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    The Lightning Stones: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Lightning Stones: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Lightning Stones: A Novel
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Lightning Stones: A Novel

    Written by Jack Du Brul

    Narrated by Scott Brick

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    What was Amelia Earhart carrying on her final flight? The adventure begins two thousand feet beneath the surface of the Earth.

    Philip Mercer, a preeminent geologist with a taste for international intrigue and danger, rides an elevator two thousand feet into the earth at the Leister Deep Mine in Minnesota. Mercer is there to visit his old friend and mentor, Abraham Jacobs, who is leading a research team to the deepest section of the mine for a groundbreaking study on climate change. But as Mercer approaches, he is stunned to hear automatic gunfire in the massive underground chambers. By the time he finds his way to them, Abe Jacobs and the entire research team have been brutally attacked-and Mercer is left seeking not only answers but revenge.

    Mercer immediately retraces Jacobs's tracks, searching for clues to the secret project on which the distinguished scientist was working. Staying one step ahead of a highly trained team of assassins, Mercer follows a trail that leads from a harrowing close call in the Midwest to a nail-biting showdown in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan to a remote island in the middle of the Pacific. At stake is an extraordinary scientific discovery that could irrevocably alter the planet, centered on a cache of rare crystals called lightning stones-rumored to have been aboard Amelia Earhart's plane when it vanished on July 2, 1937.

    With his trademark combination of intellectual swagger, riveting action, and cutting-edge science, internationally bestselling author Jack Du Brul has crafted a superbly entertaining novel that will thrill his fans.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 11, 2015
    ISBN9781101924181
    Unavailable
    The Lightning Stones: A Novel
    Author

    Jack Du Brul

    Jack Du Brul is the author of numerous thrillers, and he has also collaborated with Clive Cussler on the New York Times bestseller Dark Watch and the upcoming Skeleton Coast. Du Brul was educated at the Westminster School and holds a degree in international relations from George Washington University. He lives in Vermont with his wife, Debbie.

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    Reviews for The Lightning Stones

    3.5/5

    28 ratings6 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      About one-third of the way through the book, Mercer and another character have a conversation about global warming. Mercer becomes angry (and aggressive and obnoxious) because the other character seems stubborn and adamant about his/her belief. Mercer goes off on a rant about the attitude the other character has. Unfortunately, the criticism that Mercer throws at the other character would have been better off being leveled at Mercer (and, I suppose Du Brul). That whole episode really turned me off. Look, I don't mind a villain who is on "my side" of a particular debate or a protagonist that disagrees with me, but I don't need to be preached to. At one point Mercer casually dismisses the notion that 97% of climate scientists agree in man made global warming, not because he doesn't believe them or the math, but because only 97% agree rather than 100% (as if 100% of any group will ever agree on anything; I'm sure there are still people who dispute gravity!). The best comparison is probably to State of Fear, the last book published by Michael Crichton before his death.Anyway, the thriller part of this thriller was competent, but nothing that I felt was new or which I hadn't read dozens of times before.
    • 3/5
      Preposterous. A book with a super-hero good guy and a brilliantly evil bad guy. The hero is a Ph.D. geologist as well as a great shot, a successful investor, and irresistable to women. He also is loyal and righteous.The villain hires vicious mercenaries who kill for pleasure--all to facilitate a technological breakthrough which will make the bad guy billions and put the planet in danger. The entire plot centers around crystals which formed in only one place on the planet. Who will control these magical stones? It's a race between good and evil and assisting good are a murderous group of ex-U.S. Delta Force soldiers. They are brave beyond brave aswell as being a platform for the author to rhapsodize on various weapons systems. He also editorializes against climate change activists. The super-Americans never miss a shot, and high-tech toys never malfunction. On the plus side, the author does construct a thriller in which the pages keep turning.
    • 3/5
      Fast Paced, easy to read, but definitely a light weight book. The author follows a very similar formula as Clive Cussler - with whom he has co-authored a few books. No real depth but a lot of action.
    • 1/5
      The author goes so far out of his way to discredit the need for action on global warming and the scientists and others who understand the need for action that he makes himself a perfect example of the bias he claims environmentalists have. In short he is a hypocrite. He is so biased he must be being paid by the fossils fuel industry. Shame on you Du Brull. I won't be reading anything more from you.
    • 4/5
      A fun, adventerous and fast read. Similiar to a Clive Cussler, Vince Flynn book.
    • 3/5
      As a co-author on one of my favorite series I started reading the works of author Jack Du Brul to see how he stood on his own. I was not disappointed with any of his previous books, so I was very excited to see that after years her finally had another Phillip Mercer book publishing. Yay!Blurb:With his trademark combination of intellectual swagger, riveting action, and cutting-edge science, internationally bestselling author Jack Du Brul has crafted a superbly entertaining novel that will thrill his fans.Synopsis:What was Amelia Earhart carrying on her final flight? The adventure begins two thousand feet beneath the surface of the Earth.Philip Mercer, a preeminent geologist with a taste for international intrigue and danger, rides an elevator two thousand feet into the earth at the Leister Deep Mine in Minnesota. Mercer is there to visit his old friend and mentor, Abraham Jacobs, who is leading a research team to the deepest section of the mine for a groundbreaking study on climate change. But as Mercer approaches, he is stunned to hear automatic gunfire in the massive underground chambers. By the time he finds his way to them, Abe Jacobs and the entire research team have been brutally attacked—and Mercer is left seeking not only answers but revenge.Mercer immediately retraces Jacobs’s tracks, searching for clues to the secret project on which the distinguished scientist was working. Staying one step ahead of a highly trained team of assassins, Mercer follows a trail that leads from a harrowing close call in the Midwest to a nail-biting showdown in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan to a remote island in the middle of the Pacific. At stake is an extraordinary scientific discovery that could irrevocably alter the planet, centered on a cache of rare crystals called lightning stones—rumored to have been aboard Amelia Earhart’s plane when it vanished on July 2, 1937.Synopsis via GoodreadsReview:In 1937 Amelia Earhart took possession of an unknown case with objects in it that were unclear in origin but she was told that the United States government needed them. Unbeknownst to her she has “lightning stones” and was unaware of any potential effects these stones would have on her equipment to her detriment. I think the twist on the mystery of Amelia Earhart is well done.The story opens with Philip Mercer training miners in a simulation mine deep below the earth’s crust. The characters although brief are interesting and memorable. After the final simulations are done Mercer goes to meet up with his mentor and friend Abe only to find that he has just been murdered as well as Abe’s entire team. Knowing that if he does not apprehend the criminals before they make their escape he may never find them, Mercer runs after them and grabs a ride from underneath the elevator. From this point on the action sequences start to get a bit far fetched but in fictional action could still be somewhat believable.Searching for clues as to why Abe was killed Mercer goes to the most likely place to find them, Abe’s home. There he runs into Jordan, the daughter of an old acquaintance. Enter the formula, she’s pretty, nice body, he wants her. They look for clues and are unable to find anything of value and decide to head to Abe’s office on campus. Unfortunately it seems that the killers are looking to destroy any evidence that Abe may have left behind and have just shown up to destroy the house, and the office, and his little dog too, lol, ok kidding on the dog. This action sequence is just a bit unbelievable and mildly entertaining to me.Despite the office being on fire Mercer is able to grab an entire trash can worth of papers that may or may not have some clues. Not having the correct equipment for the job Mercer passes the information over to the FBI who have been called in to investigate and they are able to ascertain a bite of information that relates to a geological sample that was taken in the early 1900’s. This sample had been in Abe’s possession and was the reason that the team had been targeted. Now Mercer must find out all he can about the mysterious sample and why it was worth killing over.The main focus of this book now shifts to the political and scientific arguments surrounding climate change and I cannot pin point why exactly but I really lost interest. Having read all seven previous novels I can say that I was not thrilled with the newest installment. The series character has no growth development at all. It has been about nine years since the last book in this series published and I would have expected for the main character Philip Mercer to have aged, changed, or grown in some way. Is that necessary no, but it would have been nice because the book was so formulaic. The way he introduces the main characters of the series is almost exactly the same, Mercer is the same, the dog, Drag, is the same, nothing has changed between the last book and this book. At one point I almost set it down because the sense of De JaVu was overwhelming. In the last book he had a woman that looked like she was going to stick and in this book she is 1) not there and 2) not even a backstory of what went wrong, why she was not there, nothing.The plot has a good pace. The characters are as always well developed. The authors writing style is lively and full of action. The dialogue as always is snarky and amusing, so if I have all these positive points what the issue? If you had never read a book from the Phillip Mercer series then you will actually enjoy this book (unless you have passionate views about climate change or politics, then stay away). For those of you that are fans of this series maybe not so much, for me it was as if the story was the premise of the movie Groundhog Day and Mercer is just changing up how he interacts with others around him but everything else stays the same.