Much more than a journey of self discovery, this opens up a story of international intrigue. The author captures the feelings of all the characters really well as the past is revisited and they come to terms with new relationships and the consequences of their choices.

When a young man discovers his mother's stories of a father he never knew are stories made up to keep him safe, he must decide what the truth is and face the challenges his mother predicted. It's a different, uniquestory line. There are many books out there where the main character is looking for a parent they never knew they had, but this one really does put the young man in danger as his searches lead him into a past you could not imagine. Barry Eisenberg weaves a story that draws you in as you try to stay one step ahead of the danger. When the twists come along, well......let's say, I had to turn back pages several times and still was surpised in several instances. This was a very good read.

Primal Calling by Barry Eisenberg is the perfect story to get into the new year. It’s all about the close relationships shared amongst friends and family, finding a purpose and valuing the little things in life.

Eisenberg’s debut is set to put Jack on a ride to find his biological father, who he hadn’t known existed until he found his birth certificate. For the next year it sets Jack on finding his father no matter what. There will be trials along the way that emotionally tear Jack apart, but knowing his father is still out there, motivates him to continue his search.

With Jack’s quick thinking, he’s able to surf the internet, bring up articles and make phone calls. Jack’s inquisitive thinking only gets him further from the truth when he hears how private his father’s life actually is with the help from a girl, Cathy. As their friendship develops, so does the search for Jack’s father.

The pace at which Eisenberg wrote brought out each character with enough backstory to state their purpose. Eisenberg introduces readers to both the world of Jack and his father, Stewart Jacobson. Stewart has worked for the government for many years and, too, has built relationships along the way. We’re shown the sacrifices Stewart has to make every day in order to keep his identity a secret. The amount of people who have Stewart’s back, not only in the United States but Saudi Arabia as well.

These friendships are put to the test when Stewart’s identity is in danger and it shows readers how far everyone has gone to not only protect this man, but their country. In turn, we’re also shown how focusing on one person might distract them from worrying about another who might’ve needed help and support.

Eisenberg has crafted such likeable characters throughout the story. Jack’s demeanour was mature yet predicted for a young adult like himself. Stewart was responsible, intelligent and understanding as someone who has just found out they had a son. Cathy was so supportive toward Jack and made him see both sides to the story whenever he was conflicted.

Overall, this is a beautiful story of family, love, grief, and relationships, and readers will become intrigued to find out what will happen next. This is a story that can take you to another place and watch the unravelling after the discovery of a birth certificate.

I have to be totally honest: this book wasn’t for me. I was looking for more of a psychological thriller and less of the espionage side. Sadly, I also didn’t find any of the characters endearing and found myself skimming pages. However, I am fully aware that this is a result of my personal preference and not the book itself. Therefore, instead of focusing on how I felt, I want to offer a more neutral observation of what another type of reader might enjoy about Primal Calling.

The author really captured the upheaval that finding a long-lost parent can bring: Will they want to see me? Will they like me? Will I like them? How will the parent who brought me up feel? The struggles and emotions were truly there in the text. The author also touches on the complications on shared custody and success stories in finding family members and therefore provides a good balance to the theme.

The characters are pretty well developed. They all have a solid back story and it is easy to see as a reader how they connect to one another. That is always a challenge in a book where there are 5+ characters and where they are present in a multi-layered story. Something similar can be said for the plot of this book. Many things are going on in many locations but the author doesn’t leave the reader completely lost, as can often happen.

This debut novel combines a young man coming to grips that he does have a father with a little bit of intrigue and government spies.

Jack stumbles across his birth certificate and realizes his father does have a name. This sets him off on the path to find his father without tipping off his mother since she has told him all his life that she didn't know his father. He is an enterprising young man and I was amazed at the amount of research that he did and how he was able to find places to go on the internet to find clues about his father. He meets a young woman, Cathy, at the university where his father attended and she becomes an accomplice in his search for his father since she is able to get him some information about his father, but most of it has been wiped out at the university.

This book has multiple storylines and jumps between the past and the present. It added dimension to the story to learn about how Linda and Stewart met and what they both might have gone through during that time and what led Linda to make the decisions she did for her and Jack. There is a fair amount of technical information regarding what Tom (Stewart's new alias) is doing in Europe in the oil industry and trying to discover new methods to obtain oil from the seas. He runs into an old college friend that assists him in his endeavors in Saudi Arabia but has some own tragedies he deals with in this book. I don't want to give away too much because one of these events plays a large role in how events unfold.

