A new and unstoppable virus is ravaging the world. To stop it, many must risk their lives to discover the origins of the virus and be the first to find the cure. Anna Asher has spent years on the trail of brilliant geneticist, James Hakari. He had predicted the rise of the virus long ago and sent to an insane asylum for his efforts. Anna must now attempt to decipher the puzzle he left behind and she's running against the clock. LucentB is not a retrovirus that can be quarantined and the Russians and Chinese seem to be well ahead of American in the race for a cure.

With the help of the sole survivor of a spec ops team who seems to be immune to the virus, Anna must now locate the clues, solve the puzzle and do it before the Russian overtake their position.

2.5 Stars

While this was very well written and I enjoyed the thriller/sci-fi mashup, I had a hard time connecting to the characters and found a lot of the science parts dry. I haven't read The Da Vinci Code, but I've seen a lot of people comparing the two, so if you are a fan of Dan Brown, then I would suggest this book for you.

I found this novel very confusing, I had the hardest time getting into it. I di find it was an interesting theme, but it juste was not for me.

I enjoy reading dystopian or apocalyptic thrillers. The suspense, action, and fight-for-survival plots when well-written always make for exciting reading. Add in some supernatural and ancient artifact/legend type accents and that just heightens my enjoyment. I guess that's why I'm also a sucker for disaster and end of the world movies, too. Something about the human spirit fighting to survive against insurmountable odds just makes a good story.

Maze Master opens with the human race facing the spread of a virus that could potentially wipe out all of humanity. France is quarantined to attempt to contain it, but really it's only a matter of time. A geneticist who also believes that God hid messages to humanity in the map of the human genome believes that a healing ointment mentioned in the Bible can save humanity from extinction. He leaves clues to where this legendary ointment is hidden in Egypt for a group of scientists to go find it, but other nefarious factions are also looking for the cure to use for their own means. If it isn't found....or falls into the wrong hands....the fate of human kind is sealed. Death. For everyone.

For the most part, I enjoyed this story. It had some great suspense and the concept is interesting. But I had the same problem with this book that I had with The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. The plot is heavy with religious myths and symbolism. A deity hiding the saving cure for an apocalyptic virus inside the map of the human genome using complicated palindromes, formulas and puzzles just seems very far-fetched. Scientists and scholars driven mad by the knowledge, lurking in monasteries drawing the genome out in their own blood while suffering from the stigmata....it just got a bit too Catholic horror story for me. (I can say that because I was raised Catholic....so hackles down.) Some of the plot was also a bit trope-y for me.....the villains are Russian (of course) and they want control of the cure so that they can manipulate the entire planet for their own means. Very overdone cliche -- darn those Russians! And, there were some very thinly veiled anti-Trump comments.....the president of the United States is building a wall between the US and Canada to prevent spread of the virus and a character exclaims that the president must be afraid of immigrants. Now, I totally understand being concerned about our current political climate....totally understand....but must every author find a way to get in a dig or two about their current political views within their writing? It seems almost every new book I read lately has to pull me out of the enjoyment of the story with current political digs or has farcical plot points added just to enable political commentary. It's getting old. Stop it. It must be the Russian's fault -- darn those Russians! *eyeroll*

Now, I am not saying this book isn't well-written, interesting and exciting. It's well done....the suspense is great! Anyone who enjoys Dan Brown's books will love this story. I'm just saying I didn't buy into the myth. Just a bit too overblown and religious for me. And a bit heavy handed on the tropes. At least there weren't any Nazis! Just villainous Russians. Sigh.

All in all, well-written book. Just didn't really work for me. The author has written more than 40 books and I enjoyed this story enough to read more of her work....she has a series about the Anasazi that sounds incredible!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St. Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

I was unable to finish this book. I requested this book after reading the description, which was very intriguing and exciting. After reading over half, I still think that the premise was well presented and researched. I enjoyed the historical aspects and the adventurous events. However, the characters did not hold my attention or sympathy, and therefore I could not finish the book.

