From 1856 to 1943, the world was blessed with the once-in-a-lifetime genius Nikola Tesla. From his explorations of alternating currents to harnessing the power of Niagara Falls, he worked hard to bring society not only into the twentieth century but far beyond. Yet this brilliant man's life was full of hardship. With a lab burned to the ground and his groundbreaking designs ignored by the American government, every shimmer of hope soon turned into a raging inferno for the inventor until he died penniless and alone. Little did Tesla or his contemporaries know, his designs and patents will change the world for years to come and, more than half a century after his supposed death, change the very destiny of an entire family.Darren Mathews is a loving father married to his soulmate. Anna Mathews is a devoted mother and loyal wife. Living with their daughter, Dana, on a small island off the coast of Florida, they seem to have the perfect family life, but this couple is hiding a dangerous secret: they both work for The Orange Corporation, an umbrella company of the CIA controlled by the shadow government. From aliens to giants, they have seen all that the Hidden Hand has kept from the world. Almost. When a routine recovery mission puts Darren face-to-face with original Tesla notes, he makes an impulsive decision which will alter the course of not only his fate but the fates of his wife and daughter forever.What will Darren do with the Tesla documents? Will the shadow government discover what he's done? And will Anna turn her husband over to the Hidden Hand, or will she stick with him for better or worse-until death do they part?
The author spun the storyline around two plausible scenarios: 1) religion's role to ensure their reputation remained untarnished and 2) the safety and protection of massive fortunes. It's the same old story, but with a new twist. The narrative did not attend to, so much, to the pioneering efforts of Tesla, but rather the powers-that-be: the individuals, groups and organizations - the shakers of the world.
The main protagonist, Darren, a former S.A.S. agent was a pawn in a deadly game of espionage. Taken to the highest levels, the safeguarding of worldly secrets and assets came first above all else; science be damned.
I offer my thanks to NetGalley and BookGoSocial for the collaboration of this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
This book I found quite confusing. There was 2 stories going on-- 1 about Tesla (the inventor) and the other about more modern deep-state ultra secret activities. Either story I would have found interesting by itself (if developed more), but through the book I kept waiting for how the 2 intersected, and it never happened. I was quite disappointed.
This book I found quite confusing. There was 2 stories going on-- 1 about Tesla (the inventor) and the other about more modern deep-state ultra secret activities. Either story I would have found interesting by itself (if developed more), but through the book I kept waiting for how the 2 intersected, and it never happened. I was quite disappointed.
Tesla is a conspiracy novel with a bit of a historical twist. The timelines alternate between the era when Nicolai Tesla was doing research and the period of about 1985 to about 2006, where Darren Mathews, an Australian agent, begins working with the CIA. Both timelines reveal a deep state cabal constantly working behind the scenes and secrets beyond everyone's worst nightmares.
I found the fictional conspiracy theory to be well developed. The parts of the book involving Tesla and the placement of the key players in Tesla's world were thought provoking and well done. Most of the book, however, centered around Darren, his family, and their work with/for the CIA.
There were many weak moments in this book. The main character Darren entered into a relationship fairly quickly. The relationship was rushed, and the reason for rushing the relationship was ridiculous and unbelievable. Darren's story jumps backwards and forwards in time over a 15 - 20 year period. This was confusing. The ending was abrupt and unsatisfying. I am not interested in reading any sequels. However, if you enjoy deep state conspiracy novels, you may like this book.
An overall fascinating book, perfect for the conspiracy theory enthusiast who enjoys a good mystery. There is a bit of time-hopping that takes some getting used to, but the inclusion of Tesla into the storyline made it intriguing enough to stick with it. Very glad I was approved for an ARC by NetGalley and the publisher!
I admit it. I’m a massive fan of conspiracy theories. I love the alternative history stuff for a number of reasons, but mostly for the unknown. The what-ifs?
I came across this book on Net Galley and the synopsis and cover had me intrigued. It was a fast read, and for the most part a very fun read.
The story is split into two parts. The main bulk of the story follows former SAS officer Darren Mathews and his wife/soulmate Anna Mathews. Darren met Anna on a top secret mission and they fell in love. They have a daughter Dana who, throughout is discussed but never has dialogue.
Darren’s story is a good one. He’s in charge of recovery operations. Working now for a classified division of the CIA, Darren heads to remote locations and helps archaeologists and anthropologists etc retrieve things found at newly discovered sites. The majority of the sites throughout the book are pyramids deep underground or crashed UFO’s.
