Freedom's Light by Robert Saniscalchi - May We Remember

Our Prayers...



http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2010/02/
review-robert-saniscalchis-second-book.html

http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2010/04/
review-my-life-for-her-by-robert-j.html

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Check out my reviews of his first two books!

Preface
Stretching all the way back through the seemingly endless millenniums of time, there has been one constant, as sure as the sun rises every day. That constant as the relentless struggle of good against evil, and it's as relevant today as it was so very long ago.
On one side, we have the free, peaceful, hardworking, loving people who stand in the light of the Earth. On the other side lurk the dark, evil ones, hiding in the shadows, waiting to kill anyone unlike them.
The evil ones can't begin to comprehend what it is to be peacefulo, to be free. They are always waiting and watching, making plans to down the innocent, to terrorize and plunder until their appetite for blood is sated. Not until the year 2001 and the shocking relity that no one is truly safe from the darkness of this evil did America and the world begin to wake up.
The stark reality of the brutal kill-or-be-killed mentality struck home and finally, the righteous of the world began to fight back. From the ashes they gleaned a good lesson. They learned to seek out the evil ones and destroy them. They learned that even in the midst of a simmering sinister doom, there is always, always hope.
The sooner all of society realized that we must stand together, the better. There is hope! In our combined strength we will fight terror with deadly determination and at last put an end to this evil threat... and when we do the world will be a much better place for it.
~~~

Freedom's Light:
A Rob and Tex Adventure

By Robert Saniscalchi

                                                       

"You know what really gets to me the most?" Rob asked, shaking his head. "That flight, the one heading toward DC. Those guys rushed the cockpit and crashed the plane before it hit its intended target. Can you imagine the balls that took, standing to fight even though they knew they were gonna die anyway? That was bravery at its purest form, giving their lives so others could live. I pray for them and for the chance to avenge all the victims of 911...as well as its heroes."
~~~

While certainly a military thriller, it is, perhaps, even more so, a family drama of those in the story who prayed, and were prayed for throughout the times of being "away and in action..."

For Rob, one of the main characters, this time, being away from Ashley, became an important component in his daily memories.  More than ever, he wanted to be back home with her and his family.

September 11 had touched the lives of all Americans and many responded in one way or another...Rob saw a man standing next to an exit ramp holding a flag. "Rob felt the slow, encouraging

beat of those drums as he drove on. He didn't realize it yet, but he was not alone, those same drums of war were slowly beginning to rise among the people...

Those who were gathered there were first shown a video of terrorists somewhere in the Middle East, celebrating, firing their weapons, for the American tragedy. The leaders were all of one accord, to send their Delta forces out...Light Force, codename for their most effective group was led by Lt. Rob Marrino.

There were six members of Light Force, with each having a specific set of skills, but who were also trained to fill in other positions, if needed. This is the story of their  special mission where something had been spotted. Details of what was going on was needed...

Intel was all that was needed... But the mission went well beyond that in the end...Was the Light Force prepared to deal with combat?!?

And stopping...the...next...attack...on America which was in the final stages?!?

The pace of Saniscalchi's "thrillers" are not like many... Instead, his books hone in on the values instilled in the soldiers, the values of a Christian nation, whose foundation when created at the very beginning, was on God's guidance and a desire to love good and fight against evil...Praying all the way through what they were called upon to handle...

Memorial day seemed a good time to share about this book, for surely Light Force's unit did not make it back whole and the bond of each of these brothers affected how they dealt with both the mission...and the losses that came with it... Freedom's Light is an American tale of praying heroes that depend upon God's help against evil. At this time in the world, I found it a welcome true-life story of our American soldiers and their families... Highly recommended...

GABixlerReviews

Robert J Saniscalchi is the Author of Bullets and Bandages, now in 2nd Edition from Amazon/Kindle/Create-Space. His first book has received endorsements from the Vietnam Veterans of America and The Military Writer's Society of America. Robert also is the Author of the 2nd Edition of- My Life For Her, also from Amazon/Kindle Create-Space. Full reviews on his work can be found on Amazon.com. Robert’s third work, his new story -Freedom's Light- is complete, and with a 5 star review on Amazon Kindle. Robert is a member of various writing and reading communities. Robert is a retired Electrician, Author/ Writer and reader of the known/unknown. Robert became interested in writing after he attended English and writing classes at college. He is married and he has a home in Berks County Pa and Winter Springs Fl. Robert loves the great outdoors, reading, writing and working on his cars.

The Ragnarok Conspiracy by Erec Stebbins Outstanding Alternative Reality! Went into My Favorites from 2013!

Choose your enemy with wisdom, for him do you become. —ancient proverb

The Ragnarok                                                                         Conspiracy!

By Erec Stebbins...

A Fanatic Terrorist like bin Laden can come from any country, from any religion. Hate and Bigotry are rampant and, sometimes, it takes just one incident--by another fanatic group--to bring hidden beliefs and hate into the...present...

That action took place on 9-11, but the idea, the planning, and the personnel were easily pulled together. Money was no problem, nor was knowledge of what could be done. Even early actions taken went unobserved--just "another" murder on the streets of America...

Fortunately, there was a small group watching...

John Savas had been there the day that Ambassador Hamid was assassinated. John was working undercover trying to make a connection for the future with the Ambassador...

With Hamid gone, months of work just disappeared...

Imam Wahid was next... Then one of John's staff called him over to his computer...

