Keith Raffel

I was expecting some high-tech shenanigans and corporate power plays. The little bits of that in the story only provided background. This was a simple, suburban murder mystery. It could have taken place anywhere, not just Silicon Valley.

The good: There was a mystery to solve, and it unfolded through the course of the book without telegraphing too much too soon. The prose was decent with occasional highlights.

The bad: The pace was leisurely. The cast of characters were all too laid back, show more including the hero and the villain. There needed to be more conflict and more suspense. I found myself skimming and skipping without missing much of the plot at all. The wrap-up did rely on a few coincidences.

Two stars means I found it to be average, but not bad. show less

The Temple Mount is historically the place that the ancient cities of Jerusalem are allegedly buried under, both incarnations, and where the Ark of the Covenant is allegedly hidden. Both Arab and Israelis are loathe to bring the hidden religious artifact to the surface as it would cause war in the region over the true ownership of the treasure and the religious power it would offer the victor of the spoils.

Alex Kalman, recent multi-millionaire was relaxing; enjoying the good life now that show more his Silicon Valley corporation has been scooped up by one of the industries giants for a pretty penny. When the phone call comes in advising him that his grandfather was dying, he was astonished to find the old man was still alive. His father had left home, estranged from his own father, and died leaving the younger man the impression that he had no family, and so Alex, who now found his true name to be Aron, has been left a significant inheritance.

As his grandfather dies, Aron discovers he is the sole male heir and that his grandfather was a rabbi, in fact the rebbe; a great teacher and leader. He had also discovered a tunnel under the Temple Mount twenty-odd years before and had seen the Ark of the Covenant. Aron is tasked with going to Israel to help with the excavation of this symbol of biblical history. Assisted by archeologist Rivka Golen, a historian working for the Department of Antiquities, who was familiar with the rebbe’s teachings, they begin the monumental task of locating and bringing the Ark to the world.

They are chased by several factors all unwilling to allow them to bring the Ark to light, shot at, and thrown out of the country in this riveting, spellbinding fast-paced thriller that will have you glued to the chair until the final page is devoured. show less

Well done thriller about shenanigans in DC. It had everything it needed to make it good.. suspense, betrayal, death of innocents.. and a really bad bad guy. All pulled together wine enough twists to make it intriguing. Don't miss it. I will be looking for more by this author .

I enjoyed this fictionalized account of the Cuban Missile Crisis, told from the point of view of Nate Michaels, a Hewlett Packard engineer called to Washington DC to help the president with the delicate negotiations between the US and the Soviets.

Nate and the President Kennedy are old friends--or at least they knew each other before the start of World War II and long before JFK became president. At this point, Nate wants nothing to do with the man for reasons that become evident as the show more novel progresses.

Nate is the son of a labor leader with strong ties to the Communist party which brought him into contact years ago with Anatoly Voklov, a Soviet operative. Or envoy. (Or Russian guy hanging around, I never was sure of what his title was) Voklov requests to speak to Nate, thus beginning Nate's odyssey as an secret negotiator between the US and the Soviets at a time when the world was inches away from nuclear war.

Nate is responsible for saving the world.

Raffel gets the details right, including the names of the network news correspondents of the time--Huntley and Brinkley, Sander Vanocer, Nancy Dickerson.

He also manages to weave real historical characters like John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, General Curtis LeMay and Robert McNamara into a fictional story, not an easy feat. show less