Julie's Review: Black Sun

Summary: In the heart of the Amazon, NRI operative Danielle Laidlaw makes an incredible discovery: a translucent Mayan stone generating massive waves of energy while counting down toward the infamous apocalyptic date: December 21, 2012. And somewhere, there are three more just like it. What power will be unleashed if all four stones come together? Who created them—and who has them now? Using a cryptic Mayan map and a prophecy that points to the end of the world, Danielle and her team race toward answers. But one staggering question remains: Were these artifacts meant to save us—or to destroy us once and for all? ~amazon.com

Review: Want to read about the end of civilization? Yeah, me either but Graham Brown hooked me with  Black Rain a few months ago, so I knew Black Sun was going to make in on my TBR list. This one takes off 2 years from where Black Rain ended. Do you need to read Black Rain to get Black Sun; not really, but I definitely thinks it helps to understand the characters and their history together. Black Sun is an action packed thriller from the start.

The NRI has been studying the stone they found in the Amazon for 2 years and has determined that there are at least 2-3 more stones similar out in the world somewhere. Danielle Laidlaw and Professor McCarter are on a mission to find it and they do but not without some issues. Professor McCarter falls and almost dies and Danielle is kidnapped by a Chinese Mafioso. This is where we are re-introduced to Hawker. Let me tell you, I was happy to see him. Of course, not only is the Chinese Mafioso after them but they've got the Russians after them as well.

This time around the players know what they are getting into and each for different reasons. Danielle wants to finish what she started, McCarter wants to complete the puzzle that is the Mayan Culture, and Hawker wants to protect Danielle. They each are striving for their own truth.

Mr. Brown does an excellent job of pulling the story together and of explaining the scientific components in layman's terms. For me this was helpful as science wasn't my strongest subject. The resolution that he writes about in the book left me extremely satisfied. Saying that, I would love to see this NRI team back for another adventure. The world might have been saved from this disaster but there's always another one looming.

I'm not one for Doomsday books or prophecies, they freak me out but Mr. Brown writes it in a way that is enlightening instead of scary. That greatly pleased me because it was fresh. The truth of the matter is that no one really knows what the Mayan calendar truly means but of course there are plenty of theories.

So, do I think the world will go dark on 12/21/2012? No, but if it does, we certainly won't know it. Plus, weren't we all supposed to be sent back to the 1800s on 1/1/2000?

Final Take: 4/5

Julie's Review: Black Rain

Summary: Mayan myth, including the much-ballyhooed 2012 doomsday theory, forms the backbone of this action-packed debut. Danielle Laidlaw, an investigator for a covert branch of the National Research Institute, sets off into the Amazon with a small group of mercenaries, renegades, rogues, and scholars to uncover the source of mysterious radioactive crystals, hoping to find an ancient Mayan city and a possible source for clean energy. Ruthless billionaire Richard Kaufman has his own plans for the technology and will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means killing Danielle and her team. There are other dangers lurking in the rain forests, including a cartoonishly savage tribe of natives called the Chollokwan and a mysterious man-eating creature. A few sections seem unnecessarily padded, but the fast pace and nonstop violence will keep readers forging ahead. ~amazon.com

Review: When I read the synopsis for Black Rain, I immediately thought of my favorite show, ALIAS, and that it could have been ripped from a plot. Well, now that I'm done that is both a yes and no answer. What the NRI (National Research Institute) is after could have been a Rambaldi artifact but the history surrounding the story, is definitely not ALIAS. I'm not into the study of Mayan culture so this book was highly educational for me, if not a bit confusing. Mr. Brown sure does know how to weave an action packed adventure. He also knows how to create some freaky beasts.

NRI Agent, Danielle Laidlaw has been saddled with quite a task; find the source of some crystals that were originally found in the Amazon in 1926. Um, good luck? So, she has to assemble a team of both mercenaries and civilians to find these crystals. She also can't tell them the truth of what they are looking for in the jungle. She knows this will put their lives in danger but she's willing to take that risk; it's her job.

Mr. Brown has a way of making you feel like you are in the thick of it. He describes everything in such a way that when they were on the boat, I felt like I was there floating along with the team. A great deal of the story is based on Mayan legend/folklore, which he does a great job with tying it up at the end. It also makes you think that sometimes the thing you fear most might end being the thing that saves you. I really can't go more into that because well I'd ruin the book for you.

The cast of characters are well developed and intriguing. Besides Danielle, I think my 2 favorite characters were Hawker and McCarter, for different reasons. Hawker was the brawn and McCarter was the brain. That being said, they both had a bit of the others characteristics in them as well. The Amazon itself, as you can imagine, is one big character. I'm sure it's beautiful but I'd probably get lost and come upon some unknown spider species and die of fright.

I will say, the very end wasn't my favorite. I'm not into doomsday prophecies and I felt that the ending definitely played into that hype of recent years. If he had left out a bit at the end I would have been wholly satisfied. I know why he did it but it doesn't mean I have to be fond of it.

That being said, I will read Black Sunwhen it comes out August 2010. I'm anxious to see what happens to the gang of characters and if all of them reappear.

Final Take: 3.75/5