I liked this story but when I look at apocalyptic thrillers I have Justin Cronin to thank for my high standards. There is a virus killing off the population and years ago, James Hakari tried to warn the governments around the world. Then he disappeared. The US government, in a race with Russia for world domination through a cure has tasked his former student Anna Asher to find him and hope he has a cure. He has left clues for her and as she travels the world scrapping to stay alive she finds ancient tombs and texts that seem to parallel her journey and search for a cure. Lots of action but not my favorite genre. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was very reminiscent of The Da Vinci Code. It was an interesting concept and while I did enjoy the pacing and characters there was a LOT of scientific informations that went right over my head. The author did her best to explain things and how they related to the plot but I felt like a lot of the time it just made things even more confusing. I really never knew what was actually going on until the last page so the mystery aspect of this was good. Overall, it kept my attention.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

James Hakari is called the Maze Master because, as a geneticist, he created elaborate puzzles to teach his students about genetics. He believed that God spoke through the DNA code. Years ago he tried to warn people about a deadly retrovirus that he believed would threaten humanity. The virus has now appeared all over the world, but Hakari has disappeared. The US government believes Hakari holds the secret for a cure of the virus and tasks his former student Anna Asher to find him. Asher is also a former Air Force intelligence officer and a student of ancient writings. She enlists the aid of religious studies scholar Dr. Martin Nadai. The Maze Master has left clues for them.

I thought this book was just ok. I haven't read "The Da Vinci Code" but I imagine that if you liked that book you will like this one more than I did. This book had Marham-i-Isa (a curing ointment created by Jesus), magical pentagrams, a Golden Ratio and a lot of other religious symbols that did not really resonate with me. "Finding the cure required fully documenting the evolution of God's wrath." If that sentence is meaningful to you, you might appreciate this book more than I did. There's also a lot of complicated Russian/Chinese/American intrigue, commandos who are trained religious scholars and the most tentative love quadrangle imaginable. Apparently Asher is very lovable. The book is not very long, but felt long and repetitive. The story stuck with the core characters and there was no description at all about the impact of the virus on society. I also found the book very confusing with respect to what is a cure and what is a vaccine. I'm not sure I'd read more by this (extremely prolific) author.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

MAZE MASTER, by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, is about a virus that is quickly spreading to pandemic levels and the two people who endeavor to contain and eliminate the virus before it destroys humanity. Anna, a military geneticist, and Martin, a religion and history scholar, embark on a mission deeply rooted in religious history and how genetics and religion intertwine to hopefully lead them towards the cure before its too late.
As a good thriller does, the reader is introduced to Anna and Martin early on and the story dives right in. Anna is difficult to connect with and the few hints of vulnerability she displays aren't enough to develop her character fully. Martin's head is just spinning basically through the whole book and seems even more lost that the reader. Clues and secrets are revealed throughout the book, but I felt frustratingly lost more often than I felt like I'm one step away from the answer like I usually do when reading an epic thriller like this one. Many of the clues and observations I didn't connect to the greater meaning, maybe because they were too vague for me, or maybe because I wasn't well verse in the scientific process. Also, maybe a quick prologue or flashback between Anna and her mentor,who first identified the impending virus, would have settled me into the story early on. The action does build pleasantly towards the end of the book and there are several good who's double crossing who moments at the climax of the story.
MAZE MASTER is entertaining and exciting, and despite some of the problems I had, a good book for thriller readers.

"The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn."—H. G. Wells

When the survival of humanity depends on decoding the clues of a brilliant, but possibly insane geneticist, a historical cryptographer with ties to him may be mankind's only hope.

Anna Asher, former student to missing geneticist James Hakari, enlists the aid of biblical scholar Martin Nadai, whom she believes knows the whereabouts of the Cave of the Treasure of Light, which may hold an ancient ointment powerful enough to save the human race. Martin, however, doesn't know its exact location, and he fears Anna may be just as crazy as her professor. It isn't until Anna presents him with facts no one but he should know that possibilities become too fascinating for Martin to ignore.

With Anna and Martin together in Egypt, the realities of an illness, a virus, a new plague, becomes all to evident to Martin. He begins to piece together the puzzle that has driven Anna to seek him out and then bring him halfway across the world to help her solve—to find a sacred ointment long thought to be a myth.
On the border, not far from Anna and Martin, Captain Micah Hazor, leader of a military team with specialties in history, ancient religions, and biblical studies find themselves in a frighteningly fierce military battle, which soon weaves together the lives of Anna, Martin, and Micah.

