The Star in the East by John Adcox

A Christmas treasure hunt adventure; best read in winter but definitely enjoyable year round.

The thing I loved most about this story was the love between Beth and Gaspar and the myriad ways they showed their interminable love to each other. Beth’s displays of love continued even after her death, providing the clues for Gaspar to follow to solve his final Christmas gift mystery.

This story is so intriguing, while it’s been said a gazillion times-you truly can’t put it down. It’s an adventure novel, but has deeper meaning and purpose at its core. It’s definitely not your stereotypical car chase-explosion ad nauseam- rinse-repeat kind of story. Although there’s that too!

It has all the items needed for an adventure action story- secret societies, henchmen, chases & fights, passwords & clues, & family betrayal. The final piece to the mystery is the greatest gift of all. And for Gaspar, it truly is in the journey that heals his heart.

It has it all-love, mystery, intrigue and adventure.

This book is an excellent choice if you need a gift idea!


*note also placed review @B&N and Amazon. Awaiting approval

I’m not sure I really knew what to expect from this book when I started reading it. The reader is immediately thrown into the action following Beth Bethlen’s last footsteps through Rome. Then the perspective switches to a famous Red Sox baseball star, Gaspar Bethlen. Next comes the mystery. It’s nearly Christmas and Beth laid out the path to one last great mystery that involves Gaspar’s family history.
The bad guy is really bad, I mean threatening his own family bad. His goons cause quite a lot of mess where ever they go.
The humor that plays out between Gaspar and Will provide snorting laughter type fun.
Ana provides a new love story to follow the one that is postponed between Beth and Gaspar.
I set the book down in some of the places with the bad guys. Could I keep the bad things from happening, no, but I was a little less affected when I picked the story back up.
It’s likely there will be tears if you read this, so prepare.
This is a lovely story and really appropriate as a Christmas story.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

The Star of the East. A Winter Tale of Ancient Mystery.
This title alone sold it for me. Now, having read the book, it didn't disappoint.
The Star of the East is, in a nutshell, brimming with historical mysteries, romance and adventure.
The story takes the reader from Italy to the USA to Hungary. It's packed full of fantastic descriptions that made me feel I was actually there in these amazing locations. Just one example is this, taken from the opening line: Rome was a city of scents. The air sang with them. The ancient city wore them like a blanket, the way San Francisco wore fog, or Seattle rain.
Every chapter takes the reader on another fast-paced action-driven scene. The twists and turns and fascinating historical revelations left me eager to read what happened next.
If The Star of the East was adapted into a movie, then I'd be at the front of the queue to see it.
It follows the main character, an unexpectedly early retired baseball player called Gaspar ( an unusual name, but there's a good reason for this), who embarks on a journey to solve the last mystery left to him by his beloved wife, Beth. The mystery sees Gaspar delving into his family heritage way, way back to biblical times.
Featured within this story are also some wonderful illustrations by Carol Bales.
If you love history, mystery and adventure, then this book is for you.
Thank you, NetGalley, The Story Plant and John Adcox, for the ebook copy in exchange for my honest reviews.

The Star in the East: A Winter Tale of Ancient Mystery by John Adcox, Carol Bales
Story starts out with Beth and she's on a mission, leaving clues til her heart wears out...
Story also follows her spouse a Red Sox player and she has left him clues all about his family.
She has spent years with his Christmas gift. Love references about Walton's Mountain, I'm Your Man-title from Cohen song and mention of other Story Plant authors-so cool! So many gems and treasures in this read.
Gaspar leaves baseball and starts following the clues she's left him and he teams up with
from The Story Plant. He teams up with a Hungarian, Will who runs a rare bookstore and he accompanies him as the action kicks in to fast pace and so many are out to get them, and their books.
Ana also helps them and she informs them her grandfather is the problem to their endeavors and he feels the legacy is for him...
So much travel and adventure, so many gems they find in the places where they travel to. Author describes the action and places in so much detail, I feel as if I am seeing it for myself.
So much to decipher that is in code and where it leads them. Religion and interpretations of the Bible and travels of Marco Polo and others, and important part toy store has.
Tragic, haunting, intuitive, lethal circumstances.
Afterword is about how the story came about, the winter tales.
Acknowledgements, about the author and his wife the illustrator.
Received this review copy from The Story Plant and this is my honest opinion.
#TheStarintheEast #NetGalley