4.5/5.0*

‘Late one night, investigative journalist Jack Logan receives a surprise visit from U.S. Senator Malcolm Phillips at his New York apartment. Disheveled and in a panic, the senator swears that he’s about to be murdered and pleads with Jack to protect his wife Taylor, who happens to be the only woman Jack has ever truly loved.’

THE NETWORK, the first book that I have read by L.C. Shaw, is a fast-paced Psychological Thriller I that did not want to put down. Though, a wee bit of a predictable ending, it’s one that screams for a sequel in what I hope to be book two in the 'Jack Logan Thriller' series.

THE NETWORK - Recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing, for loaning me an advance eBook of THE NETWORK in exchange for an honest review.

This book isn't being marketed properly. The teaser I received, promising "A pulse-pounding, page-turning thriller involving corruption, secrets, and lies at the very deepest levels of government and media" is only part of what this is.

This book takes a Dan Brown turn, and it's unexpected. The Network has themes of good vs. evil, but more literally in the book, Satan vs. God. It is a Christian-ish bent, and it becomes central to the story. I think it will take readers by surprise, and not necessarily in a good way, since it isn't being promoted as a "Christian thriller" (if that's a subgenre? I don't know).

The character Damon Crosse is the satanic representative, and he has his tendrils in many aspects of US society: media, government, pop culture. He's playing the long game and is working to destroy culture and doom people. He's also trying to collect the 30 pieces of silver that Judas Iscariot received as a payment for betraying Jesus. Apparently, he thinks the coins contain magical properties and will allow him to increase his evil. That part is bizarre and has no basis in Christianity.

The good guys, Jack and Taylor, are on the run from Damon, and interesting plot points happen and reveal their backstory and just how depraved Damon is. It felt dark and creepy, and the reader didn't know who to trust (as a good thriller will do).

Conspiracy theorists will enjoy this one. There's stuff about a vaccine conspiracy and the government (oh and by the way, there isn't currently a vaccine for RSV, and it isn't "uncommon" as Taylor in the story says. It is really freaking common and pretty much every kid will get it by age 2. Just clearing that up). There's conspiracy with eugenics, pornography, reality TV...you name it.

Personally, I thought the book was ok. It's not the book I thought I was getting, but I was entertained enough to read it in a day and see how it would play out. I thought the characters were ok, but Taylor felt a bit flat to me. The ending leaves it open for book #2. There were too many characters at first and it was hard to keep track of who was who, and the plot was kind of all over the place at times.

Note that a version of this book was previously published as "The Veritas Deception" by Lynne Constantine in 2016. When I look at how that book is blurbed, I see there's at least some hints at the religious aspect. Also, this author has a few pen names, and is probably most famous for The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine, a partnership between two writer siblings..

I received an advance digital copy of The Network via Netgalley and Harper Collins in exchange for my review.

Giving it 3 stars on Netgalley for "maybe" recommending to others (basically, if they read my review and know more of the premise and are interested, then yes I think they should go for it). Giving 2 stars on Goodreads for their rating system 2 = it was OK.

The Network jumps straight into the action- this story fills in the character information as it goes, and instead the first chapters read like diving into an action movie. It's a very quickly paced story with short chapters moving it along at quite the clip. It could essentially have been billed as a Christian thriller, and it's probably a decent comp for readers who are looking for something Dan Brown-esque.

THE NETWORK by L. C. Shaw starts out as a straight thriller that later evolves into a Christian thriller with a good versus evil theme. L. C. Shaw is the pen name of author Lynne Constantine who also writes novels with her sister as Liv Constantine. This is the first book in a new series.

Investigative journalist Jack Logan is visited at home by U.S. Senator Malcolm Phillips. Phillips believes he will be murdered and gives Jack a sealed envelope in case he is killed and asks Jack to protect his wife Taylor. Days later the Senator is found dead. With this beginning, the story line is off and running.

This book is extremely well written and fast-paced. For part of the book, it does go back and forward in time, but the transitions are smooth and easily followed. Jack and Taylor’s characters are well defined as is that of the main antagonist. There are lots of twists and turns.

Who can be trusted? There is corruption, betrayals, religious artifacts, conspiracy, secrets and much more.
Overall, the novel was thought-provoking, compelling and entertaining. If you enjoy good versus evil thrillers, I recommend you try this. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Many thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and L. C. Shaw for a digital ARC of this novel via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

The beginning was typical suspense thriller and I was just starting to get into the characters when it took a turn toward the supernatural - an over the top good vs evil, God vs Devil storyline. I lost interest about two-thirds of the way through but finished it anyway. Too much belief suspension was required to buy into the storyline and the ending didn't make it any better.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thriller mystery involving high government officials and a diabolical madman.

The Network started out as a pretty decent thriller, well-enough written and fairly compelling as it alternated between parallel plot lines. About halfway through, it suddenly became obvious that this was a tale of good vs. evil with an overtly religious theme. It kind of fell off a cliff for me at that point, going way beyond the suspension of disbelief often required when reading thrillers. It seemed like it was becoming a religious conspiracy story on a grand scale, true believers pitted against Evil. I stopped reading when it started to feel crazy to me. This book went off the deep end.

When I realized the author of The Network was one half of the duo who wrote a book I had previously enjoyed, I Immediately wanted to read it. After a few chapters I was a little disappointed because, while the writing was skilled, the plot seemed scattered and overly ambitious. And, while all the components of a thriller were present, it was almost like they were being checked off a list. Despite these problems, it was an interesting story, until an absurd ending for which I’m taking off a star.

At about halfway through the book the tone of the story changed into something new for me—it became basically a Christian thriller. As I continued to read, I was surprised to find an obvious divide between the heroes and the villains. Most of the good guys were Christians, with an emphasis on the ones who found God during the book; while the bad guys were literally satan worshippers involved in occult practices. It was this struggle between God and the devil that became the true focus of the book, rather than the usual elements of a thriller. This didn’t make it any less suspenseful, but it did make it a very different book from what I was expecting.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.