Sunday, May 31, 2015

Review: King's Crusade by A.D. Starrling

King's Crusade 
by A.D. Starrling
Series:  Seventeen #2
Pub. Date:  Feb. 5, 2015
Publisher:  Self-Pub
Pages:  396
Format:  eBook
Source:  Purchased
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:


The perfect immortal warrior. 
A set of stolen, priceless artifacts. 
An ancient sect determined to bring about the downfall of human civilization. 

The exciting, action-packed follow-up to Soul Meaning and the second installment in the supernatural thriller series, Seventeen. 


When a team of scientists unearth scriptures older than the Dead Sea Scrolls in a cave in the Eastern Desert mountains in Egypt, a mystery lost to the tides of time is uncovered. Heading the expedition is Dimitri Reznak, the Head of the Crovir Immortal Culture & History Section. But the monumental discovery is spoiled by evidence of looting and half the priceless artifacts Reznak has been seeking for centuries have disappeared. 


Alexa King is a covert agent for the Crovir First Council. When she is approached by her godfather for a mission that could help elucidate the enigma of her lost past, she finds herself delving into the dangerous and shadowy world of secret religious societies. Assigned by Reznak to assist her is Zachary Jackson, a gifted human and Harvard archaeology professor. 


In their search for the missing artifacts, King and Jackson stumble upon the existence of a deadly sect whose origins are as mystifying as the relics they are searching for. From North Africa to the doors of Vatican City itself, they unveil a centuries-old plan that aims to shatter the very structure of civilized society. 


With the help of Reznak and a group of unexpected allies, King and Jackson must stop the enemy and uncover the astonishing truth behind the missing artifacts and King’s own unearthly origins before all is lost.



Most. Kickass. Heroine. Ever.

At a time when I have been getting aggravated to the Nth degree by whiny romance heroines who fight against their fate and treat people like dirt, I was absolutely elated to find this series by A.D. Starrling. I really enjoyed the first book, Soul Meaning, so I didn't know how I would feel about the main character switching in the second book. However, by the end of the first chapter, I could tell that I was going to love this book even more. Alexa was an absolutely fascinating character and I couldn't get enough of her. Hello - immortal warrior female reincarnated!?! She kicked major ass and didn't even worry about the taking names part. This book was just as action-packed as Soul Meaning, it just had a little more of The Da Vinci Code feel in that we are hot on the trail of the origins of the immortal races and there are esoteric and secret societies involved including Freemasons, mentions of the Illuminati, and the Rose Croix.

Our hero in this piece was Jackson, a Harvard professor who was extremely intelligent but still carried a mean uppercut. Jackson's exuberance for solving historical puzzles got me excited right along with him, and I loved seeing the romance slowly unfold between him and Alexa. (Don't worry guys - there is not enough romance for you to lose your man card by reading this one.) The romance was just enough for the story and was very tastefully done. There are some parts of the story which will likely squeeze a few tears out of the female readers (as happened w/ me).

We continued to have great secondary characters in this book - but my favorite by far was Yonten. I was really hoping that he would be the main character in The Warrior Monk. I can't say more w/o giving spoilers.

A.D. Starrling's books are well-written, researched and will keep the reader engaged from start to finish. I get the feeling that she is extremely intelligent and really gets into the details of her work. I am a huge fan, and would hope to see these books as movies one day.

View all my review

Seventeen Series



Review coming June 9

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