Former Army Ranger Jagger Baird thought he had his hands full with the Tribe—the band of immortal vigilantes fighting to regain God’s grace by killing those opposed to Him. But that was before he encountered the ruthless group of immortals called the Clan. The Clan is after a prize that would give them unimaginable power—a piece of the Ten Commandments known as the Judgment Stone.
Those who touch the Stone can see into the spiritual world: angelic warriors, treacherous demons, and the blue threads of light that signal the presence of believers in communion with God.
By following the blue beam radiating from those closest to God, the Clan plans to locate His most passionate followers and destroy them.
Jagger quickly realizes his high-tech gadgetry and training are no match for these merciless immortals. But how can he defeat an enemy who hunts believers through their prayers . . . and won’t stop until they’ve annihilated all those close to Him?
In this high-action thriller, best-selling author Robert Liparulo examines the raging battle between good and evil on earth . . . and beyond.
Review:
Now as those of you who were here last year know, Robert Liparulo is tied for first on my list of favourite thriller authors. If I'm honest though, his books can be a bit of an acquired taste, and with this series, it is becoming more 'acquired' in nature than ever.
That said, the real question is, does The Judgement Stone (yes, I am using the Canadian spelling of judgement - the Americans don't have the first e)) return to Liparulo's signature levels of suspense and intensity after the so-so The 13th Tribe (the first in this series) or does it descend to the levels of his nearly-dreadful Comes a Horseman (his first novel ever)?
Well, the good news is, in The Judgement Stone Liparulo returns to the stylings that made Germ, Deadfall, and Deadlock so amazing. While The Judgement Stone isn't as good as the aforementioned three novels, it is definitely an improvement over The 13th Tribe and I quite enjoyed it. Just like in Germ, Liparulo's intensity and pacing go from 0-60 on the first page, and only increase from there. He absolutely burns rubber through the rest of the book, barely slowing down or letting off for more than a minute or two at any one point. This is where part of the "acquired taste" part comes in. The sheer blistering pace of the book means that it has a very compressed timeline - the entire plot takes place within a period of 2-3 days.
The incredibly fast pace of the novel also leads to an inherent weakness - it leaves little room for development. As a result, neither the characters nor the plot is particularly deep and/or heavy/thematic in nature, which can lead to some parts feeling slightly cheesy. That said, good effort is put into answering some of the difficult questions pertaining to the themes the book does contain, they are just not discussed to the depth that they would be in, say, a Steven James novel. With some effort, the character side of the issue could be resolved, for example, Liparulo developed John Hutchinson and co. quite well in Deadfall and Deadlock, but, unfortunately, in this case, it wasn't.
My only other problems are with plot elements within the series. Firstly, I find the premise of the trilogy a little hard to swallow at times, and there was a twist involving Jagger (man do I find that name cheesy) at the end of The 13th Tribe that left me mildly disgusted but which, of course, now has to be carried through the rest of the trilogy as well.
All in all, The Judgement Stone wasn't Liparulo's best piece of work, but it was still an very much enjoyable, if light, read. Highly recommended to fans of supernatural fiction, and any kind of action thriller (although you should read The 13th Tribe first, since it comes prior to this one in the series).
4.5/5 stars
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