#AmReading – Van Ops – The Lost Power

The Lost Power – Van Ops by Avanti Centrae (2019) –  Maddy Marshall and her twin brother Will Argones are sent spinning across the globe after the assassination of their father, and Will’s wife.  They are in search of an ancient object that may possess immense power.  Power enough to change the world forever.  Which means they are not the only ones searching for it.

There’s a really good story here.

And yes, you hear a “but” coming.

The author wants to set a breathtaking tempo to the story.  That’s fine.  What bothered me is the tempo is so high that some important bits get left behind.  The characterizations are thin, even by thriller standards.  It’s hard to care too much about the twins, their sidekick (more on him in a minute) or any of the other folks who figure here, simply because I never felt like I knew anything about them.

The pace also tries to sweep us past some large moments of illogic.  The largest of these is the arrival of their childhood friend, “Bear”.  Ex-Marine, history buff, a young man who always had a crush on Maddie.  Whom they haven’t seen or spoken to in a decade.  After three attempts on their lives by they know not whom, in a place where they are supposedly hiding (which was a silly choice in itself), Bear walks up to them in a diner.  With very little resistance, they reveal most of what is going on and invite him to join them on a secret journey that is a centuries-old family tradition.  He walks up, plops himself down at the table and the next thing you know, they are all going to Spain.  With forged passports that are just a finger-snap away.  It’s ridiculous.

I just stared at the page for a while after reading that.  No one should be surprised that he is working for the U.S. government in a super-secret intelligence organization.

The good news is that most of these issues are in the beginning chapters of the book.  The story was interesting enough to carry me past them.  And Centrae is a solid storyteller.   Despite the SMH moments, there was never a doubt that I was going to finish the book.  In the publicity pieces, the book is called “DaVinci Code meets Tomb Raider”.  That certainly gives you the ballpark of the story.

My one concern going in was that it is the first book of a series.  Some of these offerings leave you with a cliffhanger at the end.  The goal is to get you to buy the next book, and the next, and the next.  For me, it is awful storytelling.  Give me an ending to the story I’ve read.  Otherwise, I’m less likely to search for the second book.  Here, the ending offered is a reasonable place to stop the story.  All of the action of the first book has been concluded, even if the overall story of the characters and the object still have questions.  So, if the second book came into my hands I would certainly read it.

If you are looking for a fun ride at a breakneck pace, then you should grab this first one too.

Rating *** Worth A Look

“The Lost Power – Van Ops” by Avanti Centrae will be available November 9, 2019.

This review is done from an Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC) and is done in compliance with our state review policy.