Review of SILVER by Steven Savile

[robert walker]

The New Rival to the Davinci Code is SILVER says Robert W. Walker


The New Rival to the DaVinci Code -SILVER

(a review of Steve Savile’s International Thriller Novel)

I recently read a book that was so absolutely riveting, that I loved so much, that I have decided to place my review of this international thrille right here.

SILVER – an International Thriller by Steven Savile/ISBN – 13-978-1-935142-05-8;415 pgs. 25.95 Hardcover, pub date 01/19/2010 fromVariance Publishing

Let me begin by sayng that Savile’s Silver is the best thing since Forsythe’s Day of the Jackal. Better than Dan Brown in every respect, Steven Savile’s SILVER is not a DaVinci Code imitator in any sense of the word; rather it is a fantastic plot twisting about a brilliant premise and a story wonderfully woven with no missteps, no gaffs, no holes or crazy leaps. The astonishing historical theme is interspersed perfectly as a foil for the modern day story of a dangerous cult as horrifying as any terrorist cell one can imagine—a secret society among us that makes the Knights Templars pale by comparison. After capturing the reader up with a powerful opening scene that plays out so vividly and visually as to read like a film script, Savile’s deft writing carries the reader along a plotline that has the feel of fate at every step. Part of that feeling of fate is the fact of an author completely and wholly in control of his craft.

Vivid characterizations of an international team of heroes with a plethora of flaws and Savile’s smart dialogue and well-wrought inner monologue held together by action at every turn provides the reader with every pleasure a reading experience requires (but so often lacks). Savile’s premise is uniquely tied to the history not of Jesus and Mary so much as Judas and Mary, and it is cleverly and efficiently woven that it brings up comparisons to one of the most well-crafted international thrillers ever -- Forsythe’s The Day of the Jackal.

I hope it is OK for this veteran professor of English, this lifelong reader, this author of some fifty novels to say I loved Silver…loved, loved, loved it and could not put it aside. Without giving away the plot or the surprises, let me add that no book has left me as surprised at its ending as has Silver. In closing, I will add one more caveat: If you love international thrillers replete with theological puzzles and a team pitted against true evil that mirrors our world today, you can't beat SILVER. Steven Savile is not afraid of a complex plot. This plot beats Dan Brown for intrigue that feels authentically scary.

Silver is masterfully accomplished work and should win awards if there is a God in charge of awards. And finally, if you like authenticity in settings that traverse the globe, you’d love the travelogue here as characters roam from the US to Israel to Germany to Paris and to Rome.

Again and again, Savile puts us in danger and impossible traps only to see our heroes emerge alive and fighting. Savile creates characters we care about, characters with their own personal code to live by, and each as deadly and quick as vipers. You might throw the book across the room at some point, but I guarantee that you will crawl over, pick it up again, and begin reading onward.

And now dear Acme Reader, Have a wonderful Christmas Season and Happy HoliDAZE, and do keep on reading and keep on writing

--Robert Walker, author of Dead On & Children of Salem, the INSTINCT and RANSOM series

http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/ and find me on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Google me!