Hormuz" Review







Have you read this book?


Would you be inclined to read it after this review?









Thursday

Lion of Babylon - Book Review


Having been a great fan of Davis Bunn for many years (see The Presence) I was thrilled to find this novel of his free on Amazon in the kindle store earlier this year.


Sadly it will never be able to sit beside the other Davis Bunn books I collected over the years but what with the ebook age upon us and the ease of having so many books in one object for travelling and of course the fact that we are running out of bookshelf space and not least of all the fact that I can get a lot of ebooks free; well I am now a kindle fan too.


So back to the purpose of this post, the review of this book.




Synopsis:

Marc Royce works for the State Department on special assignments, most of them rather routine, until two CIA operatives go missing in Iraq--kidnapped by Taliban forces bent on generating chaos in the region. Two others also drop out of sight--a high-placed Iraqi civilian and an American woman providing humanitarian aid. Are the disappearances linked? Rumors circulate in a whirl of misinformation.

Marc must unravel the truth in a covert operation requiring utmost secrecy--from both the Americans and the insurgents. But even more secret than the undercover operation is the underground dialogue taking place between sworn enemies. Will the ultimate Reconciler between ancient enemies, current foes, and fanatical religious factions be heard?


About the Author:  CLICK HERE






This book is set in Iraq around a kidnapping and involves an American agent so as expected it is a fast paced adventure novel but I really loved the way Davis Bunn brought in the quieter segments of the story which are so often badly written and almost overlooked.

It is a good read for someone who wants an action story but you must also be prepared for the fact that this book is about relationships on many levels.  Throughout the story there are various characters introduced who would not work together or be brought together in normal circumstances but here there is an example of how serving and helping others is more important than political and religious viewpoints.

At the end of the book we are left with the anticipation that some of the characters will meet again and there are many of them who we would like to have the opportunity to meet again too. So is this what happens in the next Marc Royce story?   Well if you enjoy this one then you can get no. 2 in the series entitled "RARE EARTH"  which is what I did straight away because I thoroughly enjoyed this first one.


Head on over to AMAZON now because the "LION OF BABYLON" ebook is free during November too.



Also I will be reviewing "RARE EARTH" in this blog in a couple of days time 
so click here for that.



Also I will be reviewing the latest release  "Strait of Hormuz" in this blog in a couple of days time 


Have you read this?


Do you agree or disagree with me?


Why not leave a comment and let me know.







Tuesday

Let me Introduce you to One of My Favourite Authors


...... Davis Bunn.


From the day I read his novel "The Presence" I was an avid fan and you can read my review of that book in this earlier blog post.

    The Presence - Book Review 



Now I am excited to be reading his latest novel just released today "The Strait of Hormuz" (the third book in his Mark Royce Series) and I will be reviewing it here on my blog on Tuesday 12th November, so don't forget to drop in then and see how good the book is.





Before that however I will give you a nice run up to it by reviewing the first two books in this series "Lion of Babylon" 






and "Rare Earth" and if you head over to Amazon they are available there at good prices.  







Just click on the pictures of the books or the titles to see more about them.



About Davis Bunn


Davis Bunn is a four-time Christy Award-winning, best-selling author now serving as writer-in-residence at Regent's Park College, Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Defined by readers and reviewers as a "wise teacher," "gentleman adventurer," "consummate writer," and "Renaissance man," his work in business took him to over 40 countries around the world, and his books have sold more than seven million copies in sixteen languages. 



Davis Bunn and his wife, Isabella 




Strait of Hormuz is the series finale of the popular Marc Royce Adventures. Library Journal named Lion of Babylon (Book 1) a “Best Book of 2011.” Rare Earth (Book 2) won the 2013 Christy Award for best suspense novel and was a CBA top 20 best-seller.




Q & A with Davis Bunn

Q: The first two books in the Marc Royce series have been bestsellers and also won praise from the critics. Lion of Babylon won the Library Journal’s Best Book of 2011 award, and Rare Earth won the 2013 Christy Award for Suspense Fiction. What do you see is behind this success?

Davis Bunn: The stories have certainly resonated with readers. I have tried to develop a strong sense of unfolding drama, combined with a unique spiritual theme. This moral structure plays out both in the story and the characters. My aim is to create an inspirational challenge that remains with the reader long after the book has been set down.


Q: This story includes two special components from your early life. Tell us about them.

DB: My mother worked as an antiques dealer. In truth, ‘work’ was not really the correct term, because this was a passion she inherited from her mother. They bonded while my mom was still a child, going to small eastern Carolina towns and hunting around junk stores for the sort of bargains that don’t exist anymore.
Their first love was early Americana, a type of colonial furniture known as Jacobean that predated America’s nationhood. I never really shared this passion, but in two previous books I came to respect and admire those who do.
And so I knew a great delight in re-entering this world in Strait of Hormuz, only this time at the very highest end. Strait takes place in the rarified world of multi-million dollar art, where the richest of collectors vie with museums and galleries for items that are no longer classed as antiques, but rather as treasures
The second special component was the location. I lived in Switzerland for almost five years, and many of the venues were places where I worked, and walked, and came to discover myself as an author.


Q: In what way is the setting important to this book?

DB: The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical waterways. Stretching between Iran and the Gulf States, the strait us home to two US fleets. More than a third of all the oil consumed worldwide pass through these waters. But the story actually begins in Switzerland, before traveling to the Sinai and then into the hotly-contested Strait of Hormuz.








Q: What spiritual theme is the focus of this story?

DB: One growing area of the missionary church movement is with displaced persons. More than five million Iranians have been expelled from their homeland, or been forced to flee the current regime. This includes virtually the entire Christian population. The missionary church movement has made enormous strides in bringing peace to these families and introducing Christ into the world of Muslims fleeing a Muslim government.

Q: What drew you to the missionary church movement as a theme? 

DB: I came to faith in a missionary church. I was working as a consultant based in Germany. The year I accepted Christ, the Southern Baptist Mission Board founded a missionary church in Dusseldorf. I attended the church, I grew in the church, I studied under two amazing pastors, and one of them returned to Europe to marry us.
It was also where I learned to write. Two weeks after coming to faith, I felt called to writing. I wrote for nine years and completed seven books before my first was accepted for publication. The church, its members, and the elders all played a critical role in bringing me to where I am now. I am living testimony to the vital role played by the missionary church.


Q: All three of the books in this series have given significant insight into the Muslim world, something critics have picked up on. What experience do you have with this region?

DB: For the four years prior to moving to Germany, I lived and worked in the Middle East. I was the only non-Muslim in the management structure of a family-owned company. They had three major arms: construction equipment, shipping, and pharmaceuticals. I rose to become Marketing Manager of the pharmaceutical division.
One of the requirements of this job was to take instruction in the Koran and Islamic history from an imam who taught at the local university. I think this experience played a major role in my coming to Christ.


UPDATE:

You can now read my "Lion of Babylon" Review

and "Rare Earth" Review

and the latest release  "Strait of Hormuz" Review


Have you read any books by Davis Bunn?


If so please leave a comment to say which ones and what you thought of them.



  

Disclaimer:
I have not received any compensation for my views or recommendations of books in this blogpost