The Final Summit

David Ponder is one of the Travelers, those who God has allowed to travel through time accompanied by archangels and witness various events in history. Many Travelers are historical figures, such as Winston Churchill, Anne Frank, and Benjamin Franklin. But the time has come for judgment of humanity. God has tasked the archangel Gabriel with gathering the Travelers and appointing them to come up with the one reason (already known to Gabriel) that humanity should be spared. As the Travelers discuss their past lives and various possible answers, they discuss several ideas of what the right thing humans should do and change in their lives. But there is only one good reason, and the Travelers struggle to determine what that reason should be.

This is a short book, I was able to read it in a few hours, but I am not sure if I like it too much. I kept thinking that I was missing something while reading and should have read the previous book in order to understand everything that happened. Most of the characters are based on actual people from history, and I did like reading about their interactions with each other. But the dialogue of the characters seem out of place. I think this book would be better written as a non-fiction book, without a story. It seems the story is just a reason to write the book, so I think the author would have been better off writing about why humanity should act and what we need to do to change ourselves instead of writing about characters telling us what we should do.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nick of Time

In Nick of Time, Nick Polchak, a forensic entomologist, and Alena Savard, a dog trainer who specializes in training dogs for the FBI, the DEA, and Homeland Security, are getting married in a few days, but instead of helping Alena plan, Nick wants to go to a meeting of the Vidocq Society. The Vidocq Society reviews old cases and offers help and direction to detectives in order to come closer to solving the cases. Nick is specially invited to this meeting by an old friend for a certain case. After the friend turns up dead, Nick starts hunting for clues to the killer, pretty much up to the day of his wedding. Alena, concerned that Nick might not make the wedding, takes a few of her dogs to track Nick down. Along the way, Nick and Alena find out information separately concerning Nick’s friend and it all ends in a huge surprise ending that no one was expecting.

I did not like this book too much. I did like the premise, the storyline and the mystery, but Nick makes way too many wisecracks, especially in the first chapter. I know he is supposed to be pretty much antisocial and inconsiderate but I think he is at an extreme. Alena has some of her own weird quirks, but she is much more likeable than Nick. The ending was good and I would probably read the other past and future books in this series, but I am not sure how much more of an annoying Nick I could take. I have to admit, I do not even think I would use my money to buy the books. I might just look for them at the library to read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”