The Volcano Dancer

by Brad Keena

One morning, Nikolette Allen discovers a man sitting in her aunt’s kitchen, bleeding from a shoulder wound. A friend of her brother, Rick Morrow is a drifter on a quest to find Liam Channing, a federal investigator with deep connections within the government. Rick explains he needs Liam's help to penetrate government secrecy shrouding an incident that claimed the lives of his wife and daughter.
Reluctant at first, Nikolette offers to drive, helping Rick find Liam. Agreeing to take the case, Liam sends Rick and Nikolette on a cross-country search for information while he investigates the secretive agency behind the mystery. Meeting up with them a week later, Liam has made a shocking discovery about the night Rick’s wife and daughter perished.
With intriguing character studies and a vivid narrative, Brad Keena masterfully weaves together the intricate plot of a political crime thriller inspired by actual events. A story of hope and persistence, The Volcano Dancer is the journey of two unlikely companions discovering each other's hidden strengths in the climb from tragedy to ultimate justice.

302 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2011

About the author

Brad Keena is an author, speaker and public policy veteran who writes about cultural and spiritual issues. His literary contributions include The Volcano Dancer (2013), Departure (2013), "Ten Signs of a Culture's End" (1999) and "The Message of the Dead Sea Scrolls" (1998). A passionate follower of Jesus as the Messiah, he has been a student of the Bible for nearly forty years. Keena served in the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, spent seven years on Capitol Hill, and worked in two presidential administrations including the White House and the Office of Territorial and International Affairs. He has written speeches for Members of Congress and Cabinet and Subcabinet Members, including the Secretaries of State and Interior. An award-winning journalist, Keena has enjoyed success as a nightly talk show host, radio news director, newspaper correspondent, and as a columnist. As a political analyst, he made numerous appearances on network television and radio talk shows and has been quoted in every major newspaper and news magazine in the country as well as numerous books about the culture. Keena lives in a Chicago suburb with his wife and family.

Reviews

[Jola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review also on www.jolasbookshelf.wordpress.com

I enjoyed reading this thriller. The action scenes were pretty intense and kept me interested in reading further. The main character, Rick, was likable, I was rooting for him and the ending gave a nice closure to his story.

Thanks to Brad Keena for sending me a free ebook to read and review!

[Kathryn Svendsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost 2 1/2 years after Rick Morrow's wife and daughter were killed in a car accident he sets off to find out exactly what happened. Upon their death he'd been told by federal officers that since they had died on military grounds their deaths were classified information and sensitive for national security reasons. He would not be given any information about how they had died. All that he would receive were there remains and the matter would be closed.

Due to the death taxes on his father's ranch that Rick inherited from his father, Rick had to sell everything in order to pay off the debt. That left him with nothing except the clothes on his back and a few small possessions that he carried in his backpack. He left his home in California walking east in order to meet the person he was looking for who could help him in his quest to find out what happened on what he called The Tragedy – the death of his family.

Rick keeps a journal in which we find out about some of the events that happened between the tragedy and the present day. The story skips about as different parts of the journal are read by his companion Nikki, who he meets after a narrow escape with some soldiers.

There is some good action in Volcano Dancer, and a lot of political intrigue. There are also one or two spots where the plot tends to drag a little. I enjoyed seeing how Rick changed from being the despondent and heartbroken man he was after his wife and child died to the happier forward-looking man he became toward the end of the story.

Volcano Dancer was very much a follow the clues kind of book. One clue would lead them to the next person that they would have to speak to in order to find out more information. Then that discovery would lead them to the next person and the next location. But there was much more going on than just the mystery of what happened to Rick's family. There was something sinister going on with the government. You'll have to read the book to find out what it was.

I thought that Volcano Dancer was an intriguing mystery and I rated four stars out of five.

Thank you to the author who provided a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

This review was published on my blog Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogs...

[Babus Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot going on in this book for protagonist, hero and everyman Rick Morrow. Firstly his wife and nine year old daughter die under mysterious circumstances on US Army property and he is told basically to forget about it and move on. In the devastation that follows Rick finds himself piloting a commercial airliner when the pilots get taken ill, he has to sell his inheritance to pay inheritance tax and he basically becomes homeless as he goes on a quest to find out what happened to his wife and daughter.

In this quest he meets Ronnie and friends and shortly after saves Ronnie's life. Subsequently, after a shaky start Rick befriends Ronny's sister Nikolette who accompanies him on a journey to find answers, for him and herself, from the higher echelons of various government agencies. After many more heroic gestures the mysteries are solved and Rick and Nikolette have to deal with what they discover.

I found reading this book like reading a series of shorter stories strung together, Rick is faced with a huge number of incidences where he has to step up to the plate and for a former co-pilot he handles himself pretty well and although likeable I felt he was too much of a hero, always in the right place at the right time, and that took the plausibility sparkle away from this story for me.

The action sequences are well written and exciting to read but I did find the storyline repetitive in places and the narrative slowed by these side-stories placed along the way. Overall it was an interesting read but didn't keep my pulse rate up as consistently as I would have hoped. An interesting read for those who like to read government conspiracy type thrillers.

[Apex Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastated by the deaths of his wife and daughter – and even more crushed by the government secrecy surrounding their demise – Rick Morrow sets out on a quest to learn the truth behind his family’s tragic end. He’s joined in his mission by the unsuspecting Nikolette Allen, who helps him decipher a series of clues that eventually lead them to an even more disturbing revelation: that their very own government is actively involved in the proliferation of torture and sex slavery. Despite the dark, sinister truths they uncover along the way, what ultimately awaits Rick and Nikolette is a shocking twist neither of them could ever imagine.

Political intrigue, action, suspense, mystery – The Volcano Dancer has it all. In commendable fashion, author Brad Keena has crafted a tight, compelling, true-life tale sure to resonate with readers from all backgrounds. More than just revealing the disturbing depths of an inherently corrupt political system, The Volcano Dancer takes the reader on as much an emotional journey as a fact-finding one. Led by Rick himself, Keena’s story is filled with vivid, realistic characters who find themselves in challenging situations, the solutions to which aren’t always cut and dried. This lends a palpable humanistic quality to The Volcano Dancer which, coupled with the conspiratorial intrigue, makes for a well-rounded, satisfying read. Highly recommended.


Michael Wilson
Apex Reviews

[Sue Ellingson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As most people search for answers in their lives, so does Rick Morrow, the main character in The Volcano Dancer. His quest leads him to meet other people who will become important in his life and help him to find answers. The author, Brad Keena, explores the possibility of what life may be like in the not-so-distant future.

[S. Dever · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is categorized incorrectly as Fiction... Its nothing less than prophesy! The Volcano Dancer is a masterful foretelling of what over-taxation, the proliferation of unaccountable government agencies, and NSA privacy invasion is leading us toward.

[Mark Ritter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating. I found Volcano Dancer easy to read and enjoyable. It is, however, rather scary to think that some of this is not fiction. I am looking forward to more from Brad Keena.

[Linda Klages · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read. Great story - thoughtful title.