Book Review of “The Last Sicarius”

“The Last Sicarius” eBook was published in 2014 and was written by Van R. Mayhall Jr. This is Mr. Mayhall’s second novel.

I obtained a galley of this novel for review through https://www.netgalley.com. I would categorize this novel as ‘R’ as there are instances of Violence. This Religious Thriller novel is set in contemporary Louisiana, France, Jerusalem, and Tunisia.

Clotile Lejeune returns as the primary character. She has gone to work at LSU translating the scroll uncovered in the first book of the series, “Judas the Apostle”. She is asked to travel to Rome and there meets with the Pope. He asks her to temporarily leave her work and help find the cache of scrolls that her father had told her about.

Many have tried to find the cave in the Tunisian mountains, but the Pope feels Lejeune will have success where so many others have failed. They are also in a race to get to the cave with the scrolls as the organization they all thought had died with the ‘Collector’ has reemerged and is seeking the cave.

With the support of the Catholic church and her son, Lejeune and her team strike out to search for the cave. They face numerous attacks from their mysterious foe, and loose friends. There are many life and death struggles through the novel as the plot winds its way towards a conclusion.

I spent a little less than 7 hours with this novel and enjoyed it. I felt that his novel was a little more polished that the first. I give this novel a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com).

Book Review of “Judas the Apostle”

“Judas the Apostle” eBook was published in 2013 and was written by Van Mayhall Jr. This is Mr. Mayhall’s first novel.

I obtained a galley of this novel for review through https://www.netgalley.com. I would categorize this novel as ‘R’ as there are instances of Violence. This Religious Thriller novel is set in contemporary Louisiana, France and Israel.

Clotile Lejeune holds a Phd. in Ancient Languages and is a college professor in Seattle. Her estranged father is murdered and she returns home to New Orleans with her son for the funeral. An old oil jar that her father came into possession of during a mission in World War II to north Africa is bequeathed to Lejeune.

There seems to be a connection between the old jar and her father’s murder. She soon finds herself intertwined with priests from the vatican as well as operatives of a mysterious figure who is wiling to let nothing stand in the way of his possession of the jar.

Lejeune begins to decipher the contents of the jar, but she finds her life in jeopardy. When one of her party is kidnapped, she and her small entourage travel to France to exchange the jar for the prisoner. The story has lots of twists and turns, and as the title implies, the contents of the jar reveals new information about Judas Iscariot. The story feels a tiny bit like ’The Da Vinci Code’ in that Lejeune and company are on the trail of historical documents secreted in an old French church.

I liked the plot and enjoyed the 7 hours I spent with the novel. That said, I feel that the novel wasn’t as polished as it could have been. I give this novel a 3.6 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com).