Savas paused and scrolled the text up on the monitor. “Reports claim that Mr. Hossain was struck by a bullet as he exited his hotel in Cairo and that he died instantly, suffering a direct hit to the chest. The gunman was never found; police speculated that the killer had fired a high-powered rifle from a distance and escaped in the ensuing panic.” "Savas was quiet for a moment. Hernandez used the silence to bring up a list of names, dates, and locations. He rolled his chair backward and let Savas lean in closer, reading through the file. “All killed by snipers,” mumbled Savas as he read silently through the list. “All taking direct hits that killed them instantly. Each a player in the underground terrorist network. 
"There must be twenty names here, Manuel. You think that they’re all linked?” 
“I don’t know, John. Some don’t exactly fit—head-shots, for example, even though in some of those cases the bullets were identified to be military grade. Not the special ordnance you discovered, but we don’t know how careful the ballistics team were, whether they did their homework like your contacts. Half these kills were in parts of the world where they likely don’t even do a full workup, let alone release the data.” 
"Savas put on his best Larry Kanter voice. “This is really thin, Manuel.” Hernandez nodded dejectedly. 
“Yeah, John, I know. But it’s all I have.”

~~~

And with that little bit of computer searching and manipulation, this small group of analysts in the FBI began to put together the first thoughts that there was a coordinated assassination effort underway!

Great Mosque of Algiers
Djama’a al-Kebir
Djamaa al-Kebir
Jami Masjid

Baitul Futuh Mosque

And then mosques all over the world were blown--totally destroyed with thousands killed!

John had attempted to present their findings to his boss and others at a meeting, but at that point, nobody was willing to even consider that this was a coordinated attack.

Until his boss was called to Washington! The one thing he was permitted to share with his staff when he returned was a disk with a language that was being used, for which nobody had been willing to decipher or even identify... It was felt that planning for everything was in this strange language... Once again John's staff were successful!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaksala_Runestone

“Well, he says he knows what the symbols, the runes mean. Get ready for this, OK? He says they’re Norse.” 
“Norse? As in Valhalla and pretentious Wagnerian opera?” 
“Precisely. Better still, I sent him everything that we had, including images of the pendant you are so interested in. That’s when we hit the jackpot, John.” 
"She smiled and tilted her head at a slight angle, triumphant. “Go on.” “It’s also from Norse mythology, an artifact central to much of those beliefs: the hammer of the Norse god of thunder, Thor. The symbol and the runes match, John. You’ve been right all along—there is a connection! Not only between the killings but also to the Afghan strikes.” 
John Savas blinked. “Thor’s hammer?”...

“I’ve made partial transcripts,” Styer said, passing them a sheet of paper, “but I don’t know how much use it will be to you. The audio is Old Norse, a valiant attempt to speak it, I must say. One could quibble with the pronunciations and some of the grammar, but it is quite impressive. College level, you might say, which, it would seem to me, is strange coming from the sources you mention. There was much I could not make out, vocabulary that is modern in origin, I believe, adapted to Norse. There seems little doubt, however, that these are military instructions of some kind.” 
"The knowing look passed between the two FBI agents was not lost on the professor. “I see that I am not too far off the mark.” 
"Savas shifted the conversation. “So, what does this mean, Professor? We have some sort of cult of assassins like the Hashshashin?” 
“The Arabic drug-fueled killers from the Middle Ages?” Savas nodded in response. 
“No, Agent Savas, I wouldn’t suspect that. These are, if anything you told me is true, anti-Muslim assassins.” 
Savas continued to press the point. “But perhaps still some modern cult based on Norse religion? Fueled by a fanatical devotion?” 

...“Ragnarök, my friends, is the end of the world, as I told you. But it has a special Norse quality that makes it contrast sharply with your typical end-of-the world religious event...

~~~

Of course, the United States--the West was being accused of all of these actions, presumably because of  9-11, but all agencies within the United States and across the world were frantically trying to find out who was doing these acts that were killing people of all religions and all nations! Since John's group was making the most progress, a CIA liaison was added to his unit... At the same time, those in control of oil quickly warned of repercussions if those guilty weren't stopped!

John had lost his son on 9/11 and it had heightened his hatred of Muslims at the same time he had also lost any religious faith he had once professed. At the same time,  the CIA agent, an American who had met his Imam in prison and now was faithful to that religion, was able to accept their major differences. I so appreciated the way these two slowly came to be not only able to work together but to be friends enough that they stood together to make the trip necessary to stop what was scheduled to happen!

Stebbins, in my opinion, has honed in to a major issue facing the world today. By identifying a totally new (albeit ancient), but religious group who hated Muslims, even though with members living in the United States, he has effectively demonstrated that fanatics of any group cannot be merged to condemn an entire country or religious group. Kudos to Erec Stebbins in successfully creating a thriller based upon today's world issues... Indeed, this terrorist was easily comparable to Osama bin Laden... And it is these pockets of fanatics that the world must work together to identify and eliminate...

Aside from the political issues, this story is excitingly epic in scope and complexity, with wonderful characters that face their own demons while fighting for their countries...  I especially enjoyed how the team was able to identify--indeed mapped out where attacks would be--cool hunting technique developed by the author! The sensational climax was breathtaking... and a perfect ending, given the story line...

Those who enjoy thrillers based upon today's headlines - I consider this a must-read! Enjoy this novel which became one of my favorites of 2013...

GABixlerReviews