Book Review - The Patmos Deception

Davis Bunn is one of my favorite authors of Christian fiction.  When I learned about his new book, “The Patmos Deception,” I could hardly wait for my copy to arrive and get busy reading.  And as expected, I was not disappointed.  After all, Patmos, a part of the Greek islands, is where the Apostle John was exiled in AD 95 and where he had his Apocalypse vision and wrote the book of Revelation.  It was fascinating to read a story that took place on an island that has so much biblical history.

Nick Hennessy, an investigative reporter, is secretly hired by the assistant director of an organization called World Heritage Sites, to investigate the disappearance of historical and artistic icons from the Greek islands.  Needing an expert in Grecian antiquities, Nick hires Carey Mathers, a forensic archaeologist who is also a long-time friend.

The third main character is Dimitri Rubinos, who lives on the island of Patmos, owner of a charter boat business that is about to go under, as most of the other businesses on Patmos already had, due to the economic crisis in Greece.  Desperate to earn enough money to support his aging father and grandmother and to save his business, Dimitri agrees to use his boat to pick up and deliver cargo for an extremely wealthy English man.  At the time, Dimitri thought that what the cargo actually was made little difference to him.  By accident, he discovered that it made a great deal of difference because this cargo made him a smuggler.  What could he do to make good come of this?  He didn’t know, but he would figure it out; he would make a plan.  Then, Dimitri discovers that the investigation by Nick and Carey has led them to him!

Davis Bunn is a real storyteller.  I really like how this story starts out with mystery, then danger creeps in, and then the level of suspense grows and grows with every turn of a page.  I got so caught up in the story that I just could not put the book down until I knew the ending!  I would recommend it to anyone.  Also, it is appropriate for church libraries.

Bethany House Publishers provided this book to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

Another Good Book!

From the first page of “Rare Earth,” by Davis Bunn*, I was drawn into the tension and intrigue as Marc Royce begins his assignment in Kenya, where he was sent by his employer, Lodestone Associates. Lodestone was a major provider of armed security services around the world. In Kenya, Lodestone was supplementing UN security details, also providing Medevac helicopters, field hospitals, and personnel. It recently had added a new division that provided emergency relief supplies. The U.S. State Department was receiving information that someone at a very high level of power was providing extremely profitable supply contracts to a corporate ally in return for kickbacks. But now things were heating up. The State Department was receiving rumors that Lodestone was up to something far worse. Marc was undercover in Kenya as a field agent for Lodestone, but in actuality he was a covert op for State Department Intel. Action and danger was expected by Marc when he entered Kenya. What he did not expect was that he would become so personally involved with the people whose land had been stolen and who barely survived in the squalor and chaos of the refugee camps. And he certainly didn’t expect to become involved with the cause of the lovely Messianic Jew, who was an aid worker at the Red Cross camp.  This is a wonderful story of how Marc Royce, a group of displaced Christian tribes in Kenya, and a kibbutz of persecuted Messianic Jews in Israel, work together toward a common goal of bringing justice and finding a place that can be called "home."  


Once again Davis Bunn made his characters jump to life from the pages of the book. He provides just the right amount of detail and description to draw you into the story, all the while building layers of suspense and action. As badly as I wanted to know how the story ended, I was sorry to finally reach the end. I really liked these characters and wanted the story to somehow carry on. It seems that Davis Bunn always has a great story to write. I look forward to his next one.

*This book was received free through Bethany House Book Reviewers in exchange for my unbiased review.