Raised as the daughter of the two most famous paranormal investigators in the world, Maia Peters is dead to any idea involving ghosts, apparitions, or hauntings. She attends the new amusement park Ghost Town, a park designed to scare its patrons to death, only to disprove everything the park throws at her. Everything goes as she expects, but at the end of her visit to the park, she encounters an apparition not fabricated by man. She sees the face of a girl she knows-Jordin Cole-a girl who has asked her is the past to help her delve deeper into the paranormal for a price. Without telling anyone about her encounter, Maia is visited the following day by Jordin's fiancee, who tells her that he cannot contact or find Jordin anywhere. As Maia recounts her past adventures with Jordin, she and Derek delve into the supernatural in ways they never expected they would have to and uncover one of the most elaborate and dangerous plots known to mankind. They must stop it before it takes over the world, but at what cost?
Robin Parrish stays true to himself a fabricates another huge 'what if?' plot that adds to his 100% Elite Rating. It seems second nature for him to write an Elite book, but when will he return to his five star days?
Maia, Derek, and Jordin are all good characters, as usual. Robin Parrish seems to be able to develop good characters in his sleep as he focuses his real attention to a super plot. His villain development has seen better days, but under the circumstances, his choice of a villain was the only logical choice. There are very few characters in this book because it is more of a plot-focused book, but the few character there are Robin developed correctly.
Robin delves into the world of hauntings, ghost, apparitions, and other paranormal claims by sending his characters to some of the most popular "haunted" locations in the world. He does not attempt to build a case for any side of this issue but instead writes an interesting plot. His speculations about the paranormal are eye-opening. As usual, there is a seemingly off-the-wall foundational idea behind this plot that really makes this book worth reading, as is Robin's specialty. However, the only thing that keeps this book from being five stars is an uncharacteristic showdown that does not end originally. This tarnishes Robin's reputation and makes me wonder about him.
Nevertheless, Robin has maintained his 100% Elite Rating because he continuously asks outrageous 'what if?' questions and answers them in interesting ways.
4 stars
Showing posts with label robin parrish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label robin parrish. Show all posts
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Vigilante by Robin Parrish
Coming Summer 2011...
Description:
Nolan Gray is an elite soldier, skilled in all forms of combat. After years fighting on foreign battlefields, witnessing unspeakable evils and atrocities firsthand, a world-weary Nolan returns home to find it just as corrupt as the war zones. Everywhere he looks, there’s pain and cruelty. Society is being destroyed by wicked men who don’t care who they make suffer or destroy.
Nolan decides to do what no one else can, what no one has ever attempted. He will defend the helpless. He will tear down the wicked. He will wage a one-man war on the heart of man, and he won’t stop until the world is the way it should be.
The wicked have had their day. Morality’s time has come. In a culture starving for a hero, can one extraordinary man make things right?
Preview:
Robin Parrish is addressing another controversial issue through fiction. Vigilante looks like another one of his "big" plots, like Merciless. Perhaps he is departing from the supernatural for a time. All I know is that Robin does not disappoint.
Want more previews? Visit https://sites.google.com/site/originalbooksnews/home!
Description:
Nolan Gray is an elite soldier, skilled in all forms of combat. After years fighting on foreign battlefields, witnessing unspeakable evils and atrocities firsthand, a world-weary Nolan returns home to find it just as corrupt as the war zones. Everywhere he looks, there’s pain and cruelty. Society is being destroyed by wicked men who don’t care who they make suffer or destroy.
Nolan decides to do what no one else can, what no one has ever attempted. He will defend the helpless. He will tear down the wicked. He will wage a one-man war on the heart of man, and he won’t stop until the world is the way it should be.
The wicked have had their day. Morality’s time has come. In a culture starving for a hero, can one extraordinary man make things right?
Preview:
Robin Parrish is addressing another controversial issue through fiction. Vigilante looks like another one of his "big" plots, like Merciless. Perhaps he is departing from the supernatural for a time. All I know is that Robin does not disappoint.
Want more previews? Visit https://sites.google.com/site/originalbooksnews/home!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Offworld by Robin Parrish
Commander Chris Burke and his crew have been on Mars for over half a year. They have made headlines back on earth, and are now ready to return home to their families. But while in route back to the home planet, they lose contact with Houston.
When they reach the ground and exit the ship, no one is there to greet them.
They're all just gone.
There's not a sound to be heard or a soul to be seen. All the animals are gone too. Florida is barren.
All except for one teenage girl. She's apparently all that's left. Only she has no idea what happened either.
