Blood Moon
Rising #2
By Heather Graham and Jon Land
ISBN 9780765389718
Author’s website: theorginalheathergraham.com
Author’s website: jonlandbooks.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
The action-packed follow up to The Rising, from acclaimed thriller-suspense novelists Heather Graham and Jon Land, this is Blood Moon.
The recipient of RWA’s Lifetime Achievement Award and ITW’s ThrillerMaster Award, Heather Graham is at the pinnacle of her career. Now she’s teamed up with USA Today bestselling author Jon Land to continue the story of high school seniors Alex Chin and Samantha Dixon.
They may have managed to win a major battle against the powerful enemy determined to destroy civilization as we know it. But the war continues, with Alex and Sam embarking on a desperate journey to save mankind, even as their friendship blossoms into something much more.
The roadmap for their journey lies in a mysterious book, the language of which has never been deciphered, until Alex finds himself able to translate the words that may hold the keys to saving the future. Toward that end, Alex’s and Sam’s quest spirits them away to a myriad of locations around the world, each of which holds another piece of the puzzle that can defeat the alien invaders.
But an ageless foe, long the guardian of the secrets his race has left behind on Earth, arises to stop them at all costs. At his disposal is a deadly and merciless army that has been awaiting this very war, an army as unstoppable as it is relentless.
Over the ruins of the lost Mayan city of El Mirador, a blood moon is about to rise, triggering the end of mankind unless Alex and Sam can prevail in a struggle that will determine the fate of the planet. As forces both ancient and modern converge, as painful choices must be made and sacrifices accepted, two young heroes will rise again to stand as the final line of defense to preserve their world and their love. (from Goodreads)
Review:
Wow! This brilliant novel is so well-written that this reader almost forgot that some of it is outside the realm of reality. I really liked the protagonists, both teens, and adults. All are well-defined as needed for their roles and present circumstances. The settings, especially Egypt and El Mirador, would be great to visit! The spectacular sensory adventures came to life through the vivid descriptions of the authors, and many times I felt as if I were there.
Samantha and Alex appear to be average high school seniors until the Friday night prior to the events occurring in this novel. Alex, a high school football, star incurs a head injury during the game. The CT scan showed something he never knew before. He would never again be that average high school student dreaming of playing in the NFL. Sam has amazingly above-average intelligence, interns for Dr. Donati at NASA’s astrobiology research center, and identified events that he did not. She planned to study space science. She has a well-rounded education and remarkable memory.
Sam has been tutoring Sam to help him with classes he is struggling in so he can continue as one of the school’s lead football stars with NFL potential when graduating from college. They grew close throughout the months of tutoring and are interested in each other.
They have just defeated a plot to destroy our world, and unbeknownst to them, the battle has just begun. Alex is in possession of a book that was written by hand in an unknown language centuries ago that holds the secrets of what they must do and where they must go to save the world. It would prove to be the most difficult and at times horrifying adventure in their lives and the lives of Dr. Donati and his mentor, Dr. Wilson.
This lightning-paced sci-fi adventure reveals secrets of Alex’s past of which he was unaware. We see hope for future generations through observing the self-sacrifice each of the good guys puts forward to end the plan of the aliens to destroy the world through more than two dozen well-placed beings of destruction throughout the world. The only way to save it is to find the locations of three unidentified keys/ items that, if joined together during only one specific event, would stop the mass destruction. They face incredible odds along with what appears to be indestructible armies of unsurpassed power.
I was extremely impressed by this intense, fascinating novel! There is just enough reality proven by history and archaeological finds and various sciences and mathematics that anything seen by the protagonists was plausible. The story stretches one’s mind and imagination, shows the tremendous technological changes over the past half-century, and challenges us to consider the benefits versus the cost when accepting or even inviting these changes. I suggest that the novels be read in order, as they build on each other. I highly recommend it for sci-fi and/or adventure fans from young adult to senior adult readers.
