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Chasing the Music
Hearts will soar and voices sing if black-ops veteran Max Braxton and archeologist Kat Cardova find King David's music of the Psalms. But first, they must survive attacks from determined jihadists in this continent-jumping thriller. King David's long-lost music of his Psalms is the one missing piece in the Jews' preparations for a Third Temple in Jerusalem. When Muslim terrorists get word an archeological dig has unearthed clues to the music's whereabouts, they hunt archeologist Kat Cardova and black-ops veteran Max Braxton every step of their quest. From Dragot, Israel, to Petra, Jordan, to Dublin, Ireland, Wales, and back to the Holy Land, clues are unearthed and danger lurks. But Islamic extremists everywhere would battle to the death to prevent the treasure's discovery. Will Kat and Max succeed in their quest and succeed in getting home alive?
368 pages, Paperback
Published April 17, 2016
13 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Mark Alan Leslie
18 books9 followersA longtime journalist, Leslie has written 13 fiction and non-fiction books with more on the way..
Leslie's action-adventure-mystery, "Chasing the Music," released in May 2016, was the first of the Thrill of the Hunt series, which now includes "The Three Sixes" (2017) and "Operation Jeremiah's Jar" (2018).
His action-thriller, "The Last Aliyah," was released in spring 2018; his End Times adventure, "Torn Asunder," came out in 2020.
Leslie's newest historical fiction, "A Cause Most Splendid: The Battle for the Bible," the story of Robert Aitken's defiance of the king by illegally printing the Bible for American soldiers and colonists in 1778, was released in November 2021, joining three previous historical novels: "Midnight Rider for the Morning Star," based on the life and times of Francis Asbury, America's first circuit-riding preacher; "True North: Tice's Story" about a young slave's escape from Kentucky northeast through Massachusetts and Maine; and "The Crossing," about the Ku Klux Klan in Maine in the 1920s, was released in 2018
Leslie also has self-published a devotion, "Walks with God," and a self-help book, "Fired? Get Fired Up," both of which are available free on his web site: www.markalanleslie.com.
Also, he has written two ebooks about the golf industry. "Putting a Little Spin on It: The Design's the Thing!" contains the most insightful, humorous, and memorable quotes and stories from golf course icons and designers Leslie has interviewed over the years—from Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Crenshaw, Gary Player, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio and scores of others.
His "Putting a Little Spin on It: The Grooming's the thing!" s filled with insights from the golf world's best and brightest golf course superintendents, builders and others working in the industry.
Leslie's action-adventure-mystery, "Chasing the Music," released in May 2016, was the first of the Thrill of the Hunt series, which now includes "The Three Sixes" (2017) and "Operation Jeremiah's Jar" (2018).
His action-thriller, "The Last Aliyah," was released in spring 2018; his End Times adventure, "Torn Asunder," came out in 2020.
Leslie's newest historical fiction, "A Cause Most Splendid: The Battle for the Bible," the story of Robert Aitken's defiance of the king by illegally printing the Bible for American soldiers and colonists in 1778, was released in November 2021, joining three previous historical novels: "Midnight Rider for the Morning Star," based on the life and times of Francis Asbury, America's first circuit-riding preacher; "True North: Tice's Story" about a young slave's escape from Kentucky northeast through Massachusetts and Maine; and "The Crossing," about the Ku Klux Klan in Maine in the 1920s, was released in 2018
Leslie also has self-published a devotion, "Walks with God," and a self-help book, "Fired? Get Fired Up," both of which are available free on his web site: www.markalanleslie.com.
Also, he has written two ebooks about the golf industry. "Putting a Little Spin on It: The Design's the Thing!" contains the most insightful, humorous, and memorable quotes and stories from golf course icons and designers Leslie has interviewed over the years—from Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Ben Crenshaw, Gary Player, Pete Dye, Tom Fazio and scores of others.
His "Putting a Little Spin on It: The Grooming's the thing!" s filled with insights from the golf world's best and brightest golf course superintendents, builders and others working in the industry.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 26, 2017
Chasing the Music by Mark Alan Leslie is an exciting, adventurous thrill ride that is hard to put aside. From the minute an archaeological team member at Dragot, a mountain north of Masada, is violently attacked by armed terrorists who want to rid the world of a miraculous treasure, the constant, nail-biting action never ceases.