One of the Mars crew obtains access to a live video satellite in geocentric orbit and decides to remotely explore the planet. He finds that it's not just Florida that's barren. It's the whole earth. The only thing that's left is a giant beacon of light over Texas.
Chris leads his crew, along with the girl, toward that beacon of light, believing that it has something to do with the disappearances. What they find is stunning.
You would think a book about an empty earth would be boring, but it isn't really. There is plenty of action, not just long descriptions of empty cities.
Also, the believable and imperfect characters sustain the book and make it realistic. Normally you don't find good characters in speculative books, but Robin Parrish is the exception.
The one drawback that keeps this book from being five stars is the explanation of why everyone is gone. There's a small plot hole filling what would have been a large plot hole. But at least Robin did his best.
The villain isn't your typical speculative villain. He isn't a mad scientist or a supernatural creature. He's just a normal man with issues, like we all have. In some sense, he isn't even a villain at all.
The chapters are named, but they aren't normal. They're very cryptic and abstract. But this is good because the chapter names we see these days are uncreative.
The girl they find plays a huge part in the plot, bigger than it seems at first. She is one of the most original plot devices ever created. She is mostly what keeps this book on the Elite List.
The idea behind this book is similar to that of the idea behind the Dominion Trilogy. The whole purpose is similar. I wonder if Robin has something stuck in his head. Or maybe he's trying to tell us something...
While it doesn't have the five star calibration that the Dominion Trilogy had, it's still Elite. Robin Parrish is still one of the best authors on the market.
4 stars
When they reach the ground and exit the ship, no one is there to greet them.
They're all just gone.
There's not a sound to be heard or a soul to be seen. All the animals are gone too. Florida is barren.
All except for one teenage girl. She's apparently all that's left. Only she has no idea what happened either.
One of the Mars crew obtains access to a live video satellite in geocentric orbit and decides to remotely explore the planet. He finds that it's not just Florida that's barren. It's the whole earth. The only thing that's left is a giant beacon of light over Texas.
Chris leads his crew, along with the girl, toward that beacon of light, believing that it has something to do with the disappearances. What they find is stunning.
You would think a book about an empty earth would be boring, but it isn't really. There is plenty of action, not just long descriptions of empty cities.
Also, the believable and imperfect characters sustain the book and make it realistic. Normally you don't find good characters in speculative books, but Robin Parrish is the exception.
The one drawback that keeps this book from being five stars is the explanation of why everyone is gone. There's a small plot hole filling what would have been a large plot hole. But at least Robin did his best.
The villain isn't your typical speculative villain. He isn't a mad scientist or a supernatural creature. He's just a normal man with issues, like we all have. In some sense, he isn't even a villain at all.
The chapters are named, but they aren't normal. They're very cryptic and abstract. But this is good because the chapter names we see these days are uncreative.
The girl they find plays a huge part in the plot, bigger than it seems at first. She is one of the most original plot devices ever created. She is mostly what keeps this book on the Elite List.
The idea behind this book is similar to that of the idea behind the Dominion Trilogy. The whole purpose is similar. I wonder if Robin has something stuck in his head. Or maybe he's trying to tell us something...
While it doesn't have the five star calibration that the Dominion Trilogy had, it's still Elite. Robin Parrish is still one of the best authors on the market.
4 stars
Monday, August 31, 2009
Merciless by Robin Parrish
At the end of Fearless, Grant Barrows fell into a chasm deep under mountains in Turkey. At the beginning of Merciless, Grant climbs back up as Oblivion, an evil gray creature who does not breathe and whose touch is death.
This is perhaps the most original villain idea in the history of fiction.
Now he walks the earth, destroying everything and setting the planet afire. He is the ultimate culmination of the Secretum of Six's plans. They have unleashed him, and now he is beyond their control.
The Loci have no choice but to hypnotically follow him and use their powers for his purposes. But Lisa and David are not Loci, and therefore the fate of the world rests in their hands. Though Morgan is now dead, she left behind a DVD of instructions for them to follow.
Once again, the characters stay true to their personalities, a rare feat for a trilogy.
Not only does Merciless explain who the Secretum of Six is and what their plans are, but it also tells why Grant Barrows had to be the Bringer. All explanations are well thought out and ingenious.
The end of the book is, of course, a showdown with Oblivion. It's not what you might think it is. There are no literary trash sayings or false death scenes. What Robin Parrish does at the end is something that had to be done, despite what others might think. This was the only way he could have ended the trilogy well.
The Interregnum no longer depict the Secretum of Six, since they have already been introduced to the reader. Instead, it shows what happened to Grant when he fell into the chasm.
Oblivion is not your typical villain. He isn't ridiculously gross or disgusting. He's not a monster and he's not overplayed. He is something very real, something mentioned in the Bible several times.