I have mixed feelings about Jack and his attitude. Part of me believes he is still immature for his age (18-20) but at the same time, he discovers a passion he didn't know he had until Cathy points it out to him. His discussions/fights with his mother once she confirms she does know his father seem stilted. I can understand his anger at not being told the truth, but at the same time, he isn't honest with her when he learned the truth that one day in the attic. Linda did what she thought was right at the time and maybe knowing facts now she might have made other choices, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. It takes Cathy and Stewart to point out the facts before Jack can see them clearly. He is very absorbed in how he feels without taking others into consideration. This feels pretty normal for a person that age.

The one thing I would have liked to have seen done in the formatting of this book was to put some sort of break when jumping storylines or timelines. I would read along in the chapter and then all of a sudden we were somewhere else or in the past. This was a little disconcerting because I had no warning and had to shift gears in my brain.

Overall this was a good book for a debut novel with multiple layers, varied plot lines, and complex characters. We give it 3 paws up.

Primal Calling is the tale of Jake and his search for his birth father, but that’s not all.

Jake hadn’t known who his father was until he accidentally finds his birth certificate. So, he decides to find him.

But, as he begins his search his attempts are flagged and things get dark and dangerous. Who was his father and who else is searching for a man who seemingly doesn’t exist?

Primal Calling is part family drama and part spy thriller. It’s well paced, full of tension and is an engrossing and compelling read.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of Primal Calling.

Jack is a confident high school senior who has a great relationship with his mum until he discovers his birth certificate. Jack’s world went into an almighty spin as he secretly decided to trace his biological father down. It isn’t your run of the mill story of tracking down a parent, this story is the one in a million, frustrating and dangerous step into the unknown. It isn’t just dangerous for him and the father he never knew he had but for countless others too.


This story strips relationships and emotions back to raw nerve endings that manipulate and distort feelings to something more primal. He had once asked a question about who his father was and been answered and accepted it. But now he was angry that his life had been a lie. He had to find out who his dad was and he had some leads to go on.


Jack is more mature than his years, I liked his character and felt that the author captured his reaction to events in a realistic way. Lisa, Jack’s mum, had always known that these events were a ticking time bomb but, the story gets across how one lie leads to another, even with good intentions, until time runs out.

I liked how this story didn’t follow the expected route and took on a more thrilling conclusion. All in all, this is a story that will keep your interest from the first to the last page.

An excellent mystery/thriller with a side of family drama. This one is hard to categorize, but it's a compelling read from an exciting debut author. I look forward to seeing more from Barry Eisenberg.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Vanguard Press, FSB associates and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

A debut novel by Barry Eisenberg, Primal Calling embodies the emotional upheaval faced by a person in the search of a loved one. The whole traumatic experience in seeking out a parent or a child or a relative for years altogether to receive a spark of hope and then to find it all crashing down is somehow inconceivable for a human being. But in spite of this, there are success stories that inspire hope and a beacon of light for people attempting the same.

Jack Davies was just pottering around in the attic of his house to kill boredom when the discovery of his birth certificate reveals a devastating secret. His father’s name hitherto unknown was suddenly stark clear and the anonymous donor story that his mother had claimed was proven false. Thus, begins his long and arduous journey to search for the one-half of a parent who had birthed him. But Jack’s enquiries unearth deeper mysteries as his father’s job takes on a whole new cloak and dagger drama.

Barry Eisenberg writes an effortless story that connects to a reader in a meaningful way. A host of characters are introduced with enough backstory that each of them feels relatable. It was interesting to see how the story progresses from the discovery of a father to international intrigue and politics about oil companies in Russia, Germany and Saudi Arabia and the terrifying act that leaves another couple with unbearable grief.

Jack’s character was an absolute charm as the author clearly depicts the struggle, he faces in forgiving his mother for her deception but the sensible and sound advice from his newfound friend Cathy helps in opening his eyes to his mother’s choices. Linda’s reasoning honestly failed to convince me as a reader and also the angst and worry and gloomy prospect of failed leads in Jack’s search was not potent enough for me. The utter hopelessness of the situation that takes him a year, I thought could have been more compelling. But these are just minor points in a story that has been crafted brilliantly and is debut worth watching out for.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India and twitter.