MAZE MASTER is a page-turning scientific thriller unlike any other. It is suspenseful, intelligent, and well researched, and it brings to light the possibility of a rarely discussed retrovirus that may be waiting in the wings for mankind. This story was utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion!

Maze Master is the best novel I have read this year! I love how creative and intelligent Kathleen O’Neal Gear’s writing is. Maze Master is based upon a real retrovirus called Herv-K. The virus in the book, LucentB, is decimating most of the world population. However, only pure humans, those without Denisovan or Neandertal genes, seem to be immune; humans that live in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In desperation to find the cure, ex intelligence officer Anna Asher in on a self imposed mission: find the legendary Marham-i-Isa – a fact based ointment, also known as the ointment of Jesus, which is believed to have astounding curative abilities; figure out the shape of the maze; find the entrance of the maze; and figure out the cure. Anna is a former student of brilliant geneticist, James Hakari, who is losing his mind. Hakari has left clues for Anna to follow, but she is not alone on her quest. Anna recruits the help of Dr. Martin Nadai who is a specialist in, and professor of religious studies and a paleographer. Dr. Nadai’s special research is the Marham-i- Isa. Together they work to unravel clues that will help them navigate the maze.

Maze Master is very intelligently done. The story incorporates real science, Fibonacci math, geometry, biblical history, and biology among other things to take the reader on a thrilling race across the globe to stop a very probable pandemic. I recommend this book to anybody who has a love for science, math, and history.

I thankfully received an advanced copy of Maze Master from NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for my honest, unpaid opinion about the book. This is a great read. Thank you

(I'm having technical difficulties with amazon.com. They are trying to solve the problem. As soon as I am able, I will be posting a review on amazon.com)

Complex and complicated thriller that blends all sort of themes into a hunt for a scientist in order to save humanity. Whew! The LucentB retrovirus is the sort of thing we all fear and now it's making it's way out into the world. Anna Asher is trying to find James Hakari, the geneticist who is believed to be able to fix things. This search will remind you of the Davinci Code as she wraps in Martin Nadai, who is a paleographer who can also expound on religious issues. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is good travel reading because it's plot driven.

Maze Master by Kathleen O’Neal Gear is a apocalyptic thriller in which the world is quickly coming to the end due to a plague sweeping around the world. While the story is fictional a lot of the book is taken from real things and events to build a what if type of book.

As the book begins the virus has already been spreading and taking out the population very quickly and we join various characters as they try to discover what the virus is and how to stop it. When it’s found they are dealing with LucentB Anna Asher is tasked with finding James Hakari who had been warning of what is to come with no one taking him seriously.

Maze Master is a bit out of my normal go to genre that I read the majority of the time but I thought I would give this one a shot to see how I would like it. When finished my rating on this one at 2.5 stars is a bit more of the it’s me, not you case as the story and writing are fine, I just didn’t personally find myself very invested.

Part of my reasoning with being a bit disconnected to this one is that the scientific side read as very dry and bit too much for me. It all sounds accurate enough but not having studied any of this type of thing other than hearing of dormant viruses I really can’t say how spot on the info is but I just wasn’t entertained and invested in the thriller side with those discussions breaking up the action. To me I think this one would probably wow me a lot more on the big screen where the intensity would be better felt. I would say though if this sound good to you please give it a try, fans of things like The Davinci Code would probably enjoy this.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I really love sci-fi/mystery/thriller novels because those novels are pumping up some reading hype to me like the Dan Brown books and James Patterson books.

I am on the stage of being hype with these novels when I clicked this on the netgalley because who wouldn't love some apocalyptic disease with a maze!?

Maze Master, I can't really summarize the story because of the technicality of some points and details that adds up the sciencey to this novel but it is a story of an ancient virus that attached to the ancestral race of Neandertals and Denisovans that killed them thousand years ago. This virus became dormant as the years came by and now it is killing millions of people with different kind of diseases in which the Neandertals and Denisovans were killed. So a group of bio-technologist, scientist and cryptographer are solving the means to cure this virus. But one scientist named, James Hakari, traced the ancient virus by intertwining science and the Bible as he solved this mystery virus and help the whole human race.