Two intriguing characters—gorgeous Dr. Katharine Cardova, a renowned archaeologist, and formidable Max Braxton, Navy Seal trained Texas Ranger, also Mossad trained—join forces to search for the music for the Psalms of King David, following the mysterious clues that lead to this spectacular find. Each step of the way Muslim terrorists are intent upon stopping their quest; yet, through God’s leading and protection and the combat skills and global connections of Max Braxton, their evil attempts are foiled. Their search leads from Masada to Wales to Ireland and back to Israel on a fast-paced race against evil.
This journey and God’s evident direction and protection leads Max to embrace the beliefs that are so important to the intelligent archaeologist. This novel is worthy of an action movie and will grip the reader from the first scene to the spectacular conclusion. I highly recommend this excellent book that I received through TBCN in exchange for an honest review. Kudos to Mark Alan Leslie for a wonderful read. I look forward to reading other works by this author.
Two intriguing characters—gorgeous Dr. Katharine Cardova, a renowned archaeologist, and formidable Max Braxton, Navy Seal trained Texas Ranger, also Mossad trained—join forces to search for the music for the Psalms of King David, following the mysterious clues that lead to this spectacular find. Each step of the way Muslim terrorists are intent upon stopping their quest; yet, through God’s leading and protection and the combat skills and global connections of Max Braxton, their evil attempts are foiled. Their search leads from Masada to Wales to Ireland and back to Israel on a fast-paced race against evil.
This journey and God’s evident direction and protection leads Max to embrace the beliefs that are so important to the intelligent archaeologist. This novel is worthy of an action movie and will grip the reader from the first scene to the spectacular conclusion. I highly recommend this excellent book that I received through TBCN in exchange for an honest review. Kudos to Mark Alan Leslie for a wonderful read. I look forward to reading other works by this author.
April 26, 2018
Chasing the Music by Mark Alan Leslie
Book starts out with Dan and he's just discovered a miracle tablet of information on the archelogical dig. Soon others with weapons are tearing through the site and he escapes, tumbles down hills on his way to the highway and maybe safety. He gets injured and shot and makes a call to another doctor but she's hours away and gives her a hint of what he found.
Her car is dead and she grabs a ride with Max who has connections with the police to get them to the site and they arrive to Dan waking up on his way to the hospital.
Lots of action and love the information about the achealogical dig and what was uncovered. Lots of praying throughout the book along with quotes from the bible.
Love all the travel and the trouble they find along the way as others are tailing them....
Received this review copy via TBCN from Amazon site and this is my honest review.
Book starts out with Dan and he's just discovered a miracle tablet of information on the archelogical dig. Soon others with weapons are tearing through the site and he escapes, tumbles down hills on his way to the highway and maybe safety. He gets injured and shot and makes a call to another doctor but she's hours away and gives her a hint of what he found.
Her car is dead and she grabs a ride with Max who has connections with the police to get them to the site and they arrive to Dan waking up on his way to the hospital.
Lots of action and love the information about the achealogical dig and what was uncovered. Lots of praying throughout the book along with quotes from the bible.
Love all the travel and the trouble they find along the way as others are tailing them....
Received this review copy via TBCN from Amazon site and this is my honest review.
May 31, 2018
Someone asked me recently if one of my books was "swash-buckling," and I had to tell him there wasn't much violence in it. However, I should recommend this one to him. It has enough swash-buckling to raise hair on a clean plate. Not that I'm a fan of lots of the violent stuff--but this is good!
Black ops guy Max Braxton rescues mild-mannered Kat Cordova from jihadists, and the next thing you know, he's signed himself up as her bodyguard. Heaven knows, she needs one.
One of her friends has discovered a clue leading to finding King David's music to his psalms, but he got himself waylaid during the discovery. Kat takes over the search. Trouble is, it's a little like a treasure hunt. One hint as to the location leads to another, and at each place big trouble brews. I had my doubts they would ever … um, well, I might be giving away too much of the story here. Suffice it to say, swash-buckling reigns. And a teensy bit of romance.
Available from Amazon.
Black ops guy Max Braxton rescues mild-mannered Kat Cordova from jihadists, and the next thing you know, he's signed himself up as her bodyguard. Heaven knows, she needs one.
