Recently, I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of the action adventure novel Resurrect by Kane Gilmour for review. I understand this is a first novel and to say it was impressive would be an understatement. It was a thrill read to say the least. Lucky for us, it's only the first in what promises to be a series of fictitious adventures featuring engineer and rock climber Jason Quinn.
Starting out like a well researched historical fiction novel, the reader is first thrown into 19th century China at the end of a rebellion. It was engrossing but after reading the novel synopsis I wasn't sure what to expect. What I can say is that this historical snapshot was a great introduction to the story. It let the reader know right away that they would be in for some very intriguing situations with just the right amount of detail and action. Jump ahead to a second, very different scene with an old man about to embark on a secret journey. Initially I was puzzled, like I was being handed torn pieces of a photograph to piece together, but that only drove me further into the story to find out what was going on.
It's after this part that the real story begins.
It's the present and a small team of archaeologists is on its way from a dig site near Xinning to Hong Kong via an old Xinjiang Airlines aircraft. With the archaeologists' plane crashing far from its intended destination and what then turns out to be a series of narrow escapes from unknown assassins, the reader is introduced to the real hero of the story, Jason Quinn. Together with his friend Curtis Johnson, Jason takes it upon himself to protect the lone surviving female archaeologist from the pursuing assassins. Not surprisingly, she is the intended target and an unknowing part in a conspiracy that proves to be far reaching.
Now I don't know about every reader, but sometimes the more implausible the action scene the more I enjoy it. And there were plenty of those such action scenes. If you were thrown from a speeding train, then miraculously found your way over a mountain back on to said train only to be throw off again... how good would you look? If you were Jason Quinn, pretty darn good.
For me, the action scenes were the best part of the book.
Over all I found it to be a very entertaining action thriller. Well paced and hard to put down, it reminded me of a few international thrillers that take the reader on an adventure from one exciting locale to the next. Well worth it if you love the genre.
I should also point out that like many books in this genre, there is that possibly controversial aspect to it. It does paint quite a large number of people belonging to one particular culture in a villainous hue. So I guess it depends on how politically correct you like your fiction. Some readers are sensitive to that kind of thing while others remember that it's just fiction.
The reason I held back on the full five stars was that the ending seemed a little too abrupt for me. It wrapped up just a little too quickly and I really felt there should have been more - really, there should have been. But of course that's just my opinion. I can still see many readers giving it five stars. In fact, many have.
It should be a best seller. Here's the Amazon link.
Reviewed by E. Bard
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