The other split in the story is a systematic fictional look at Tesla as he attempted to develop a few of his experiments. I have to admit, the parts with Tesla were done well and added some intrigue to the story, but I didn’t find it necessary and a bit of me found it taking away from Darren’s part of the story. I wanted to get back to his stuff whenever Tesla’s side came up.
The ending of the story was a fun romp through some underground tunnels, and at first I found it a bit of an odd twist, but knowing this was “Book 1” I let it slide and hope we get to see deeper down the stairs in Book 2. I also felt like the ending of the Tesla story line left a lot open for Book 2 or further. So I’ll patiently wait.
Two last bits here, and its two bits I normally never discuss in reviews.
Firstly – the foreword. It was one of the few forewords that I enjoyed and I think it really worked to warm me up towards where the author was coming from. He did make note of finding ‘others’ on Fivrr and it has me wondering if this was some of his stuff and some ghost writer stuff. At the end of the book, I’m still not sure. I found some stylistic changes occurring throughout, as though someone wrote it and sent it to someone else to finish a section. It wasn’t jarring, just something I noticed.
Second – the editing. There are a lot of issues with misspelled words etc throughout. I’m easy going about it and normally I wouldn’t even bring any of it up… BUT one of the key parts of alien lore was misspelled and it irked me. I constantly was googling stuff on my phone. Like I said, I love conspiracy theory stuff, and there’s plenty of mentions throughout. One thing that I’ve heard of before was ‘The Greada Treaty.’ This is proposed meeting between Eisenhower and Aliens about their technology. It was spelled The Grenada Treaty. I felt annoyed that something that important in the alien conspiracy theory world wasn’t spelled correctly.
Saying that – I did receive this through Net Galley and while I didn’t see that this was created as an unedited advance copy, I’m taking it to be that. I’ve also not knocked any marks down or anything due to these issues.
Overall, I did enjoy this tale and I’m looking forward to the series continuing. This is a fun, fast read for conspiracy and alternative history fans, and as I mentioned before, you’ll be googling and researching a number of things that the author brings to light!
Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for an ARC to review!
Awkward attempt to merge too many genres into one story. The title character was notable by his absence; More of Tesla and less of aliens would have been appreciated.
"We have company." Well, there's potential here for a decent series but it is so badly presented I actually gave up on it twice. But once started, I hate not to finish ...
This is a book seriously in need of an editor. Firstly, style: the story is told in numerous little set scenes, from various perspectives, and in different locations of place and time. And all are recounted in the present tense, even when happening in the past. This use of the present can make for greater immediacy but loses power when used in this blanket way as well as being potentially confusing.
Secondly, content : a definite case of where less would be more. In an apparent desire to appeal in a maximum number of genres, this thriller encompasses a little bit of everything - aliens and spaceships, futuristic technology, government conspiracy, pyramids and ancient artfacts, world war, diabolical Church secrets, murder, torture, abductions, family secrets, stolen documents, blackmail, incapacitating late arrival (at 7 months) morning sickness, cancer, broken contracts, an underground battle, and a trip up the Eiffel Tower, to name but some. There was even space for sob stories about Tesla to creep in at odd moments. What there wasn't was character development or a clear and satisfying story line.
Thirdly, technical : yes, the odd typo, but that is not what interests me here. And it might well apply to only some kindle/ ebooks. But several times in the course of the book, I was unable to turn the page to continue reading. Or, rather, the page would turn, only to reproduce again the one just read. To get past this, I had to jump forward to a later location and flip backwards through the book until I reached the page I needed. Possible this was a quirk associated only with my copy. But it is the only time in several years of reading that this has occured.
Overall, Tesla felt more like a collection of ideas to be explored more fully when the direction of the book has been fully determined and written not to read as a book but as a film screen production. It is interesting to see where this will go next: the ideas are there, the series just now needs to be assembled. Until rewritten and rewritten, this is of a book that I could recommend. My thanks to BookSprout from whom I received a complimentary ARC.
Starting with an interesting scene where are Tesla, Edison, and Mark Twain meet with a secret group high up in the relatively new Eiffel Tower, having been invited by Monsieur Eiffel himself. The Tesla story is juxtaposed with a more modern one based around a spy named Darren and his wife who work for a secret arm of the CIA, operating as agents for the shadow government. Darren comes across some old original notes of Tesla’s. What will he do with his findings? Will they put him and his family in danger?
This book is written in the present tense, and in general, I think that is an awkward way to write fiction. And unfortunately, in this case, sometimes the other tenses required to show proper sequence of time weren't chosen correctly around the ubiquitous present tense; this is one of the pitfalls of using the present tense. That said, this was still an interesting read, making the reader of ponder what unknown knowledge might be hiding out there, who are keeping it secret, and what it could mean if it was known.
