Official Review: Secrets by John Callas

[sybil1reader]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Secrets" by John Callas.]

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The Cartel wants to control your mind. As a matter of fact, they intend to control the minds of every person in the world. Preparations have been underway for quite some time as drugs such as Prozac and diet pills come on the scene to make the mind more pliable to suggestions. The final stage is the implantation of a chip in the back of everyone’s neck. To ease the public’s concerns about the chip, they are first introduced as a way to find kidnapped children. Practically everyone is on board when it comes to protecting innocent children. How is it then, that the children with the chips are the ones who end up being kidnapped and recovered? This Cartel consists of German scientists and members of our on War Department, CIA and other U.S. intelligence entities.

During World War II, and elite group of Americans gains access to Nazi headquarters in Berlin. The mission: make changes to in the Nazi’s own plans to send them in the wrong way for the D-Day invasion. Gus is a member of the team and he makes a discovery that he can hardly comprehend. With time running out, he photographs documents so outrageous that they could be part of a science fiction movie with the plot being to take over the world through mind control. The mission is almost complete when their cover is blown because of one earlier mistake made by the team. Gus is the only survivor and he barely escapes with his life and the evidence he photographed. The players in this conspiracy are so powerful that the report Gus gives to his superiors is met with skepticism and no one takes action. He reduces the report to microfiche form and hides it in a very special place, knowing that one day these people must be stopped. A few years later a recruiter approaches Gus to become part of a post-war counter intelligence team that will eliminate the Cartel. It seems that now someone wants to take action.

Gus discusses the proposition with his wife Pauline. They decide to turn down the recruiter’s offer, but fully intend to form their own group of fellow agents and handle the matter on their own to guarantee mission success. Gus recruits four team members for the field and his old friend Dave, an employee at the War Department to provide information from the inside. Pauline is a fully capable agent but after informing Gus that they are going to be parents, he demands that she coordinate the mission away from the action. As is often the case, one of the men that Gus recruits decides to play both ends against the middle and make some extra money. He has no idea who he is dealing with and his greed brings about devastating results.

A few years later, Gus and Pauline are the proud parents of a beautiful four year old named Joe, and finally the time is at hand for the group to act. According to intel, all ten members of the Cartel will attend a meeting and the team intends to eliminate all of them in hopes of putting this mind control business to rest for good. The team kills all the members present, but there is one problem: there are only six bodies. Four members of the Cartel remain free to continue their diabolical plan. Gus has no way of knowing that the other four men are still alive because one of his own sold the team out. The Cartel decides to go on the offensive and send their assassins to carry out simultaneous assaassinations on the homes of Gus and his team. The directive is to kill everything in the house that breathes, including children and pets. Joe survives because he is on a sleepover at Grandma’s house. Did anyone else survive to carry on the fight?

Years later Joe is a much respected member of the intelligence community. He intends to use his position to find out the truth about the death of his parents. The truth is stranger than fiction, but he decides to help finish what his parents started. He has no idea that the magnitude of the situation reaches far beyond anything that anyone can imagine and the proof is in the evidence that his parents hid away. Joe joins a team tasked with wiping out the threat for good and the action is remarkable! Travel to underground facilities at the North Pole and a space station built behind the moon as James Bond action takes your breath away. You will feel the action as Joe and his partner Christina dodge bullets, laser beams, and tubes that suck the oxygen from your body. This mission cannot fail because the freedom of the world is hanging on success. Time is running out and only Joe and one team member remain alive. Will they make it?

The Widow is the brain behind the Cartel. She issues orders, everyone obeys, and she manages to escape the carnage. Sometimes smart people can outdo themselves, and in a deceitful attempt at nostalgia, the Widow inadvertently hands Joe the answer to the Secrets. Hopefully when he realizes that he has the answer, he can take it and finally cut the head off of this monstrous organization. Oh yeah, remember the team member who played both ends against the middle? Well, the last order delivered by the Widow in this story is to his son. It seems that family legacy continues on both sides of the battle of good and evil.

I read this book in one day! I use an e-reader and when I kept tapping the screen to find out what was going to happen next, I was at the end. The author is very descriptive and I was able to get into the flow of the characters and the things they thought and felt. Love, deceit, bravery, determination, and greed meshed together for a page turner. Editing will resolve the few errors that I saw and overall I give it a 4 out of 4. I just know that a sequel is coming because there is still so much to tell and explain in this story! You must read this one.

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[ALRyder]

Wow, so I keep opening this one up to make a comment and something comes up before I can. Anyway, this is a wonderful in depth reviews, and one of the ones that makes me want to pick up the book in the near future. That's part of the reason why I wanted to comment, so I can remind myself when I get around to it by going back to my own posts. Thank you for the wonderful review!

[sybil1reader]

Thank you so much! I try to put thought into my reviews without giving too much away and I reallly appreciate your comment.

[ALRyder]

I know, sometimes it's hard to draw the line between enough to catch someone's interest and giving too much away. I find that this can be an even bigger challenge when you don't like a book, because you want to give an in depth explanation of all the little details. Didn't have that problem with this one though. So you're good.