Oh my God! Such a riveting book with all kinds of action and suspense. Once I figured out who was behind the murders, it was just as good waiting to see how it would play out. Fantasy written in today’s world and totally believable! Book provided by NetGalley.

Shadow of the Stone Benders (The Anlon Cully Chronicles) by K Patrick Donoghue

318 Pages
Publisher: Leaping Leopard Enterprises LLC, AuthorBuzz
Release Date: May 14, 2016

Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Archeologist, Action, Adventure

Devlin Wilson was out climbing in New Hampshire early one morning Before he knew what happened, he suffered a fatal fall. His nephew, Dr. Anlon Cully, is the representative of his estate. Matthew Dobson, an associate of Devlin, tells Anlon about Devlin’s archeological finds. He can prove humanity began before the accepted timeline. Now Matthew is dead and Anlon is a suspect. Pebbles is a bartender and friend of Anlon. He calls her from New Hampshire and asks her to come and help him. Anlon is a scientist who made his money through a patent to reduce emissions and increase gas mileage. Now he must solve the mystery of the stones and try not to die before he finishes.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. The concept of humanity being older than previously thought is being discussed in the archeology communities. If you like action and adventure stories, you many enjoy reading this book.

This book was like Indiana Jones meets Robert Langdon (of Dan Brown fame), with some mystery wrapped around objects found on an archeological dig. It was an interesting read, but the pace a bit slow at times, and the dialogue a little drawn out at others. But overall a good mystery, with a predictable enough twist, but an enjoyable read.

Rich with deftly drawn characters, this was a book I couldn’t put down.
Many thanks to Leaping Leopard Enterprises LLC and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was a fun and intriguing mystery slightly reminiscent of Dan Brown's style. The writing was sometimes too proper and forced, but the storyline itself was interesting, engaging and imaginative. I had hoped for a bigger twist at the end, but despite being pretty obvious, the mystery was still fun to read and I felt immersed in Anlon's drama, rooting for him, Pebbles and Jen the whole way.

I might not go out of my way to continue the series, but I would definitely read the next book and continue on Anlon's journey if I came across it.

This book was an extremely difficult, uniteresting read as the author's writing style did not appeal to me. The main plot of the book was interesting, but not in the narrative of this author.

I cannot recommend this book to anyone nor do I intend to try and read any other books by this author.

I received a free Kindle ARC courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would provide an honest review and post it on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook and Twitter pages

A good story, well written and good characters. Will look out for author again.

This would make a great action movie. Indiana Jones combined with the DaVinci Code. But as a book, it fell short. The idea was intriguing, but the execution fell short.

I wasn't able to finish this, which is too bad since I am a huge fan of the mystery/adventure/thriller mash-up.

This is an adult novel but it read much younger than that. I couldn't get over how annoying the characters and the drama was. The writing, however, made up for it and the plot was really interesting to read about as well!

First the things I liked: The plot of this book was interesting - I enjoyed the archaeology angle, and the mysteries with the different stones interested me. I'd love to learn more about them in future books. There is a lot of history in this version of the world to be explored. The characters and their backstories were also all interesting.

What I didn't like: The dialogue took me out of the story multiple times. That most likely won't be a problem for most readers, but all of the exclaiming (for example, "Wow!" was said SO many times) and just the way they talked didn't resonate with me. I suspect it won't be an issue for MANY readers, but it just wasn't my favorite.

This is the perfect mix of fiction, history and science fiction. The writing is fast paced, well crafted and exciting. . It is reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Da Vinci Code together. The premises is a riveting mystery of a death of a archeologist who had discovered a ancient city that had technology superior discoveries more advanced then todays technology. The plot has many differing aspects and kept this readers attention throughout.. I recommend this book.

This book was just not for me. I lost interest very quickly.

This book is a thriller that seems like Indiana Jones meets the DaVinci Code. It starts with the murder of an archeologist, Devlin, who has been working on proving the civilized society started much sooner than originally thought. The archeologist's nephew, Anlon, comes to handle the funeral and estate and is instead pulled into the mystery of the artifacts in the victim's possession and the ones he was looking for at the time of his death. As more murder and robberies occur, it becomes clear that there are people that do not want the research or the artifacts to become public and that they are all in grave danger.

I enjoyed the relationship and background building did with all the main characters but I wish that the plot and the background involving the stones and the alternate theory of civilized society was focused on more. It felt like the characters were jumping to conclusions that I would have never figured out about the mysteries of the stones and the murders. I hope the sequel will have more plot information.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

I could not get through this book. I did think I could at the beginning as I liked the characters. But they became annoying. Also the ideas presented in the book about stones and the mystic of them just wasn't convincing.

Based solely on the cover I was expecting a James Rollins style story. I enjoyed it.