Don't Get Close

DON'T GET CLOSE was an intriguing and twisty thriller. Rookie FBI Agent Vera Taggart finds herself assigned to the Sons of Elijah case. Twenty-eight years earlier, there were a series of suicide bombings that killed hundreds of people. Now, it seems, the Sons of Elijah are making a return.

One clue is that two of the bombers were both patients of psychiatrist Dr. Seth Jacobson. He has made a very successful career because of them. Best-selling books, speaking engagements, and television appearances have kept his name front and center. His treatment was controversial; he used hypnotic regression on them. He learned that they lived many previous lives protecting a secret that is still secret to this day.

The newest bomber - who didn't show more commit suicide after his bombing - was also a patient of Dr. Jacobson. Tag determines that she needs to undergo this hypnotic regression herself if she is going to understand the bomber and stop him before he carries out a mass murder.

The story includes a lot of these past lives since it turns out that Tag herself is a part of the bigger picture of the Sons of Elijah than she had ever imagined. The weaving of the past lives and the aims of the FBI into the story gives an interesting picture of what is really happening. What is the ultimate goal of the Sons of Elijah? Is Jacobson really their leader? Are the past lives Tag sees real or induced by the therapist?

This story deals with reincarnation and the ideas that souls are separate from bodies and are indestructible. The story also includes a lot about physics and the things physicists study. One of the characters is a physicist who is studying consciousness through physics. Tag meets her when her lab becomes a target of the newest bomber since destroying it could destroy a big part of the Mid-west.

The twisty plot kept me engaged and intrigued. Tag was an intriguing character - an artist who becomes an FBI agent who also happens to be a lesbian and who just might be a victim of a complex plot herself. show less

FBI Agent Vera Taggert is on the trail of a domestic terrorist group called the Sons of Elijah. The investigation leads her to a famous psychiatrist, Seth Jacobson. She is intrigued in more ways than one. She decides to let him hypnotize her. What she discovers is not exactly what she expected.

Being a person who very seldom reads a blurb, I am a judge a book by it’s cover girl, this story took me by surprise. I expected more of an FBI thriller/mystery tale. And, it is that…but, it is a bit more complicated. This novel delves into the supernatural/reincarnation arena. So…SURPRISE! At first, I was like…hmmm, what have I gotten myself into. But, the story continued to capture my imagination and attention, especially the historical show more flashbacks. I loved the Montségur sections. Very well researched!

Now, it did get a little “out there” toward the end, especially the part about the way the FBI recruited Vera But, that is the genre. So, I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. It is definitely unique and entertaining.

Kristin Price is the narrator and she is perfect for this book!

Need a good, unique thriller…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. show less

This is not your typical FBI thriller. Newly graduated FSI Special Agent Vera Taggert led the efforts to determine whether a dormant doomsday cult is reemerging and planning another mass casualty event. She became obsessed with a psychiatrist claiming that he could help patients tap into their past lives, and she volunteered to be hypnotized herself. The rest of the book explored reality vs imagination as the plot progressed. A mysterious capstone appeared throughout the story and was captivating. While the premise was fascinating and the plot was delightfully twisty, the execution failed to deliver the punch.

There’s too much exposition. Each vision session went on far too long and in such minute detail that the overall plot became show more lost. I skimmed over many of the visions because of the length and repetition.

I struggled to follow some plot holes. The author would bring up a previous conversation between two characters, but it sounded new to me. He suggested that Tag was in closer contact with her FBI team, but those interactions weren’t more prominent in the plot.

I also had problems with some of the characterizations of the male FBI agents on the case. Their dialogue was over the top and full of cliches. They’re reduced to crude pigs with their traces of competence hidden behind crass words and actions. I get it - they’re jerks - but they spend so much time dumping crass references to genitalia that I ignored the characters.

One strength was the resolution of the capstone. It had been referenced throughout the novel as a great treasure, and that could have led to a big letdown once its nature was revealed. It ended up being a well-defined solution that explained why it had been so valuable to so many people.

Another strength was that it kept me guessing until the last page. What was real? What was contrived? Was justice served? These questions were answered in a way that kept me thinking through them well after I had finished the novel. I had been tempted to put it aside, but the end was a satisfying reader payoff.

I wish the novel had been tighter, with shorter vision sequences and better characterizations. While I enjoyed the resolution, I questioned whether it had been worth it to stick around to the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a review copy. show less

This is not your typical FBI thriller. Newly graduated FSI Special Agent Vera Taggert led the efforts to determine whether a dormant doomsday cult is reemerging and planning another mass casualty event. She became obsessed with a psychiatrist claiming that he could help patients tap into their past lives, and she volunteered to be hypnotized herself. The rest of the book explored reality vs imagination as the plot progressed. A mysterious capstone appeared throughout the story and was captivating. While the premise was fascinating and the plot was delightfully twisty, the execution failed to deliver the punch.

There’s too much exposition. Each vision session went on far too long and in such minute detail that the overall plot became show more lost. I skimmed over many of the visions because of the length and repetition.

I struggled to follow some plot holes. The author would bring up a previous conversation between two characters, but it sounded new to me. He suggested that Tag was in closer contact with her FBI team, but those interactions weren’t more prominent in the plot.

I also had problems with some of the characterizations of the male FBI agents on the case. Their dialogue was over the top and full of cliches. They’re reduced to crude pigs with their traces of competence hidden behind crass words and actions. I get it - they’re jerks - but they spend so much time dumping crass references to genitalia that I ignored the characters.

One strength was the resolution of the capstone. It had been referenced throughout the novel as a great treasure, and that could have led to a big letdown once its nature was revealed. It ended up being a well-defined solution that explained why it had been so valuable to so many people.

Another strength was that it kept me guessing until the last page. What was real? What was contrived? Was justice served? These questions were answered in a way that kept me thinking through them well after I had finished the novel. I had been tempted to put it aside, but the end was a satisfying reader payoff.

I wish the novel had been tighter, with shorter vision sequences and better characterizations. While I enjoyed the resolution, I questioned whether it had been worth it to stick around to the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a review copy. show less

Excellent, Unique and Spellbinding...................


Don't Get Close by Matt Miksa turns out to be an excellent and visionary book. I was expecting a book to be a simple thriller, but, rather, it took me on a roller coaster ride of mysteries and revelations. The characters are the bloodline of the plot. Each and every chapter unfolds a secret which will, definitely, going to blow your mind. The book, surely, succeeds itself to be on my bookshelf. I would not say too much, as I do not want to reveal more about it. You have to enjoy it yourself.

I would, obviously, like to give the book 5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book.

Whoa what a book with such a unique premise. I enjoyed every second as it also made me wonder if reincarnation was a possibility. The question remains how we might have these memories from our prior souls lives lived thousands and thousands of years before…there isn’t any factual evidence proving this theory so many people in the US do not believe.
A physiological the FBI has been watching that puts his patients under hypnosis explains how he unlocks these past thought to be lost memories. Is he a fraud and a leader many suicide bombers killing many people?
Very thrilling read.