Alois d’Pierrepont and Marton Prawer have been attending black market antiquities events trying to recover treasure stolen by Nazis during World War II. Marton is particularly interested in a certain missing Picasso.

Following the trail to France, the two stumble into far more than they bargained for when a shady auction they’re attending in Paris’s Latin Quarter is raided by Interpol. Alois’s uncle Frederick, from Bring Me Edelweiss, is soon hot on the case along with his lover Joel McIntyre.

After recovering the journal of a Nazi general the four men race across western Europe, chased by fascists desperate to find the treasure for themselves. Gunfights and car chases ensue as the group uses a map in the journal to track down the treasure and its contents, rumored to include the fabled Spear of Destiny.

Can Alois, Marton, and their crew find the treasure before the neo-Nazis do? And why is their every step dogged by mysterious men in black?

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Goodreads: Morrel & Morcerf and the Spear of Destiny (Five Points Stories) by Kyle Baxter

Review

Rating: 3.5 stars

*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

Whilst trying to recover a stolen Picasso, two university students stumble upon something much bigger. The race between groups to recover what they believe to be the authentic Spear of Destiny. Alois and his boyfriend Marton team up with Alois’ uncle and his lover. Together they must find the spear and its other treasures first.

This book was a mixed read for me. I enjoy reading Indiana Jones style races for mythical or lost treasure. This novel certainly had all the ingredients for that, but the pacing felt a bit stop start. Also, I felt there were too many characters involved. This had a detrimental effect on the main characters as half the time I was not sure who was supposed to be leading the story, and I did not feel as a reader I got to know them in any detail.

The author took a great deal of time to set scenes and create the backgrounds and villains for the treasure hunt, but again there seemed to be too many groups at play here and I think less may have been more.

I did enjoy reading Morrel & Morcerf and the Spear of Destiny. The action scenes were well-written and details and each clue to the treasure that they uncovered was carefully planned with plenty of turns in unexpected directions. For me I just felt that it could have been tightened up a bit in places and more focus on the main characters in the series.

Hello, tall, dark and handsome.’ Out and proud gay Albuquerque Homicide Detective Eagle Woodard studied Dr. Adam Coulter, criminal profiler, with a clinical eye. ‘Slender build…narrow waist, but nicely muscled underneath that Hugo Boss suit. People think you work out, Kemo, but you don’t.’ Eagle’s dark eyes narrowed. ‘You know I hate that day old beard look, but you were probably too wasted to bother. Nice eyes, green when they aren’t blood shot. Flawless tanned skin except for that tiny scar through your left eyebrow.’ The former Army Ranger grinned. ‘I gave that to you accidentally when we were 8 years old. When you stood up for this Navajo kid in an all white school. We both got our asses kicked.’ Eagle sighed and shook his head. That was the day he’d fallen in love with 4 times married, 4 times divorced, current roommate, Adam Coulter.

Eagle and Adam are faced with their toughest challenge yet. They must find an active serial killer before he strikes again. With the powers that be not cooperating and the killer proving to be elusive, will Eagle and Adam be able to stop the murderer while navigating their changing relationship? 

Purchase: Amazon.com

Goodreads: Warrior’s Way (Coulter and Woodard #1) 

Review

*I received a copy of this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

Rating: 3.5 stars

When Detective Eagle Woodard and criminal profiler Dr Adam Coulter pose as a gay couple with an upcoming fake wedding in order to catch a serial killer, it reawakens feelings that they both struggle to leave in the past. Eagle has always been in love with Adam, but Adam’s always insisted that he’s straight. However, as their fake relationship involves into something more real, they must put their feelings to one side in order to catch the killer or risk becoming their next victim.

I was very undecided as to how to rate this novel. There were parts I liked and parts that I didn’t like as much. I enjoyed the characterisation throughout the novel. Each character was well-crafted and had likeable and not so likeable traits as all good characters do. Eagle and Adam definitely had chemistry between them, however there were times when the relationship seemed a little forced, which was a shame as it really didn’t need to be.  It also felt quite rushed. One moment Adam was adamant that he was straight and the next minute they are flirting, kissing…it just seemed way too random how he’d change his mind so quickly, especially after getting so upset that the majority of his work colleagues already thought that he was gay.  More time could have been taken to develop the relationship naturally whilst properly exploring Adam’s denial.

The other trouble I had with this novel was how the author jumped back and forth between calling characters by their surname and then first name or nicknames. There was no logic to this and it just confused me.

The serial killer plot was great. The parts written from the killer’s point of view were quite graphic, but it was good to get inside the killer’s mind and their reasoning for doing what they did. The confrontation between the killer and the main characters took an unexpected twist which really took me by surprise.

Overall, I did enjoy it and I do want to read further books in the series as I am curious to see what happens next.

Quantum Night by Robert J. Sawyer

Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from twenty years previously—a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts.

Jim is reunited with Kayla Huron, his forgotten girlfriend from his lost period and now a quantum physicist who has made a stunning discovery about the nature of human consciousness. As a rising tide of violence and hate sweeps across the globe, the psychologist and the physicist combine forces in a race against time to see if they can do the impossible—change human nature—before the entire world descends into darkness.

Purchase: Amazon.com

Goodreads: Quantum Night

Review

*I received this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*

Rating: 3.5 stars

Quantum Night is a science fiction novel centred heavily around the theory that not all humans have a consciousness and in fact walk around in a zombie-like state and others are psychopaths. When psychologist Jim Marchuk discovers that a scientific experiment that he voluntarily took part in twenty years ago resulted in him temporarily losing his conscious state of mind, he teams up with his ex-girlfriend from his forgotten period to discover exactly what happened to him and who was responsible.

The themes running throughout this novel are really interested and delves deep into theories regarding conscious thought whilst engaging the main characters and pulling them towards the discovery of the truth. Quantum Night is a very interesting read, however I do feel there were missed opportunities. Rather than focusing on humanity as whole in the novel’s finale I feel a better direction might have been on the two main characters. This left me feeling slightly disappointed when the novel reached its conclusion.

That being said, I did enjoy reading Quantum Night and it drew on some very interesting theories and concepts. There was plenty of action and suspense to keep me wanting to turn the next page.