Tag Archives: Conspiracy

Review: The Progeny by Tosca Lee

Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, New Adult 18up, , , , , ,

progenyThe Progeny
Tosca Lee
Howard Books

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Twenty-one year old Emily Jacobs wakes up to learn she has elected to have her memory erased. In a small town in Maine, she struggles to form a plan for her future. A handsome stranger approaches her in a grocery store, and she reluctantly lets him into her life. Which would be great, but apparently he’s trying to kill her. Emily flees with no clues as to her past, the identity of her allies or her enemies beyond a hidden code recovered in a necklace. The code leads her to a conspiracy spanning generations and linking her genetically to the most famous female serial killer.

Part Davinci Code, part Memento, The Progeny is a roller coaster ride that never stops. As soon as you think you understand what’s going on, hold your breath, because the next page will probably change everything.

I’ve been a long-time reader and fan of Tosca Lee, going all the way back to her debut novel, Demon. Lee has an incredible gift for taking a familiar story (like the creation story referenced in Demon) and making it fresh and new without veering from its core truths. Though this is a modern-day suspense-filled story, Lee remains strong in connecting readers to the humanity of her characters and their very believable struggles and questions. All of the faith elements in this story felt real and natural. Faith isn’t the central theme, but it’s present and organic in its presence.

This is definitely a great read for fans of the series Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee wrote together, The Books of Mortals. It’s suspenseful and action-packed, spanning across the US to Eastern Europe. Would I read the sequel? Yes. Absolutely. Can I read it tomorrow?!

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. That characters are having sex is implied but not explicitly described.

Spiritual Content
Among Emily’s allies are monks and nuns. More than once she wonders about God’s role in her life, what his judgment would be for sins committed. She also spends some time thinking about her own faith.

Violent Content
Emily’s enemies are brutal. She witnesses their cruelty in the form of video clips sent to her showing friends they’ve captured and beaten. She witnesses the aftermath of the beating, not the act itself. She also learns of friends who’ve been murdered.

There are some brief details about Emily’s ancestor, the serial killer, but nothing drawn out or gory.

Drug Content
Emily drinks tequila and longs for a glass of wine. She is twenty-one.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: Black Helicopters by Blythe Woolston

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Black Helicopters
Blythe Woolston
Candlewick Press
Published March 1, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

She heard the sound of the black helicopters approaching the day Mabby died. Since then, Valley and her big brother Bo have been hiding and waiting for their Da to come home. Staying out of sight because you never know when Those People will show up again. Valley wants to help. Da sends messages to Those People, ones they will not forget. Ticking packages that make Them listen.

But Da is gone now, and it is only Valley and Bo. Bo is forgetting. Only Valley remembers what Da said. Only Valley sees the bigger game. She will make Those People listen to her message. With one flick of her finger, they will feel her pain, her terror and never forget.

Indoctrinated from her youth, all Valley knows of the world is that it’s not safe. Life is carefully controlled by an elusive group who will shoot down anyone who tries to live outside their ways. The black helicopters will come. She marches along a dark path, fraught with poverty and abuse, determined to continue in her father’s footsteps. To destroy the world her enemies have created and make her voice and her story heard. Woolston creates a haunting tale of misery and paints the humanizing but tragic story of a girl whose life prepares her for only one fate: to become a suicide bomber. Readers who enjoyed Impulse by Ellen Hopkins or Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher will enjoy this novel.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A small handful of heavy curses.

Sexual Content
Valley is abused by a man who is supposed to care for her and her brother. One scene briefly but graphically describes the abuse.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
This is the story of a suicide bomber, so it’s heavy material. However, there is little violence described. Valley threatens a boy and his dog. Her mother dies standing outside in a garden, but there is no gore.

Drug Content
Valley’s brother Bo drinks beer. Valley sips mead and elderberry wine.

Reviewer’s Note: A Deeper Look at Black Helicopters

I finished reading Black Helicopters as news of the attack in Boston began to break. Suddenly I felt like Valley stepped off the pages of the story and into our lives.

As headlines poured in, like most of America, I felt angry. Such senseless violence. What’s the gain here? What is an event like this supposed to accomplish?

The truth: Valley’s story awakened in me a grudging sense of compassion. Talk about a kid who never had a chance at normal. She was her own first casualty.

Tragic.

Yet this isn’t the word I think of when I see the images of the men who stowed bombs that injured and killed innocent people. And yet the choices made that led to the April 15 attack by the Tsarnaev brothers are tragic.

Innocents lost their lives. Survivors were forever changed. But before April 15, 2013, hatred devoured two brothers.

Please understand: I believe what happened was inexcusable and wrong. But the tragedy began long before those bombs exploded, and for Ms. Woolston, Valley’s story began in the wake of another tragedy: September 11, 2001. On April 17, 2013 she posted a blog detailing her response to the Boston bombing and the release of Black Helicopters. Like her novel, it’s brief but powerful.

Book Giveaway!

Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a FREE copy of Black Helicopters by Blythe Woolston. (Winner must have US address for shipping.) Contest ends Monday May 13, 2013 11:59 pm Eastern Time.

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