This story tells the determination of the main character Jake and his mission to find his birth father which almost caused a massive scandal and put multiple lives at risk. Growing up Jack's mother Lisa always told him he was the product of a sperm donor, but after finding his birth certificate - Jack learns the truth and sets off to search for his father and track him down. Despite hitting dead ends, he continues dutifully and passionately on his search until his father's people are alerted someone is searching for him using his real name as you see Jack's father is a bit of a spy for the government in the oil/engineering industry and now that Jack has started this search and things have been flagged, not only is his Dad's new identity in danger but now anyone attached to the name Stewart Jacobsen could be too. This leads to Jake being kidnapped and meeting his father for the first time. Learning of the need for secrecy, this situation has him not talking to his mum about it which in turn causes him and Lisa to fight for the first time as part of him is growing resentful of Lisa keeping him away from his father for the past 18 years of his life. What was Lisa's reasoning and will Lisa and Stewart ever be reunited to talk about the next steps with Jack or will danger and tragedy strike Stewart aka Tom Gaines when a suicide bomber / radical happens to blow up the cafe he is in while on a mission in Saudi Arabia? Find out in this fast-paced family dynamics and finding yourself debut novel by Barry Eisenberg. After reading this book, it got me thinking even more than I have to get on in doing a DNA test as my Dad never knew his biological father and an only child and also questions around my birth since my mother has passed away and it would be just very fascinating and insightful to find out if we have any DNA Matches, etc.

This is a stellar first book. A richly written multi-layered story filled of intrigue and a nicely done portrayal of the power of persistence. Jack is the center of attention and the main player in this wonderful story.

The story focuses on Jack’s determination for find his father, a man he never knew existed, on his relationship with his mother and the developing relationship with a girl. This tense story brings us to Jack’s father, Stewart a man determined to fulfil his duty for the DIA ( a federal agency) and ordered to keep up with the subterfuge by his handlers for the safety of all. Following them we find ourselves enmeshed in an intricate world of national security and international intrigue.

A lot goes on and without going into too many details we have a story that takes off in several directions. The plot mainly set in the US brings some episodes to Germany and Arabia and as Jack’s gets closer to the truth so does the intrigue.... What a ride...and a heartwarming page-turner.

Persistence pays off but at what price. Jack’s every moves were track by a group of mysterious people...who were they?....haha!... you will need to read ”Primal Calling” I will say no more.....

Jack’s saga moves at a steady pace and keeps the tempo throughout: not too fast just smooth sailing. I like the portrayal of each character: each has a strong personality, we have no bad or good guys even when Steward got mixed up in a terrorist attack...oh yes we have a bit of a bang in a cafeteria and the usual aftermath...

I enjoyed this story quite a bit.

Primal Calling by Barry Eisenberg had a kind of a good idea for this book. A single mother had raised a son, the steamy relationship with her son’s father had come to an end early in the pregnancy and the guy never knew this woman had become pregnant. However, she tells the world a different story, that she had chosen to get impregnated at a local sperm bank and no one knew the identity of the father. That story worked for the first 20 years and the relationship between mother and son was always a good one. Then, the boy began to wonder more about who is father might have been, but he could never get mom to reveal any more details. One day while his mom was working in her successful physical therapy business, her son dug around in a box of records in the attic and found a birth certificate where his father was named. He was angry that his mother had lied to him all those years, and rather than confront her, he used his own formidable knowledge of searching the internet for more information.

One thing led to another, and he learned his father had simply evaporated around the time of the boy’s birth by changing his name. The boys queries led to his father’s learning that he was being looked for under his old identity. It turns out dad was working for an undeclared black agency with the U.S. government, and uncovering his old identity would have put him in danger, as well as putting the boy and his mom in danger. Dad suddenly appeared and met his son in order to assure his own bosses that the search would be discontinued. Son asked dad if he was a spy, and dad said he was not a spy.

It was about that time I abandoned the book, at the 60% mark. I thought the writing was pedestrian and I frankly didn’t care what would happen with the plots or what the author might do with the characters. So, this book does not get my recommendation.

Excellent story about a young man raised by his single mom. When he comes across his birth certificate, the search begins for his father. The search, the subterfuge, the relationships, and the repercussions are all examined in a tense story that also includes a bit of international intrigue.