I never thought the author would come up with an apocalyptic novel by imparting Bible on its story. Since people are separating science with religion. I remembered Dan Brown's Origin and Inferno that also tackles with this same premise but I never expected that the use of Bible in the story would help solve and kill an ancient virus.

Like some mystery/thriller novels, there is this "spontaneity" of adrenaline rush while reading this genres but my experience in this novel was quite like a rough road. There are times that the story speeds up because of the plot twist and revelations and sometimes the peak of the spontaneity drops down and slowly reaching again its peak.

But the ending was quite good but not that thrilling. Not like the second half of the book in which it makes you want more of the story. It is like a roller coaster ride in which the end of the ride became plateau.

Maze Master, was a great read!
(If you are skeptic about the Bible thing in this novel, I hope it doesn't stop you to read this thrilling novel.)

A truly maze-like tale of a plague that is sweeping across the world threatening to destroy mankind. Also a story of a quest one brilliant man driven insane and to the brink with the cure to the plague challenges. his 10 proteges who have dwindled to two who can follow his clues and hopefully develop a vaccine or a cure; but time is running out. This is a fascinating madcap search to save the world. An unlikely cast of characters must solve the clues to the maze, each one plays an integral part; but can they do it?
This is a thrilling book that keeps you guessing through out each turn. Sometimes the science and the math and the utter magnitude of the task make it difficult to read but the tale is quite satisfying in the end. A well researched, thought out and executed story-line as only Kathleen O'Neal Gear could produce. An enjoyable read!

Da Vinci Code + World War Z + Jurassic Park divided by the Bible = Maze Master.

The LucentB virus is 100% deadly and is moving outward from France. Anna enlists the help of Christian professor, Martin, to find “Marham-i-Isa, the legendary healing ointment created by Jesus to heal the sick and raise the dead”—perhaps the only hope for humanity. While searching the Middle East for the ointment, Anna is also looking for her former mentor, the famed geneticist Hakari. In a parallel plot, Hakari is being driven mad by visions of shapes and his belief that he is the second coming of Christ. Wars break out as the virus spreads and nations look desperately for a cure. On battlefields, huge “angels of light” are spotted. Have the end times prophesied by the Bible arrived? Or is it something inherited in our Denisovan pre-historic genes that started the virus and the rest is pure human folly?

I loved the Da Vinci Code back in the day but I adore this book even more! It has the genre mashup that I like so much. It’s apocalyptic and scientific. With its factual underpinnings, it could actually happen. The setting and characterization are well done. It moves at a lightning pace. Overall, it is highly recommended for thriller readers. Open-minded fans of horror, science fiction and Christian fiction might also enjoy it. 5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher, St Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for granting my wish for an advanced copy.

While I did enjoy the intensity of this book, it did get a bit technical(mathematical) for me. You never quite knew who was working for who, the secrets kept twisting together.

James Hakari, a legendary geneticist, predicts a virus will mutate into a global pandemic based on his study of biblical history and genetics. Thought to be crazy until LucentB starts killing people at an alarming rate both the Russians and Americans race to find him. One of his students, Anna Asher, a Captain in the U. S. Air Force is being sought as someone who may have clues to the cure.

Think Michael Crichton comparing notes with Dan Brown. This is a remarkable adventure. Anna recruits Dr. Martin Nadai, a professor of paleography and religious studies, who is known to be seeking “Marham-i-Isa” the ointment Christ used to heal, to help her find the cure. No one knows where Hakari is or if he is alive. Anna and Martin meet up with Captain Micah Hazor, who had been ordered to retrieve an HVT (highly valuable target) only to lose his team in a bombing strike that left him wounded. Anna speculates that Hakari found the cure and left clues in the form of a 3D maze for her to work through. As the three continue their search for clues, the Americans find them and take them into custody hoping Anna has the answers.

This is a complex, richly layered thriller. Kathleen O’Neal Gear is a very skillful storyteller with a wonderful imagination. A thought provoking and entertaining read.

The book felt like a Robin Cook meets Dan Brown. The story was predictable and not very enticing. Not my kind of a read.

2.5. I usually love archeological thrillers, but I just didn't connect to any of the characters and the plot just didn't carry me through that. There were twists and turns that were confusing and the payoff just didn't come through as worth it. This just wasn't for me.