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Whisper of the Seventh Thunder by Larry Brooks
"Whisper of the Seventh Thunder" is a thriller ripped from today's headlines with roots into what many believe might be the coming apocalypse. When Gabriel Stone's devout wife dies in an unlikely airline disaster, he finishes the novel she had warned him not to write. The book goes inside and behind the Bible's Book of Revelation to reveal startling connections to covert operations that are, quite unknown to Stone, about to tear the world's political landscape to shreds. As the book nears publication Stone suddenly finds himself the pawn in a war between superpowers and supernatural forces, each with hidden agendas beyond his comprehension and stakes that pivot on his ability to accept the unbelievable and stop the unthinkable. "Whisper of the Seventh Thunder" is a book that is as personal as it is global in scope, juxtaposing choices that are at once spiritual and life-dependant, with nothing short of our very souls hanging in the balance.Winner of the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Award for best novel in the SUSPENSE/THRILLER category.
- GenresSuspense
Paperback
First published March 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 10, 2015
See my review of The Seventh Thunder, the same book, early title.
August 27, 2012
Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Karin Slaughter... Larry Brooks has written enough memorable mysteries to join these more-established names on bookshelves. This literary venture, "Whisper of the Seventh Thunder," is a departure from more traditional mystery/thrillers. His look into unsettling political and religious mysteries should -- at last -- make his name as familiar as better-known writers.
In the beginning, accidental protagonist Gabriel Stone is grieving over his wife and unborn child's death in a plane crash. He'd met wife Lauren 13 years earlier on an island in Greece, where he was researching the visions of St. John, whose words evolved into the Bible's Book of Revelations. Stone was discouraged by friends to tinker with the Bible, even as fiction, but the open-minded Lauren encourages him to finish his version, believing that his sincerity will satisfy any Creator.
Though Lauren dies by page seven, Brooks cleverly inserts her influence into Stone's actions and reactions throughout the book. After just a week of unbearable grief, Stone awakens, furious that Lauren was taken from him. He immediately quits his job in advertising, and uses his anger to feverishly start -- and finish -- the book he's long-envisioned in nine short weeks. Though only one sincere response arrives from 16 queries he sent, one agent promises commercial and financial success beyond his imagination. Stone is overwhelmed by the offer, and prepares to fly to met his publisher.
But before Stone can pack his bags, Brooks deftly switches the book's scenario to the murder of a weightlifter in Washington, D.C. That death, the first of several, has been set in action by a man in glasses with an unclear agenda throughout much of the book.
Brooks smartly keeps the chapters short, creating an honest-to-goodness page-turner. From the mysterious man in glasses who murders on request, to political operatives in Washington, D.C., to Israeli theologists breaking Biblical codes, Gabriel Stone finds himself in the middle of political, religious and philosophical battles that become wars -- once the plot of his book is revealed. But Stone's fear mounts because his book is never published; he'd adamantly refused to comply with the publisher's changes. When the agent and publisher are murdered, Stone realizes that forces beyond his understanding want something from his book; something he's unaware of, but forced to run from.
Don't be tempted to cheat when you start "Whisper of the Seventh Thunder" -- to read the ending or the epilogue will spoil the twists and turns you'll enjoy from beginning to end. Even skipping ahead a chapter or two will ruin a great read. Nothing is as it seems in Brooks' novel, and the goosebumps he produces at the finish will send you back looking for missed clues. In "Whispers of a Seventh Thunder," Larry Brooks has produced a wild ride worthy of attention -- and a second read.
In the beginning, accidental protagonist Gabriel Stone is grieving over his wife and unborn child's death in a plane crash. He'd met wife Lauren 13 years earlier on an island in Greece, where he was researching the visions of St. John, whose words evolved into the Bible's Book of Revelations. Stone was discouraged by friends to tinker with the Bible, even as fiction, but the open-minded Lauren encourages him to finish his version, believing that his sincerity will satisfy any Creator.
Though Lauren dies by page seven, Brooks cleverly inserts her influence into Stone's actions and reactions throughout the book. After just a week of unbearable grief, Stone awakens, furious that Lauren was taken from him. He immediately quits his job in advertising, and uses his anger to feverishly start -- and finish -- the book he's long-envisioned in nine short weeks. Though only one sincere response arrives from 16 queries he sent, one agent promises commercial and financial success beyond his imagination. Stone is overwhelmed by the offer, and prepares to fly to met his publisher.
But before Stone can pack his bags, Brooks deftly switches the book's scenario to the murder of a weightlifter in Washington, D.C. That death, the first of several, has been set in action by a man in glasses with an unclear agenda throughout much of the book.
Brooks smartly keeps the chapters short, creating an honest-to-goodness page-turner. From the mysterious man in glasses who murders on request, to political operatives in Washington, D.C., to Israeli theologists breaking Biblical codes, Gabriel Stone finds himself in the middle of political, religious and philosophical battles that become wars -- once the plot of his book is revealed. But Stone's fear mounts because his book is never published; he'd adamantly refused to comply with the publisher's changes. When the agent and publisher are murdered, Stone realizes that forces beyond his understanding want something from his book; something he's unaware of, but forced to run from.
