Richard Davis (30)

I took far too long to get around to reading False Prophet but once I started to read it, I really couldn't put it down and it turned out to be a very quick, riveting read. Saul Marshall is such a multi-faceted character; he's a con-man turned FBI agent so he knows more than most how the criminal mind works, basically because he has a criminal mind himself.

The prologue will not fail to hook every single reader that turns the first page of False Prophet. Imagine sitting down to breakfast with your morning newspaper and seeing your obituary in the paper. That's what happened to Aaron Woolf, who then received a phone call from his missing son rapidly followed by masked men entering his apartment to stage his apparent suicide. Saul Marshall has something in common with Aaron Woolf; his son, Samuel, has gone missing too. As Saul races to save his son, he uncovers something bigger than he could ever have imagined.

False Prophet is an absolutely stonking first thriller from Richard Davis and a fast-paced rollercoaster of a read; I think I held my breath several times during the book and almost forgot to breathe at the heart-stopping finale. It certainly gets you thinking as the story links to the 20th anniversary of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the 40th anniversary of the 1973 failed bomb plot codenamed Tribomb. It's a brilliant idea, and one probably very true to life, to have a false prophet using religion to 'cash in' on the jihadi mentality of willing suicide bombers. Are these islamic militants really any different to religious cult leaders?

With a character as strong and flawed as Saul Marshall, Richard Davis is definitely on to a winner here. I was so eager to read more of Saul's story that I immediately went on to read the next book in the series, Never Forget.

I chose to read to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.… (más)

I absolutely LOVED the first Saul Marshall thriller, False Prophet, so I started reading Never Forget straight after as I couldn't get enough of Saul Marshall. We are introduced to Saul again as he listens in to police radio. He's like a modern-day real-life Batman: a shadowy vigilante trying to put a spanner in the works of criminals on the streets of California. When he hears something on police radio, he starts his engine and rushes to the scene. What he sees puts him on a rollercoaster he can't get off and when a lady needs his help he puts on his bat-cape and (hopefully) saves the day (and the girl).

Saul swoops in to save the damsel in distress and teams up with Ellen, the attempted abductee, and puts together all the pieces of the puzzle to see why she is so valuable. Saul is a wanted man so he can't go to the authorities but he still has some friends in law enforcement who are willing to put their jobs on the line to help him. As he helps Ellen, he puts himself back on the radar again and he must be one step ahead to avoid being caught whilst removing the threat that could tear the government apart.

Wow! What a ride! I love the character of Saul Marshall, he could be any man on the street. It's absolute genius to have a main character who was a con-man, FBI agent and now a wanted man. If Saul is Batman, then Vann is definitely Robin; his trusty sidekick who can swoop in to save the day. Although this was a bit too techie for me at times, it is a fantastic edition to an AMAZING series. I'm not a fan of politics but I will grab with both hands any political thrillers starring Saul Marshall. Hollywood, take note, Saul Marshall is destined for the big screen!

I chose to read to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.… (más)

I'm a huge fan of the Saul Marshall books by Richard Davis and I'm completely honoured to have a character named after me in Riot, the third book in the series. I've never met the author but, aside from being a robot scientist (how cool), the character he created does surprisingly bear an uncanny physical resemblance to me. I just want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Richard Davis for bestowing such an amazing honour on me. So enough about my immortality in print, lets see what Saul Marshall is up to in this third instalment.

Saul, Greg and Thom were all members of the elite FBI unit HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) and when Thom is killed, the two remaining members become targets. Saul teams up with Rosa, Greg's ex-wife, who works for Homeland Security when riots sweep the USA. The riots are all being masterminded by uber-gamer, Red, who is manoeuvring people like pawns on a chess board as he turns virtual reality into reality. Red is after a certain prize: an antique gas mask last seen in Thom's possession, putting anyone who knew Thom in immediate danger. The question is: can Saul and Rosa stop Red before it's game over?

It actually gives me goosebumps just thinking about events in Riot. We hear so much on the news about shootings and knife attacks influenced by computer games so I wouldn't be surprised to find the events in Riot replicated in real life at some point. Or perhaps they already have been...

Riot is a very clever book, but I have to say that it was sometimes a little bit complicated - it's quite technological so anyone who likes gaming and computers will positively love it. I know my fair share of computer coding but I've never been one for computer games so I did find it hard to engage now and again. Fortunately, Saul Marshall is such a well-developed character that he maintained my interest when the story sometimes got a bit geeky and with Saul around there are always going to be a multitude of heart in the mouth moments to raise my eyebrows and drop my jaw.

Richard Davis is a highly talented author and I am frequently recommending the Saul Marshall series to other readers. Riot can definitely be read as a standalone but it will make you want to read the other two books in the series to find out Saul Marshall's back story, so my recommendation would be to read them in order to get the most out of them. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next in the colourful, crazy and unpredictable life of Saul Marshall. Riot is so shockingly true to life that I defy anyone to read it without getting goosebumps.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.… (más)

A new offering of a modern-day warrior tale comes to life in the form of “Never Forget,” a second sequel in the Saul Marshall series. Saul Marshall is plunged into the harrowing machinations of evil which force him to pursue diabolical enemies.

The story escalates in a compelling crescendo of lies and bureaucracy. Davis has created a wide parallel of cautionary terror and thematic consequences that every reader is coming to associate with his writing.

Read the entire review here: bookendchronicles.blogspot.com… (más)