One of her friends has discovered a clue leading to finding King David's music to his psalms, but he got himself waylaid during the discovery. Kat takes over the search. Trouble is, it's a little like a treasure hunt. One hint as to the location leads to another, and at each place big trouble brews. I had my doubts they would ever … um, well, I might be giving away too much of the story here. Suffice it to say, swash-buckling reigns. And a teensy bit of romance.
Available from Amazon.
April 19, 2018
Fast Paced search for a treasure that spans the centuries. Takes the reader on a wild ride from Israel to other parts of the world and back to Israel for an exciting ending. Particularly enjoyed the description of many areas of Israel both modern and ancient. Fun story with a mix of romance to boot.
April 8, 2018
Thrilled
This was an unexpected thrill ride. The story started fast and accelerated. A lot of God-incidences kept the story together. Definitely looking for more from this author.
This was an unexpected thrill ride. The story started fast and accelerated. A lot of God-incidences kept the story together. Definitely looking for more from this author.
July 3, 2018
What a thrill ride!!
A thrill ride from page one. Non stop action. Mark Alan Leslie is now one of my favorite authors. Bring on the adventure.
A thrill ride from page one. Non stop action. Mark Alan Leslie is now one of my favorite authors. Bring on the adventure.
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July 19, 2016One word to describe Chasing the Music? ADVENTURE! Once I started reading, I constantly struggled to get anything else done. This was Indiana Jones wrapped up in Romancing the Stone overlayed with National Treasure - all my favorite action movies between the covers of one book.
Dr. Danny Arens is heading up the archaeological dig atop Dragot, a mountain just north of Masada. Just as he begins to examine a tablet he uncovered the night before, armed gunmen speaking Arabic storm onto the dig. As he runs for his life, he makes one phone call to his friend and fellow archaeologist, Dr. Katherine Cardova, to ask her to send help. As he loses his connection, he tells her of his find and the unique symbol on the tablet. Can Kat get to Danny, hours away from her location, before the gunmen complete their murderous task?
Max Braxton stops for lunch at a restaurant in Tiberias. Just as he exits his vehicle, a stunning redhead races past him to her car, leaps in and proceeds to frantically try to start the car. As he watches and her starter simply grinds, he offers assistance. Getting her to trust his motives is only part of the battle. When she realizes that he has Israel’s Police Commissioner on speed dial, Kat begins to see a glimmer of hope for her friend. As the two race to the rescue, the commissioner sends police on ahead to help Danny, if he’s still alive.
When Kat and Max arrive at Dragot, they learn that Danny has been found – alive but barely. Kat uses her experience on archaeological digs to find the spot Danny had been working – in spite of the total destruction left by the gunmen - and the tablet he had found. As she examines it she realizes that the tablet is actually a clue to the whereabouts of the original music for the Psalms of King David, an archaeological find on a par with finding the Dead Sea Scrolls. When she commits to completing Danny’s mission, Max offers to go along as her protection. What can one man do against the many who want her stopped? Max is no ordinary by-stander. He is Navy Seal trained, Texas Ranger trained, Israeli Mossad trained and could easily be modeled after 007. The adventure takes them from Israel to Wales to Ireland and back and each stop brings more danger.
Will Kat and Max live to make one of the greatest discoveries in history?
This book NEEDS to be made into a movie! It definitely reads like the best action adventure movie I’ve ever seen. The action is nearly constant and the historical data is so interesting that it adds to instead of slowing down the momentum of the story. I definitely recommend that adrenaline junkies read this book. I think it would be especially suited for men, even those who might not like to read very much. The story is that good.
I received this book from bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.
Dr. Danny Arens is heading up the archaeological dig atop Dragot, a mountain just north of Masada. Just as he begins to examine a tablet he uncovered the night before, armed gunmen speaking Arabic storm onto the dig. As he runs for his life, he makes one phone call to his friend and fellow archaeologist, Dr. Katherine Cardova, to ask her to send help. As he loses his connection, he tells her of his find and the unique symbol on the tablet. Can Kat get to Danny, hours away from her location, before the gunmen complete their murderous task?
Max Braxton stops for lunch at a restaurant in Tiberias. Just as he exits his vehicle, a stunning redhead races past him to her car, leaps in and proceeds to frantically try to start the car. As he watches and her starter simply grinds, he offers assistance. Getting her to trust his motives is only part of the battle. When she realizes that he has Israel’s Police Commissioner on speed dial, Kat begins to see a glimmer of hope for her friend. As the two race to the rescue, the commissioner sends police on ahead to help Danny, if he’s still alive.
