by Cym Lowell
- File Size: 1506 KB
- Print Length: 352 pages
- Publisher: Rosemary Beach Press (March 5, 2014)
- ASIN: B00ITF9VJ4
Genre: Thriller
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0
Book Description
Publication Date: March 5, 2014
Greenwich, Connecticut socialite Jaspar Moran has it all—a magnificent estate, two beautiful children and a loving husband, Trevor, serving as the Secretary of the Treasury. Protected, admired and living in the lap of luxury, Jaspar is reeling from the news that his government jet has crashed just as her children vanish without a trace.
An ominous message warns her to keep silent about her husband’s role in the President’s economic plan. Or else.
Determined to save her children, she’ll go to hell and back, form alliances with assassins, traitors and Mafioso, and commit unspeakable acts—if that’s what it takes. With alarms sounding around the world, hunted from all sides, and unsure of who to trust, she finds herself depending on a mysterious figure without an identity.
Jaspar journeys from the Australian outback to the palazzos of Rome, the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, and to the magnificence of the Vatican, in her quest. Can she rescue her children before the plot to crash the global economy is unleashed?
Book Description
Publication Date: March 5, 2014
Greenwich, Connecticut socialite Jaspar Moran has it all—a magnificent estate, two beautiful children and a loving husband, Trevor, serving as the Secretary of the Treasury. Protected, admired and living in the lap of luxury, Jaspar is reeling from the news that his government jet has crashed just as her children vanish without a trace.
An ominous message warns her to keep silent about her husband’s role in the President’s economic plan. Or else.
Determined to save her children, she’ll go to hell and back, form alliances with assassins, traitors and Mafioso, and commit unspeakable acts—if that’s what it takes. With alarms sounding around the world, hunted from all sides, and unsure of who to trust, she finds herself depending on a mysterious figure without an identity.
Jaspar journeys from the Australian outback to the palazzos of Rome, the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, and to the magnificence of the Vatican, in her quest. Can she rescue her children before the plot to crash the global economy is unleashed?
Review:
Jaspar has a wonderful life with her important husband who is the Secretary of the Treasury, and their two children. One moment she is playing an afternoon ball game with the kids and the next the children have disappeared and she learns her husband is presumed dead in a plane crash. The press begins to accuse Trevor of manipulating financial markets for personal gain. She knows Trevor was upset about something before he left but he didn’t get the chance to tell her what it was. No one is taking credit for the kidnapping of the children and the only message she gets is that she must remain silent if she wants them to live.
Jaspar finds a thumb drive with information that she believes shows Trevor was suspecting financial patterns by someone in the government. Jaspar seeks help from her long-time family priest and friend to set up a plan of action and arrange to get the information to a financial wizard whom Jaspar trusts, a reclusive American Indian, Chief Bearstrike.
Jaspar is delivered into the hands of Nulandi, an intelligent, sensitive and confidently trained warrior assassin. He travels with his faithful guard dog, Alice, who is trained for Nul’s missions. Nul explains to Jaspar that she must become a warrior to rescue her children. Just as Jaspar’s father used to make the right lure for different fish, Jaspar will be the bait to lure the kidnappers out so they can follow the trail back to the children.
While Jaspar, Nul and Alice race around Europe reeling in killers, Chief Bearstrike meets with another friend, Jason Brontus, a US Attorney. They unravel the financial patterns that have already reaped ill-gotten profits and are setting up to collapse America’s economy. The trail leads to someone with White House connections so they have to be careful who they take the information to.
The story jumps into action and intrigue and never really slows down. There are wonderful, strong characters and great disguises including nuns in habits, a large, old black woman and young boy, a seductress and a race car driver. There is intrigue in plans, traps and near escapes. There is also some raw sexual exposure and rather brutal killing which are not for squeamish readers.
A strong, loving friendship develops between Jaspar and Nulandi that just borders on moving into a physical relationship. As Nul trains Jaspar to be a warrior, she shares the strength of her faith and trust in God with Nul who needs to find that unconditional love and peace for his life. Yet the story includes an interesting mix of Native American beliefs and a certain primal mysticism as well as the Godly faith.
The writing is direct and fast paced with occasional passages of beautiful description interspersed amid the raw danger and killing. I was impressed with the female protagonist being written by a male author. My only disappointments were that the villain who held the children seemed to get off easy after all of his nefarious dealings and the climactic encounter with the 'mastermind' seemed rushed. Still, I really enjoyed the non-stop action and the strong friendships that helped Jaspar on her mission. I highly recommend this entertaining read to those who like a strong, action-packed thriller.
I was pleased to see this new release by Cym who provided a copy for my honest review.
Working with Soldiers’ Angels through his initiative OPERATION: NEXT CHAPTER, Lowell is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of “Jaspar's War,” to provide voice-controlled laptops to military personnel recovering from amputations, paralysis, eye injuries, burns and brain trauma.
See more information at Cym's blog.
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