If you were tired of characters dying, than hold on. There are more key character deaths in this one.
Robin says Merciless is his favorite idea ever, and for a good reason. I know of several authors who have tried to use this idea but have failed. Robin Parrish has succeeded.
Parrish has changed the face of Christian speculative fiction with this series. He has showed us that this genre can have good characters and original plot ideas. He has made all other speculative series look ridiculous. They all pale in comparison to the Dominion Trilogy. The Dominion Trilogy has taken the world of Christian fiction by storm. It's the best thing since the Chronicles of Narnia.
This makes me excited to see what direction Robin Parrish will take his writing career next.
5 stars
This is perhaps the most original villain idea in the history of fiction.
Now he walks the earth, destroying everything and setting the planet afire. He is the ultimate culmination of the Secretum of Six's plans. They have unleashed him, and now he is beyond their control.
The Loci have no choice but to hypnotically follow him and use their powers for his purposes. But Lisa and David are not Loci, and therefore the fate of the world rests in their hands. Though Morgan is now dead, she left behind a DVD of instructions for them to follow.
Once again, the characters stay true to their personalities, a rare feat for a trilogy.
Not only does Merciless explain who the Secretum of Six is and what their plans are, but it also tells why Grant Barrows had to be the Bringer. All explanations are well thought out and ingenious.
The end of the book is, of course, a showdown with Oblivion. It's not what you might think it is. There are no literary trash sayings or false death scenes. What Robin Parrish does at the end is something that had to be done, despite what others might think. This was the only way he could have ended the trilogy well.
The Interregnum no longer depict the Secretum of Six, since they have already been introduced to the reader. Instead, it shows what happened to Grant when he fell into the chasm.
Oblivion is not your typical villain. He isn't ridiculously gross or disgusting. He's not a monster and he's not overplayed. He is something very real, something mentioned in the Bible several times.
If you were tired of characters dying, than hold on. There are more key character deaths in this one.
Robin says Merciless is his favorite idea ever, and for a good reason. I know of several authors who have tried to use this idea but have failed. Robin Parrish has succeeded.
Parrish has changed the face of Christian speculative fiction with this series. He has showed us that this genre can have good characters and original plot ideas. He has made all other speculative series look ridiculous. They all pale in comparison to the Dominion Trilogy. The Dominion Trilogy has taken the world of Christian fiction by storm. It's the best thing since the Chronicles of Narnia.
This makes me excited to see what direction Robin Parrish will take his writing career next.
5 stars
Fearless by Robin Parrish
Normally in fiction, events like fire raining down from heaven, mass diseases, mass natural disasters and superpowers happen off in alternate worlds, safely away from Planet Earth. But Robin Parrish has brought these events to our home planet has pulled readers from their comfort zones.
Therein lies the originality of the Dominion Trilogy.
The world is falling apart around the Loci, and only they can save it. But how can they save it when they themselves are afraid?
Grant, Alex, Morgan, and several other new characters are working to control riots, heal disease and restore order. But order lies in the hands of the Secretum of Six. They alone hold the fate of the world.
The main thing that drives this plot and makes the book long is Grant's obsession for finding the location of the Secretum. The journey is not lacking for bumps.
Payton has gone crazy with blood lust. He doesn't know who he works for or what he should do. So he's just using his power for bad-he's killing random people.
The world has idolized Grant, calling him Guardian. This fact has made the FBI mad. So Robin Parrish introduces a new villain in the series-the FBI. They are chasing the Loci around, but they don't even know their significance in the world's ever darkening future.
Parrish introduces several new powers he invented just to add to the plot.
The characters remain the same as they were in the first book. No miraculous shifts to perfection (pardon the pun).
The end is definitely continued and cannot end here. Unlike the end of Relentless, this definitely keeps the reader looking for more.
Several more key character deaths accelerate the originality. No one has ever done so many key character deaths without resurrection.
I did not believe at first that Relentless should have been continued. I had no idea what Robin was going to do for two more books. But I was wrong.
The main reason this book is also five stars is because I can see no flaws in it. Any suspenseful scenes are necessary and not overplayed.
The only problem I can for see is how in the world Robin is going to end this trilogy. But it must be something good, because everybody loves it. We'll just have to wait a few more days...
5 stars
Therein lies the originality of the Dominion Trilogy.
The world is falling apart around the Loci, and only they can save it. But how can they save it when they themselves are afraid?
Grant, Alex, Morgan, and several other new characters are working to control riots, heal disease and restore order. But order lies in the hands of the Secretum of Six. They alone hold the fate of the world.
