Monday 19 January 2015

The Blood Gospel - James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell - The Order of Sanguines Book 1.0

The Blood Gospel
Sanguines Book 1.0
James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell
William Morrow an imprint of
Harper Collins
ISBN 9780062247872


It has been a long time since a new author or series has seized me as much as these authors and this series. In the matter of a few days while travelling for work I read the prequel, first novel and short story between the first and second novel. These are riving stories that were very hard to put down. Now to be honest they are not the sort of thing I usually read any more. These were the sort of novels I read about 15-20 years ago when Anne Rice was at her peak and I was just a university student looking for distractions from studies. But there is something about the way these stories are written, especially this first novel in the trilogy, The Blood Gospel, which grabbed my attention and would not let it go.

The basic story is that an earth quake centered in Masada, Israel, unleashes a gas that kills hundreds. Sergeant Jordan Stone is there to investigate the compound used and trace it's source and eliminate the threat. Father Rhun Korza is there to run his own investigation. And Dr. Erin Granger is called in as an archeologist against her will, to investigate a tomb found hidden in the mountain. The three are the only survivors of a brutal attack that wipes out Stone's team of highly trained military men. The three flee, and are now on the run chasing clues that should lead them to The Blood Gospel a book supposedly written in Christ's own blood. The three must explore the past in order to try and save the future. But there are many hands at play.

The Order of Sanguines is a secret society within the Catholic church, they are sworn to fight the Strigoi, vampires, but they also have other secrets. The Belial are a group who work with the srigoi.

The three main characters are wonderfully written. You really appreciate the strengths and weaknesses each brings to the team. The story is face paced and high addictive. It is like a cross between Dan Brown and Anne Rice but better than either. It is a great novel and should prove to be an awesome trilogy!

Books by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell:
The Order of the Sanguines Trilogy

0.5 City of Screams
1.0 The Blood Gospel
1.5 Blood Brothers
2.0 Innocent Blood
3.0 Blood Infernal
...

Tucker Wayne Series with Grant Blackwood:
The Kill Switch
War Hawk
...

Books by James Rollins:
SIGMA Force Series:

1. Sandstorm
2. Map of Bones
3. Black Order
4. The Judas Strain
5. The Last Oracle
6. The Doomsday Key
6.5 The Skeleton Key
7. The Devil Colony
7.5 Tracker
8. Bloodline
9. The Eye of God
10. The Sixth Extinction
11. The Bone Labyrinth
...

Kids & Adult Series
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow
Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx
...

Stand-alone Novels:
Subterranean
Excavation
Deep Fathom
Amazonia
Ice Hunt
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Altar of Eden
...

Written as James Clemens:
The Banned and the Banished Series:

Wit'ch Fire
Wit'ch Storm
Wit'ch War
Wit'ch Gate
Wit'ch Star
...

The Godslayer Series:
Shadowfall
Hinterland

...

Books by Rebecca Cantrell:
The Man in the Attic
A Time of Night and Fog
Cigarette Boy and Other Stories
Caulbearer

Joe Tesla Series:
The World Beneath
The Tesla Legacy
The Chemistry of Death
The Steel Shark

Hannah Vogel Series:
A Trace of Smoke 
A Night of Long Knives 
A Game of Lies 
A City of Broken Glass 
Hannah Vogel Short Stories\Novella’s:
Cigarette Boy

As Bekka Black:
iMonster Series:
iDracula
iFrankenstein

Tucker Wayne Series with Grant Blackwood:
The Kill Switch
War Hawk

Malibu Mystery Series with Sean Black:
"A" is for Actress or "A" is for Asshat 
"B" is for Bad Girls 
"C" is for Coochy Coo 
"D" is for Drunk 
"E" is for Exposed 
"F" is for Fred 
"G" is for Groovy 

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