Honestly when this book arrived for review I did not think I was going to enjoy it. This is a little out of my reading genre. When I did get start reading it, from the very first page I was pleasantly surprised how the writing brought me right in! ~ Sheila
An incident in computer specialist Rick Macey’s past has put him on the path of revenge. If his plan is successful, the object of his wrath, the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, could lose millions of dollars and thousands of members. What Rick cannot foresee are the sinister ways this church will react when threatened.
Mormons begin receiving letters that question the validity of their gospel and inform them that loved-ones have been baptized into an alternative faith. It’s an assault on the authority of the church,and more importantly, it’s beginning to impact church revenues. The Mormon leadership dispatches Kay Summers, a young but capable administrative assistant, to Oregon, where she finds and follows a thread leading to Rick.
Unbeknown to her, they’ve also dispatched agents from the church’s secret army, the Danite Knights, to follow her to the source of the problem and fix it – permanently.
Initially, Rick and Kay play cat and mouse, each trying to find out what the other knows, while in the shadows the Danites use limitless resources preparing to stop not only the letters, but anybody involved with them. Soon, mysterious deaths and close calls start happening. Rick and Kay, the two erstwhile adversaries become a team; ultimately running for their lives, desperately trying to put the puzzle together as they stay one step ahead of the tempest Rick has awakened.
Much like the way Dan Brown captivated so many with his fiction book The Davinchi Code, I too became totally entwined in the fast paced adventure of this book. Normally, this is not my style of reading and I admit I was hesitant when it arrived…. computer hackers, church politics…. but from page one I let the preconceived notion of what I thought I would find in this book melt away…. it started with this:
Day One: Monday
Salt Lake City, Utah
She jogged. Not necessarily because she wanted to – more because she had to. If Kay stopped jogging for even a few days she would notice the slight weight gain on her body, the slightly pinched way her clothes felt. Her college days had been over for less than seven years, she thought. Back then it seemed she never exercised and had no trouble maintaining a slim figure. Before that it had all been high school volleyball that kept her fit. She was tall and had even played on the all-state team. Now, however, fitness was a semi constant battle – one she was more than willing to wage. She liked looking good.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t trying to look good for anyone in particular.
I liked Kay from those very first words. She was real. She battled like the rest of us (well, errr… me anyway). And the book flows on from there. I found the reading engaging, the storyline – two men trying to take the church for millions for different reasons. One for a broken heart filled with revenge, and the other for the almighty pay off.
The book moves quickly but did not feel rushed as I moved along with Kay, who works for the Mormon Church, to try to get to the bottom of who was sending the letters out to families of deceased Mormons telling them their faith is a lie. While this book touches on the Mormon faith, K Thomas Murphy handles the book well and has great characters all the way around.
Author K Thomas Murphy granted me an interview to discuss this book and what was next.
S: I am curious what made you come up with this book topic?
K Thomas Murphy: Inspiration. While traveling to Salt Lake City one time a friend and I were talking about the Mormons. He mentioned reading about the outrage of the Jewish people when it was revealed that Mormons were performing posthumous baptisms on the holocaust victims. I am not Jewish, nor Mormon, but I understand outrage and indignation.
My vivid imagination turned everything over for about ten years. Finally, about a year and a half ago, I decided to see if I could write a book. In early February I sat down and working only a couple hours in the evenings and some weekend mornings, I turned out End of Grace in a little over two months. Aside from atrocious punctuation that challenged excellent editors, the way you read End of Grace is pretty much how it came out of my head and flowed onto the paper.
S: This books deals a lot with computers and hacking into data bases. Is this something that that comes natural to you or did you do a lot of research about this in order to write this book?
K. Thomas Murphy: Writing is very enjoyable and very rewarding for me. I am not a religious person, but have been in the tech world for over 20 years. All things technical have always come very naturally to me. I consider End of Grace to be a tech thriller in a religious setting. I also love to learn and research, so spent countless hours learning about Mormon doctrine, past and present.
S: I was reviewing your website I found hints of two more books, End of Secrets and End of Fire. What can we expect from these books and when do you think they may be available to the public?
K Thomas Murphy: I have since outlined several more books using a couple of the same characters. I am currently about a third the way finished with End of Secrets, a pure technical thriller that touches heavily on the history of computers and I feel it’s as intriguing as my first story. Not meant to spoil the end of EOG for you, but Kay and Rick are both heavily featured in the sequel. End of Fire would be a natural follow-on where the two battle a new kind of technical threat, and a secret society of computer elite are reveled. Sort of a Big-Brother/ Guardian-Angel organization.
Assuming that it might be the religious aspect of End of Grace that excites people, I also have a full outline of a book that brings the Mormons back onto central stage.
Some of my future depends on me finding a person to carry my torch. Self-publishing is incredibly demanding and time consuming. Time I’d rather spend writing (not to mention I still have a day job). At the same time it’s been so rewarding that I’ll probably continue either way. Eventually I’ll be discovered, make some publisher a pile of money, and make myself enough to take the whole thing more seriously.
S: Thank you K Thomas for taking time to answer my questions and allowing me the opportunity to read and review your book.
We are offering a giveaway for a copy of this book. here is how to enter:
1. Leave a comment here
2. Receive a bonus entry by being a follower of this blog and or following me on Twitter (be sure to let me know)
US entries only please and no po box numbers. Be sure I have a way to connect with you if you are the winner. 🙂
Giveaway will end Aug 20
End of Secrets reveals one of the most obscure but powerful mysteries of the computer era. An urban legend that if true, has the potential to make the most secure, private and even top secret information freely available.
End of Fire introduces a new kind of compute threat. One that could render every computer on the planet useless. The only chance of stopping it is with the help of a secret society of the computer elite.
Merry Weather also has reviewed this book. You can see her review here
This book came from Bostick Communications – the giveaway copy is coming from the author
This is a PG13 book due to some language
Book Journey 