The main thing that drives this plot and makes the book long is Grant's obsession for finding the location of the Secretum. The journey is not lacking for bumps.
Payton has gone crazy with blood lust. He doesn't know who he works for or what he should do. So he's just using his power for bad-he's killing random people.
The world has idolized Grant, calling him Guardian. This fact has made the FBI mad. So Robin Parrish introduces a new villain in the series-the FBI. They are chasing the Loci around, but they don't even know their significance in the world's ever darkening future.
Parrish introduces several new powers he invented just to add to the plot.
The characters remain the same as they were in the first book. No miraculous shifts to perfection (pardon the pun).
The end is definitely continued and cannot end here. Unlike the end of Relentless, this definitely keeps the reader looking for more.
Several more key character deaths accelerate the originality. No one has ever done so many key character deaths without resurrection.
I did not believe at first that Relentless should have been continued. I had no idea what Robin was going to do for two more books. But I was wrong.
The main reason this book is also five stars is because I can see no flaws in it. Any suspenseful scenes are necessary and not overplayed.
The only problem I can for see is how in the world Robin is going to end this trilogy. But it must be something good, because everybody loves it. We'll just have to wait a few more days...
5 stars
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Relentless by Robin Parrish
One ordinary morning, Colin Boyd steps off the bus and sees himself standing across the street. After looking in a shop window, he realizes that he is no longer Colin Boyd. His new driver's licence tells him so. He is now Grant Barrows. He has been Shifted.
From there, he is chased by a serial killer who wants to ring that has appeared on his right middle finger. The only problem is, the ring won't come off. It won't even budge.
After being guided by a barefoot woman to a compound filled with other Shifted people, called shimmers, he starts to get some answers. But not all of them. They are all players in a dangerous game. A game that decides the dominion of the world. They are wanted by a secret society called the Secretum of Six, who has unlimited resources and can get whatever they want when they want it.
Grant also finds out that the shimmers have been waiting for him for a long time. He is the Bringer, their leader. With him, they can begin their work.
But they don't exactly know what that work is. Only the Keeper knows.
Each of the shimmers has a special power that is given off by the ring. Each is different from each other, and also different from anything I have ever read. Robin Parrish did a good job coming up with original powers.
Normally, I would say that's a five star idea, not necessarily a five star book. But I was wrong.
Normally, speculative fiction doesn't have good characters. But there's always an exception.
Normally, when key characters die, they come back to life. Think again.
Normally, the villain is a completely unbelievable, animalistic character with no personality. I don't think so.
Normally, debut novels aren't five stars. There never has been, in fact. Until now.
Normally, an author wouldn't have handled this kind of plot the way Robin Parrish did. But Robin Parrish is the kind of author the Christian market needs: one who can combine five star ideas with five star plots.
The one problem I can think of is I have no idea what the next two books in the series are about. It seemed like everything was resolved at the end. But when you're dealing with an author who can write a five star debut novel, you never know what he might do next. This is why I plan to review the rest of Robin's books, as well as look to the future to see what he will do next.
5 stars
From there, he is chased by a serial killer who wants to ring that has appeared on his right middle finger. The only problem is, the ring won't come off. It won't even budge.
After being guided by a barefoot woman to a compound filled with other Shifted people, called shimmers, he starts to get some answers. But not all of them. They are all players in a dangerous game. A game that decides the dominion of the world. They are wanted by a secret society called the Secretum of Six, who has unlimited resources and can get whatever they want when they want it.
Grant also finds out that the shimmers have been waiting for him for a long time. He is the Bringer, their leader. With him, they can begin their work.
But they don't exactly know what that work is. Only the Keeper knows.
Each of the shimmers has a special power that is given off by the ring. Each is different from each other, and also different from anything I have ever read. Robin Parrish did a good job coming up with original powers.
Normally, I would say that's a five star idea, not necessarily a five star book. But I was wrong.
Normally, speculative fiction doesn't have good characters. But there's always an exception.
Normally, when key characters die, they come back to life. Think again.
Normally, the villain is a completely unbelievable, animalistic character with no personality. I don't think so.
Normally, debut novels aren't five stars. There never has been, in fact. Until now.
Normally, an author wouldn't have handled this kind of plot the way Robin Parrish did. But Robin Parrish is the kind of author the Christian market needs: one who can combine five star ideas with five star plots.
The one problem I can think of is I have no idea what the next two books in the series are about. It seemed like everything was resolved at the end. But when you're dealing with an author who can write a five star debut novel, you never know what he might do next. This is why I plan to review the rest of Robin's books, as well as look to the future to see what he will do next.
5 stars
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