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I found this story and writing style to be similar to that of the Da Vinci Code and A. G. Riddle’s Pandemic and Genome. The first scene is some harmless action that introduces you to the characters and gives you a hint about their backstory, and then it dives right into the real action and doesn’t stop until the end. Racing around European countries, finding clues, dodging literal bullets, car chases, and it’s all to unlock secrets by following breadcrumbs that were left long ago.
The idea behind the story is fascinating in itself. Secret messages hidden in compartments of a centuries-old walnut box directly from Nostradamus, descendants of the great seer himself, codes, secret locations… it’s all incredibly mind-blowing. I love going on an adventure like this! And to have to decode messages and find the medallion right now means literal life and death for so many people. It’s a race against time and the hands of evil doers. At the same time, the characters are deeply connected to this mission in a way they don’t begin to understand until later.
I suspected a couple of things along the way, and I love the feeling I get when I’m right about something in a novel, but the way it’s revealed is still thrilling. And there were still more shocks that were revealed. I love being able to think back to certain things that were said at the beginning of (or throughout) the story and make the connection at the end and think, “Oh, THAT’S why the author put that in there!”
This story was well written and enjoyable, with lots of historical references and travel (both of which I love!). I recommend it to anyone who loves a good code-breaking, action-filled thriller.
About The Doomsday Medallion
A covert operative’s first mission might be her last. Can Maddy Marshall and her fellow VanOps officers keep foreign operatives from stealing powerful secrets used by the prophet Nostradamus to see the future?
Aikido black belt Maddy Marshall is celebrating the completion of her black ops training when news of a military takeover in the South China Sea shocks the world because it was predicted by a sixteen-year-old French student. When intel chatter spells danger to Avril, the young seer, VanOps Director Bowman assigns Maddy and her twin brother, Will, to protect the girl.
Emotions between the siblings are running hot due to their aunt’s recent stroke, which has reminded them of the childhood accident that scarred both his chin and her heart. Tensions ratchet higher when they arrive at Avril’s home to find the instant social media star has been kidnapped, leaving them with only clenched fists and cryptic clues that lead to a sixteenth-century formula encoded on an etched-bronze medallion.
While Taiwan fears an invasion that will set off an apocalyptic chain of events, Maddy and Will race through medieval French towns, Italian cathedrals, and ancient Greek temples attempting to find Avril before their enemies use the girl to discover the Holy Grail of military intelligence. If the team fails, they won’t need a crystal ball to know millions of innocent souls will be destined to join Nostradamus in the afterlife.
Awards for the VanOps Series
- The Lost Power:
- Genre Grand-Prize Winner – 2017 Chanticleer International Book Awards
- Honorable Mention — 2018 Hollywood Book Festival
- Bronze medal — 2019 Wishing Shelf Book Awards
- Solstice Shadows:
- Global Thriller Genre Grand-Prize Winner — 2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards
- Adventure Bronze Medal Winner — 2020 Readers’ Favorite Awards
About the Author
International multi-award-winning and Amazon #1 bestselling author who blends intrigue, history, science, and mystery into pulse-pounding action thrillers.
Avanti Centrae is the author of the international multi-award-winning VANOPS thriller series. Her father served as a U.S. marine corporal in Okinawa, gathering military intelligence during the first decade after the Korean War. Her work has been compared to that of James Rollins, Steve Berry, Dan Brown, and Clive Cussler but has a voice all its own. She resides in Northern California with her family and German Shepherds.
Thank you to Avanti and to Blackthorn Book Tours for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
You can find out more about award-winning, internationally bestselling author Avanti Centrae and her other books by visiting her website at www.avanticentrae.com.
Kathleen Foxx || Author || Editor || Podcast Host 