Review of Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle
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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle" by David R Leng.]
Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle by David R Leng is a crime thriller that centres on historical mystery, adventure, hidden treasure, and modern conspiracy. This book alternates between two timelines. One is set in 1864-1865 at the end of the Civil War, following Confederate President Davis, and the other is set in 2017-2018, following Jack, Emma, Steve, and Priya.
The historical timeline begins when President Davis receives news that the city of Savanah has fallen to Union forces, and later a mysterious visitor arrives and tells him that within 4 months the Confederacy will fall. The visitor advises Davis to hide the Confederate Treasury so it can be used to build power in the future. Davis then entrusts Colonel Harrington with securing the Confederate Treasury. When Davis prepares to flee after receiving news that Petersburg has fallen, he calls Captain Montclair to his office. He gives him a coded letter and warns him not to trust anyone.
The present timeline follows former Navy SEAL and now a historian, Jack; a museum curator, Emma; Steve; and Priya, a DHS specialist, while they try to find the hidden Confederate Treasury and also fight against cartel mercenaries and corrupt government officials. It begins when Jack receives a call from his friend Bill about a guy, Zeke Carter, who claims to have a Confederate code that might lead to a treasure. Jack realizes that this code might be linked to the secret group called Knights of the Golden Circle that he has been studying. Jack visits the Confederate Executive Mansion museum to look for more clues that link to the hidden treasure. While he was connecting his clues, he received a call from his friend Admiral Hawthorne that his friend Steve had gone dark and that the last message he left began with "Henry."
This book was described as a standalone, but I felt like if I read the first 2 books, it would have made the beginning easier to understand. This, however, didn't make the book impossible to follow, but it took time for me to fully understand the plot and characters.
I really liked the author's way of seamlessly switching between the two timelines. I'm not really a fan of stories that have different timelines and keep switching between them, but I was really excited to see how the events that happened in the past would connect to the present. For example, when Jack went to that museum to check out Davis' old letters for clues, the previous chapter follows President Davis in his office, writing down something before he evacuates Richmond.
I really enjoyed the puzzles, Bible verse clues, purposely placed misdirection, and mostly the layered ciphers. It was fun watching the characters uncover the hidden ciphers, like when Jack had to decrypt an encrypted message sent to him by Steve before he was captured, or when Emma found a weird grocery list written by Mary Bowser and realized that it was a hidden code or the fake town name 'Arkham' being a combination of Arkansas and Oklahoma. I also liked that even though the whole book was mostly focused on action and crime, there were still emotional moments. On Christmas Eve morning, Emma and Priya had a deep conversation about their fears and their past relationship. They were vulnerable with each other, and it was lovely to read.
The author had a lot of plots to juggle, and I expected it to feel too much for me, but it was handled well. This was an interesting read, and I would recommend this to readers interested in crime thrillers, conspiracy thrillers, and mysteries that contain puzzles and ciphers. I have no setbacks to mention, so I rate this book a 5 out of 5. I found some errors, just a few, in the book, and that did not affect my rating.
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Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle
View: on Bookshelves |
Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle by David R Leng is a crime thriller that centres on historical mystery, adventure, hidden treasure, and modern conspiracy. This book alternates between two timelines. One is set in 1864-1865 at the end of the Civil War, following Confederate President Davis, and the other is set in 2017-2018, following Jack, Emma, Steve, and Priya.
The historical timeline begins when President Davis receives news that the city of Savanah has fallen to Union forces, and later a mysterious visitor arrives and tells him that within 4 months the Confederacy will fall. The visitor advises Davis to hide the Confederate Treasury so it can be used to build power in the future. Davis then entrusts Colonel Harrington with securing the Confederate Treasury. When Davis prepares to flee after receiving news that Petersburg has fallen, he calls Captain Montclair to his office. He gives him a coded letter and warns him not to trust anyone.
The present timeline follows former Navy SEAL and now a historian, Jack; a museum curator, Emma; Steve; and Priya, a DHS specialist, while they try to find the hidden Confederate Treasury and also fight against cartel mercenaries and corrupt government officials. It begins when Jack receives a call from his friend Bill about a guy, Zeke Carter, who claims to have a Confederate code that might lead to a treasure. Jack realizes that this code might be linked to the secret group called Knights of the Golden Circle that he has been studying. Jack visits the Confederate Executive Mansion museum to look for more clues that link to the hidden treasure. While he was connecting his clues, he received a call from his friend Admiral Hawthorne that his friend Steve had gone dark and that the last message he left began with "Henry."
This book was described as a standalone, but I felt like if I read the first 2 books, it would have made the beginning easier to understand. This, however, didn't make the book impossible to follow, but it took time for me to fully understand the plot and characters.
I really liked the author's way of seamlessly switching between the two timelines. I'm not really a fan of stories that have different timelines and keep switching between them, but I was really excited to see how the events that happened in the past would connect to the present. For example, when Jack went to that museum to check out Davis' old letters for clues, the previous chapter follows President Davis in his office, writing down something before he evacuates Richmond.
I really enjoyed the puzzles, Bible verse clues, purposely placed misdirection, and mostly the layered ciphers. It was fun watching the characters uncover the hidden ciphers, like when Jack had to decrypt an encrypted message sent to him by Steve before he was captured, or when Emma found a weird grocery list written by Mary Bowser and realized that it was a hidden code or the fake town name 'Arkham' being a combination of Arkansas and Oklahoma. I also liked that even though the whole book was mostly focused on action and crime, there were still emotional moments. On Christmas Eve morning, Emma and Priya had a deep conversation about their fears and their past relationship. They were vulnerable with each other, and it was lovely to read.
The author had a lot of plots to juggle, and I expected it to feel too much for me, but it was handled well. This was an interesting read, and I would recommend this to readers interested in crime thrillers, conspiracy thrillers, and mysteries that contain puzzles and ciphers. I have no setbacks to mention, so I rate this book a 5 out of 5. I found some errors, just a few, in the book, and that did not affect my rating.
******
Echoes of Fortune: Knights of the Golden Circle
View: on Bookshelves |
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