In just a total aside . . . Since Mark Twain was the pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, I think it would have made an ironic twist to have the members of the secret committee him as Sam instead of Mark.
From the outset of the book I struggled with even the idea, or slightest notion that Tesla could be other worldly. It's too cliche. It's not how it goes down, but with the time jumps, I got confused at first. I think there are some great parts to the story. There is a weird relationship within the main families dynamic, and in the end hate how they all get scattered for their own reasons. I felt utterly dissatisfied with how it ended. As stated above, minus the time hops, it had an alright story line. I think the author tried a bit too hard to mesh history, today, and covert agencies. I wanted some sort of an ending and there was finality of sorts for some, but not for the family. And I feel there wasn't for Tesla in the story either. It's too unfinished for my taste. I understand it's part of a series, but...
I was able to read this early edition thanks to Netgalley in exchange for my non biased opinion of the story read.
This is great book by this author who is fast becoming a favorite of mine in this genre. He puts just enough detail in so that it reads realistic whilst at the same time doesn’t over do it so that you feel bored or confused. The same with the characters and the dialogue between them, realistic and believable! The plot is interesting and easy to follow, it’s another wonderful addition to an amazing series.
Secret Societies, Real World connections that hook and keep you reading.
Secret societies and secrets connected to things affect the world make for a complicated world that is lots of fun. The author managed to make his characters likable and scenes and dialogue realistic enough to keep you hooked. Well done. I will definitely be reading this author again.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The why's of the human race are many, but the belief that we are the advanced intelligence is severely flawed. Too many secrets kept from the masses for their own good and powerful paranoia of others resulting in lies and refusing to share truths. This is just one version of truth and consequences. As always we are our worst enemy.
This is a very intriguing story involving characters that I can easily identify with and I became totally engrossed in this story. Based on what I see on Amazon, I have many more books to read that are similar involving what appears to be historic people/events. I loved it and cannot wait to read more.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I'm very intrigued by the subject matter. The story rolls along and gets very exciting at times. I'm encountering things I've seen before, but also things I've never heard of before. [This may sound cryptic, but if/when you read this, you'll know what I mean.]
This is a really good book. It’s not my usual genre, but I was pleasantly surprised. I like Darren and Anna as characters and the shadow governments makes you wonder what’s really going on in the world.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Darren Mathews and his wife work for the Orange Corporation, a subsidiary of the CIA. Darren heads into danger when he learns of secrets once held by Tesla. This books adds adventure,conspiracy and history together in a great read.
I really liked the premise of this book but unfortunately it didn’t deliver. The writing felt weird somehow and there was no beginning and no end to the story. The characters were too cliché, I couldn’t relate to any of them.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.
Tesla, by Jason Walker, offers one of the most exciting stories I read in many years. Walker describes a storyline of a family who lives off the Florida coast, but their relation to the CIA governed corporation named Orange Corporation gives the book a different dynamic. Throughout reading the book, I enjoyed the historical facts included in the storyline aligned with fictional events and the creation of imaginary thoughts.
Darren receives an opportunity to view the Tesla documents and requires him to make crucial decisions. Secrets prevail between Darren and his wife Anna that challenges both of them to act in specific ways.
The unique approach taken by the author made me realise the significance of the book and the successful writing style presented to allow readers to learn from it as well. The writing style stayed easy to read without any complicated or unclear plots. This book is a must-read to individuals who enjoy a bit of history combined with a tremendous imaginative mind.
I really enjoyed this book. It was short but entertaining. Not too much detail but enough to make it believable. I would have preferred some more detail on what happened at the end as I find it ended abruptly without a great deal of explanation. On the whole I would definitely recommend this author and book.
Nicola Tezla, Australian SAS, Aliens and the CIA whats not to like in this book we go from early 20th century to 2005 from Australia to underground pyramids in northern America battling giants and shadowy New World order. Excellent. The.
Innovative style of creative writing. Love the blended past and present developers inevitable interactions. Romance with a crooked turn and a very interesting tale.
Extremely interesting story and characters. Loved the historical twist and dual timelines. The stuff about Tesla, Edison and Eiffel was fascinating. Would have been 5 stars if someone had edited/proof read the book. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
What a fantastic story. Woven with the names of early science pioneers. Weaving in aliens, spaceships and presidents. Then to add the last few lines to make it seem as if it is our history. Or is it?