Heather’s Bookshelf: The Satan Gene
Author: DW Eamer
Released: 01/17/22
Genre: Historical Thriller
“Normally, having visited this place on multiple occasions, he would have made his way slowly down the main aisle, marveling at the impressive baroque style architecture, stunning decor, and the incredible beauty of the religious artwork that the church of his chosen brothers displayed. He would have stopped to offer a prayer of thanks to each angel on display as he progressed into the heart of the church.
Today, however, beholding beautiful things and praying to angels was not his priority”
“The Satan Gene” begins with an assassin, Sicarius, who pursues a couple of men with secret connections including a professor at Yale. Suspecting his pending demise, he leaves clues to a research assistant, Abriana Stratton. The young woman joins forces with an ex-priest, Gareth Blackwell, to solve the clues and prevent terrifying technology from landing in the wrong hands.
The clues begin in Boston and lead to several other sites that link historical and religious history, including in Italy. Abriana and Gareth join forces with an organization determined to save the US. The team races to beat Sicarius and the secret organization he works for as well as some other unforeseen enemies.
Along the way, Abriana and Gareth learn about their connections to the professor, his history, his actions, and how their lives have been forever changed. Will they be able to stop the worst from happening? Or will even more secrets destroy them both—- and the world?
Trigger Warning: violence, murder, torture
Overall, I enjoyed this story. I personally love a good historical fiction with puzzles and mysteries. I’m a big Dan Brown fan and this book was from the same wheelhouse. Clearly the author had visited some of the sites in the story. The depiction of the space under the Old Church was pretty spot on from how I remember it. And I personally loved following the characters from Boston to Italy. However, I had some issues with some of the dialogue or POVs. There was insight from the character opposite the narrator that should not have been known to the reader. This was especially demonstrated in the flashback of Sicarius’ and how he started on his path. The story is already told by multiple POVs, often in short snippets of chapters, and the deviation from POV is challenging. I also found Blackwell’s nickname a little cringy. The book is filled with theories, conspiracies, and rumor as well as little known facts. (The one about Arlington Cemetery blew my mind!) But most are simply discussed between Blackwell and another character. I wish the author would have been able to demonstrate this some more through interactions with environment or maybe by visiting other sites along the way. For example: much of the conspiracy discussed takes place in DC, but only the last few pages actually take place there. There’s a twist that I didn’t seem coming, but I actually felt it took away from the tale. The ending wraps everything up nicely, though clearly sequels could follow.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A historical thriller filled with conspiracy and rumor. While some secrets are interesting and the adventure intriguing, the amount is overwhelming and challenging to connect with through mostly dialogue.
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out my interview with DW Eamer
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