The Glass Beacon by John Day

☆☆☆☆

Published
December 1st 2015
Publisher
John Day
Genre
Contemporary Thriller
Pages
1, 396

Karl Strom is a brilliant engineer whose family is hedging their bets by having a foot in each door in order to survive the war with their wealth. Which is why he is working on the German side creating a beacon that is undetectable except by the bombs they are intended to direct to targets.

Karl’s mission is to go home to England with a team of four trained operatives to test the beacon and then train others to set them. But the minute Karl and his team set foot on English soil anything that can go wrong does with betrayal from within and without. He starts to wonder if he will survive long enough to take care of his personal mission as well.

First I need to say I know this book wasn’t on my TBR list but when John asked me to read for him I felt that I owed him because back July I was in the middle of promoting two of his other books only to have it pre-empted to my families very great tragedy and lose. So I hope you all will understand my need to read and review this book and I have every intention of writing reviews for those two books that I never got to write. SO thank you John for your wife and your friendship and understanding it has meant a great deal to me and my family.

I have been sitting here thinking about what I like most about The Glass Beacon and was beginning to think I would be able to pin point a favorite part because the whole book was an amazing read, but as I was thinking I realized that it was the way Karl/Peter interacted with his sister. I think if there is anyone that the master spy loved more than that two timing hoochi Helga, who doesn’t deserve him, it would be his sister. But then given how he banged Anna I don’t see him and Helga lasting for life. I saw some marked improvement in how John wrote his bedroom scenes as well as they were tastefully done and definitely not clinical and one or two had me wanting to read them to my husband because I am positive he would love how they were written as well. The ending was epic and if I could elaborate more I would but unfortunately I would be giving away the ending but know this John Day I will be sending you and email about that 😉 As for rating I would love to give The Glass Beacon a 5-star rating but the edits I find though minimal were still enough to dock a star from the rating which sucks given how great this book was.

Book’s Blurb
A book for men & women.

Under the direct orders of the Fuhrer, Karl Strom is tasked to design and plant secret devices in Britain.
He trains his team of misfits in Alderney, the Channel Island nearest England. Karl’s worst fear is confirmed during a lustful encounter under the stars.

Deeply in love with Helga, the Oberst’s girlfriend, he says goodbye to her as he sets off with his team on the suicide mission, only to discover her heart-wrenching secret.

The members of his team, each have their own personal agenda and the bonds they develop between them are tested as they experience love and face death as the story unfolds.

Betrayed at every turn, Karl plans to find those who betrayed him and wreak terrible revenge on them.
The obsessive and ruthless Karl Strom completes his official mission and now he must commit the perfect murder to right a terrible wrong and in so doing, reveal his true self.

Finally, he must return to Helga and end the Raven, whoever it turns out to be.

Will the final piece of his plan fall into place, or fall apart as a shattered dream?

Fugitive by John Day

☆☆☆☆

Published
April 12, 2015
Publisher
John Day
Pages
334

Carla and Max have just completed another successful mission and are ready to fly off for their next assignment for the Organization only to be ambushed as they were leaving a party.

Now Carla is being held prisoner by her egomaniacal father who wants to use her to hurt Max, only thing in his way is Max in the hospital. In the mean time Carla plans her escape.

Max wakes up from a long nap in a hospital and has no clue how he got there or who he is, just that he is a wanted man and he needs to escape before the authorities get him.

Star is the psychotic bitch with need to fix things and when she finds Max injured, she finds him a place to lay low and recover so she can fix him. Yes I hate her and I hated even more by the end of the book, she was devious and lacked any sense of self recrimination for her bad deeds. I was seriously worried that she would at some point turn on Max and given more time I am sure she would have, especially if he had gotten his memory back and gone looking for Carla.

I was so freaking hoping that Carla would find Max before he did the naughty with psycho bitch Star but alas it was not to be and the steam from the boinking was coming off the pages even if Max was banging the WRONG woman and Carla humped the WRONG guy. I guess I really shouldn’t complain because one it made one hell of a good read this time and two the next book will probably be smokin’ hot when Carla and Max finally get over their guilt and finally have the always anticipated make-up sex because I am betting it will rock the universe.

Favorite Quote
My favorite quote went through a bit of revamping from when I Beta read this book but it is still my favorite.

“If you must know, I farted. Your cooking leaves a lot to be desired. If you spent as much time learning to cook as you do wanking, sniffing my panties and watching the porn channel, you’d be master chef of the year. Now bugger off and leave me in peace.”–Carla

Book Blurb Rating
I really like this blurb better than the first one as it is shorter and leaves much to the imagination.

Book’s Blurb
A psychological thriller with adventure, following the exploits of Max Fortune & Carla Day, agents working for a shadowy business empire.
Their missions and adventures are as diverse as the exotic world locations they visit, trouble shooting for The Organisation, working like spies.
Ruthlessly pursued by their arch enemy, Max & Carla fight for survival.
Fate separates Max from Carla. She tries to find him, he does not know she exists.
Max is wanted in the UK as a terrorist and goes on the run.
Helped by a stranger Max faces his biggest challenge yet, to survive a psychopathic woman, the revenge of a drug baron and a virulent disease that must be kept from the world.
Everyone and everything is at stake as a love triangle unfolds. All bets are off in this final story.
See for yourself how powerless you are to protect yourself, in this uncertain age.
A book for men and women.
Read after Extinction Event and Fire Ice, although it can be read as standalone.