When Kat and Max arrive at Dragot, they learn that Danny has been found – alive but barely. Kat uses her experience on archaeological digs to find the spot Danny had been working – in spite of the total destruction left by the gunmen - and the tablet he had found. As she examines it she realizes that the tablet is actually a clue to the whereabouts of the original music for the Psalms of King David, an archaeological find on a par with finding the Dead Sea Scrolls. When she commits to completing Danny’s mission, Max offers to go along as her protection. What can one man do against the many who want her stopped? Max is no ordinary by-stander. He is Navy Seal trained, Texas Ranger trained, Israeli Mossad trained and could easily be modeled after 007. The adventure takes them from Israel to Wales to Ireland and back and each stop brings more danger.
Will Kat and Max live to make one of the greatest discoveries in history?
This book NEEDS to be made into a movie! It definitely reads like the best action adventure movie I’ve ever seen. The action is nearly constant and the historical data is so interesting that it adds to instead of slowing down the momentum of the story. I definitely recommend that adrenaline junkies read this book. I think it would be especially suited for men, even those who might not like to read very much. The story is that good.
I received this book from bookfun.org in exchange for my honest review.
October 1, 2016
Dr. Danny Arens looks forward to searching Dragot Mountain. He’s heading up the dig there. He finds a tablet. He needs help in studying it. He calls Dr. Katherine Cardova, a fellow archaeologist who was about two hours away. Tension at the site is thick, as gunmen stand guard. Danny is anxious, he’s wondering if his friend would get there before a killing spree breaks out.
Max Braxton spots Kat at a restaurant in Taberias and they join forces in a race to help Danny and get home alive. When they reach Dr. Danny Arens things don’t look good. Kat discovers the tablet and examines it. She realizes that it contains a clue to where the original music for the Psalms of Kind David, could be found. Max, Navy Seal trained, Texas Ranger; offers Kat his protection as she begins her search. Kat’s search has them running all over Europe searching for a treasure. Dogging bullets and staying one step ahead of their enemies. Will this dynamic duo stay alive long enough to uncover one of the greatest artifacts of all time?
This is an adventure story you won’t soon forget!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Book Club Network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”
Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins! www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine www.bookfunmagazine.com
Max Braxton spots Kat at a restaurant in Taberias and they join forces in a race to help Danny and get home alive. When they reach Dr. Danny Arens things don’t look good. Kat discovers the tablet and examines it. She realizes that it contains a clue to where the original music for the Psalms of Kind David, could be found. Max, Navy Seal trained, Texas Ranger; offers Kat his protection as she begins her search. Kat’s search has them running all over Europe searching for a treasure. Dogging bullets and staying one step ahead of their enemies. Will this dynamic duo stay alive long enough to uncover one of the greatest artifacts of all time?
This is an adventure story you won’t soon forget!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Book Club Network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”
Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins! www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network blog www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine www.bookfunmagazine.com
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July 5, 2016Black-ops veteran Max Braxton and archaeologist Kat Cardova search for King David's music of the Psalms. Finding it would begin construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem.
Muslim terrorists stop at nothing to keep that from happening.
My Thoughts:
Fast action and high suspense.
From Israel to Petra, Jordan to Dublin Ireland, Wales and back to Israel, Max and Kat traveled.
The read was exciting. Following clues and moving from place to place. I loved it.
The crusaders were brought to life in the history lessons.
Great book.
Muslim terrorists stop at nothing to keep that from happening.
My Thoughts:
Fast action and high suspense.
From Israel to Petra, Jordan to Dublin Ireland, Wales and back to Israel, Max and Kat traveled.
The read was exciting. Following clues and moving from place to place. I loved it.
The crusaders were brought to life in the history lessons.
Great book.
June 18, 2016
Too much God
Interesting story but I didn't expect it to have so much religious content. I wanted to read a story about archaeology, not a sermon.
Interesting story but I didn't expect it to have so much religious content. I wanted to read a story about archaeology, not a sermon.
June 19, 2019
Interesting concept - finding ancient music. Fast paced, lots of drama - maybe too many "close calls" for the main characters to be completely believable.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews