Monday, December 13, 2010

The 19th Element by John L. Betcher REVIEW

Al Qaeda plans to attack Minnesota's Prairie River Nuclear Power Plant as a means to return to down-trodden terrorist organization to international prominence.

In addition to their own devoted forces, the terrorists  enlisted some homegrown anarchists, and a Three Mile Island survivor with a pathological vendetta against the nuclear establishment, to assist in the assault.

James "Beck" Becker is a former elite U.S. government intelligence operative who has retired to his childhood hometown of Red Wing, Minnesota- just six miles down the Mississippi from the Prairie River nuclear facility.

Possessing wisdom born of experience, Beck suspects the terrorists' intention as soon as the body of a university professor turns up on the Mississippi  shore - the clear victim of foul play.

He recognizes connections between seemingly unrelated incidents - the murder agronomy professor, a missing lab assistant, an international cell call, a stolen fertilizer truck - but can't piece it together in enough detail to convince government authorities that a larger threat exists. Only his American Indian comrade in arms, "Bull,"will help Beck defuse the threat.

So it's Beck and Bull versus international terror....may the better man win.

The back cover of the book is great. It pulls you in and makes you want to read it right away. It seems like a real page turner. Unfortunately for me, that wasn't the case for me. The book starts out real slow and remained that way for me the entire time. It did have exciting parts in it, but not enough for me to want me to keep reading but I did because I was hoping it would pick up in pace.
Also, I think that the author gave major plot points away to fast, like telling the reader who killed the professor within the first thirty-some pages. The story line was good but slow. The characters were well written and realistic and I like that. Also, the author gave a lot of detail which I liked.
I would recommend this book to someone who likes politics and/or thrillers. I wouldn't call this book a must-read. And I am sure that the author has written other books that are page turners. I haven't given up on the author yet :)

                                                                 I received my copy of this book from Pump Up Your Books
                                                              Thank you to Dorothy for letting me take part in this blog tour

2 comments:

John Betcher said...

Thank you for reviewing my book. I'm sorry it didn't appeal to you.

All the best to you for the holidays!

John L. Betcher

Elisha German said...

I'm sorry too, but I look forward to your next read:) Your a good writer:) Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!