Don't be tempted to cheat when you start "Whisper of the Seventh Thunder" -- to read the ending or the epilogue will spoil the twists and turns you'll enjoy from beginning to end. Even skipping ahead a chapter or two will ruin a great read. Nothing is as it seems in Brooks' novel, and the goosebumps he produces at the finish will send you back looking for missed clues. In "Whispers of a Seventh Thunder," Larry Brooks has produced a wild ride worthy of attention -- and a second read.
January 21, 2015
I jumped at the chance to read The Seventh Thunder for several reasons. Larry Brook’s is my hero for his Story Engineering and other books on writing. Plus, this topic is one I enjoy – like Dan Brown’s books - a modern look at religion and the bible.
The Seventh Thunder is certainly akin to Dan Brown’s books. The energy, twists, and insightful looks at biblical history, they’re all there. And quite obviously, Mr. Brooks knows how to craft a story to keep the reader from putting the book down.
So for all of that, the book gets top marks from me. I’m not going to rehash the blurb on the possibility I might accidentally give away spoilers. But I enjoyed getting to know the main character Gabriel Stone, felt the loss of his wife and his excitement that his book would be published for big numbers. Using a computer to pull future information from Revelations and other ancient scrolls might have been a bit farfetched as far as technique, but I loved the concept.
There are some things that pulled me from the story occasionally. There were several statements that felt like author intrusion with regard to a political bias, and even one character who would clearly not be liberal had a thought that felt totally wrong. There are a LOT of characters in this book and I can’t say their voices were unique, nor their motivations clear (some of that was purposeful, I realize), but the result is that it was hard to follow in places and know who to root for. I felt a bit like coming into a Bond flick 20 minutes late sometimes – the action and tension were great, but I felt lost. This was added to by so many of the characters motivated by belief rather than knowledge even as information was accumulated. It all worked out, these were short term confusions - and maybe just me being a dope!
There were several conversations without sufficient dialogue tags or action and given some of the above, it took work to figure out who was speaking from context. There were a couple cases where continuing conversation was not handled correctly with quotation marks, which forced me to reread, and in my kindle version, paragraph tabbing was inconsistent.
But overall it was a wild ride that I enjoyed and would certainly recommend to people who like this genre. Well done, I rate this at 4 stars.
The Seventh Thunder is certainly akin to Dan Brown’s books. The energy, twists, and insightful looks at biblical history, they’re all there. And quite obviously, Mr. Brooks knows how to craft a story to keep the reader from putting the book down.
So for all of that, the book gets top marks from me. I’m not going to rehash the blurb on the possibility I might accidentally give away spoilers. But I enjoyed getting to know the main character Gabriel Stone, felt the loss of his wife and his excitement that his book would be published for big numbers. Using a computer to pull future information from Revelations and other ancient scrolls might have been a bit farfetched as far as technique, but I loved the concept.
There are some things that pulled me from the story occasionally. There were several statements that felt like author intrusion with regard to a political bias, and even one character who would clearly not be liberal had a thought that felt totally wrong. There are a LOT of characters in this book and I can’t say their voices were unique, nor their motivations clear (some of that was purposeful, I realize), but the result is that it was hard to follow in places and know who to root for. I felt a bit like coming into a Bond flick 20 minutes late sometimes – the action and tension were great, but I felt lost. This was added to by so many of the characters motivated by belief rather than knowledge even as information was accumulated. It all worked out, these were short term confusions - and maybe just me being a dope!
There were several conversations without sufficient dialogue tags or action and given some of the above, it took work to figure out who was speaking from context. There were a couple cases where continuing conversation was not handled correctly with quotation marks, which forced me to reread, and in my kindle version, paragraph tabbing was inconsistent.
But overall it was a wild ride that I enjoyed and would certainly recommend to people who like this genre. Well done, I rate this at 4 stars.
March 21, 2012
It's a sure sign of a good book when you're up late reading, especially when you kept intending to put it down ...just a few more pages! This book's tension and pace picked up and grew like a snowball, until the last third or so of the book, where it simply didn't let go. Intriguing scenario and a main character you rooted for all the way through, even though I couldn't predict what he was going to do in the end (just the way I like it). An enjoyable ride!
March 24, 2010
This is simply a great read! Masterfully told, crafted and delivered. You can see my full review on The Dirty Lowdown: http://dirtylowdown.spaces.live.com/b...
I waited five years for the next Larry Brooks, and even though the wait was long, it was well worth it. He just keeps getting better.
I waited five years for the next Larry Brooks, and even though the wait was long, it was well worth it. He just keeps getting better.
October 13, 2010
I was disappointed by this book. I felt like I was reading a Dan Brown novel, and a not-very-good one at that, rather than a Larry Brooks book. I've liked Brooks' books in the past; I hope his next one is back to his style, not someone else's.
July 2, 2011
I enjoyed this, but not as much as his past books. Those were totally unpredictable with lots of nice lovely switchbacks. I guessed long before the end who the "Beast" was in this, which is not what I expect from Larry.
March 23, 2010
Fast paced action story. Characters were well developed. Overall a strongly written story.
July 29, 2011
Suspenseful and fun - couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews