Most popular fiction genres have a word for workmanlike but uninspired books or movies. "Oaters" are westerns, "space operas" are science fiction, "penny dreadfuls" are gothic stories, "shoot-em ups" are war novels. I suggest "theothrillers" for biblical adventures filled with demons, forgotten languages, Vatican corruption, ancient codes and magic artifacts. This book is your basic theothriller.

The writing is competent, with the requisite tension alternating with action to move the story briskly, despite make-it-up-as-it-goes-along rules about magic, overcomplicated backstories and one-dimensional characters. The sets are all from the studio warehouse and the characters from central casting. There is lots of sloppiness--the characters are by a cataract so noisy they cannot hear each other speak or even nearby gunshots, but one says it is safe because he can hear anyone approaching; the industrial revolution is dated to the 20th century; that kind of thing. If it bothers you, you're missing the point of this amusement park ride of a book.

I did not read the first book in the series, and do not intend to read the next one, but that's not a handicap. The necessary information from the first book is inserted skillfully, and the climax is not hindered by not resolving anything important.

Overall, if you are a theothriller fan, this is a perfectly good example. General readers who are tolerant as long as the story moves along will be happy with this for an airplane ride or beach read. But it does not come close to Lustbader's best work.

“The Fallen” eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Eric Van Lustbader (https://www.ericvanlustbader.com). Mr. Lustbader has published more than 45 novels. This is the second in his “The Testament” series.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story is set in Europe with the primary character being Braverman “Bravo” Shaw, head of the Gnostic Observatine sect.

A series of events take place that seem to herald the End of Days. A man finds the long hidden Testament of Lucifer in a remote Lebanese cave. Shaw, along with his blind sister, Emma, and Fra Leoni begin the chase to retrieve the Testament and stop the End of Days.

I enjoyed the nearly 11 hours I spent reading this 352 page Paranormal Thriller. I have been a long time fan of Van Lustbader, but this novel seemed to fall short for me. It felt a little “raw’, in the need of “polishing”. While the second in a series, this novel stood well on its own. The cover art is OK, but doesn’t really give a feel for the story. I give this novel a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

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The forces of biblical good and evil come to a head in Van Lustbader’s second book in the Testament series. An ancient gospel has been found in the mountains of Lebanon, the Testament of Lucifer, and Bravo Shaw, head of the Gnostic Observatine sect in Istanbul is joined by Fra Leoni and Bravo’s scary smart sister, Emily as they wage war over the fate of humankind. It’s been about ten years since Testament was published and readers may want to reacquaint themselves with the first book in the story before tackling the second. This will be a hit with fans of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code

This was a real brain melter! I love a good, complex thriller but I found this quite hard going.

It didn't help that some of the characters were rather hard edged and hard to love. Even the hero, Bravo, I found quite unlovable sometimes. I enjoy a good theological, conspiracy thriller but by the end I was still feeling a bit clueless about what had happened - I kept thinking there should have been another chapter or two to conclude the story. As it is I'm not sure if it is leading onto another book or not as I felt a lot of the characters stories weren't tied up properly!

I was given a copy of this book via Netgalley by the publisher and voluntarily chose to leave a review.

Full of action, and adventure, combined with Biblical prophecy, The Fallen, is a fun and exciting read. From the mountains of Lebanon, to Turkey, to Malta, and into the secret halls of sinister conspirators the reader becomes privy to the battle between good and evil. Is this truly the End of Days? And you are left wondering, could all of this be real? Van Lustbader has done it again weaving a tale of imagination, and foreboding, jam packed with peril at every turn. A fun thrill ride through our own fears, wants, needs, and beliefs.

I love theological thrillers. However, this one left me cold. That I got this far with the book have to do with the hope that the book would get better, but I found the plot to be both slow and uninteresting and the characters are flat. I found myself not liking Bravo Shaw, he's just not a character that made an impression on me and since I have quite a lot of books to read have I decided to stop here and find myself something better to read.