Customer Reviews
Solid Historical Backdrop and Gibbering Terror!
Reviewer: A reader from Canada
Sephera Giron Leisure Books author.
Fans of Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" will love this tightly plotted potboiler.
Like Brown, Weber laces his novel with just enough real esoteric history on secret societies and the occult to add a rich backdrop to this fast-paced thriller. But unlike Brown--Weber's characters come alive and leap off the page. No cardboard here.
And the terror is nothing short of gibbering. His blend of euro-thriller, gritty cop-shop, and Gothic noir make this an entertaining yet highly enlightening suspense novel. Together a detective and beautiful Mossad agent--battle evil in the form of a secret cabal. A twelve-year-old boy, his aunt--Susie Q, and a reluctant Rabbi hold the key to good's battle against the powers of darkness.
The settings range from the Vatican to the dark back alleyways of Chicago. This cross-genre thrill ride will make you laugh out loud in places, cry in others, and make you run from your easy chair at the slightest sound to bolt the door, grab your rosary and shotgun, and huddle in the darkness. Pulse-pounding terror! 5 stars.
"Secret societies, an ancient book that renders people mad, deadly games of erotica and murder...all are woven together for a page turning journey into the ultimate evil."
"Weber leads his readers down a treacherous path of conspiracy and debauchery with a firm hand and engaging prose."
--Sephera Giron, CURSE (Leisure 2004) THE BIRDS AND THE BEES
U.K. Author Shaun Jeffrey: intellectual thriller!
U.K. author of Evilution Shaun Jeffrey: intellectual thrill ride!
Reviewer: from London, U.K.
Shaun Jeffrey, author of Evilution (Invisible College Press)
If you like conspiracy theories and intellectual thrillers, you cannot afford to miss Dark Protocols. Richard Weber writes with panache and an eye for detail that shows in the meticulous research he must have undertaken to write this book. Taking us from the Vatican to the mean streets of Chicago, the reader is transported on a terrifying odyssey, but is also left with a strange sense of, 'What if ...?'
The characters leap out from the page; they are people you care about or fear: A gritty detective in the form of Sam Goldstein; Josey Schulman, a beautiful Mossad agent, and the terror that is The Other. The author keeps a tight hold of the reins, letting the dark prose run at just the right speed, relinquishing control only to heighten the breathtaking excitement. A cultural excursion through the dark side of life. Read it at your peril.
A good concept ...
but in my opinion poorly written. It may just be a style of writing that I am not use to but I thought the author dragged out almost every scene with unnecessarily long descriptions. Don't get me wrong I don't mind when an author describes important places or people a little more than usually but Weber spent time describing everything! He even described how police lights went "aquamarine and then diamonds, aquamarine and then diamonds." (Chap 2.) That was a real quote from the book! Who doesn't know what police lights look like? Such descriptions are only useful in describing something to someone with no imagination and slowing down the story or just the filler of a poor writer.
As a side note one of the other readers compared this novel to DaVinci Code. The concepts and story lines are similar in their religious tones, however the book reads nothing like any one of Mr. Brown's.
