Children of the Sun

Rating:
Summary: A sequel please!
Review:
Immensely exciting suspense and mystery novel. The moment I started reading it, I was hooked. In 2022, two decades after the September 11 terrorists attack on America at the World Trade Center Towers in New York City and The Pentagon in Washington DC, the world's technological network launched a global security advisory committee (GSAC) to monitor and protect mankind from itself. What its creators failed to plan for was an assault from space, in the form of ferocious solar storms. The Prologue introduces astrophysicist Steve Corwin posting a dismal warning to the Internet. The scientific community and GSAC won't support him, perhaps for one political reason or another. Meanwhile a few cynics take him seriously... except for a special few, who are forewarned through visions. Ms. Newton calls them the the 'children of the sun', unique and gifted with enormous extrasensory perception, and with their families and friends, try all means to survive the shocking metamorphosis.

This is the first book I've read of Diane Newton's. It is paranormal but what a wonderful paranormal! It threw me into an unfamiliar yet stunning community in the countryside where the 'children of the sun' converge to seek refuge from the destructive solar flames. Diane Newton created a world full of characters with whom one can easily identify.

These unique people, coming from all walks of life, are delightfully introduced by Ms. Newton as suspense escalates throughout the book. A superb casting of characters. Among them, we meet a respected senior sociologist and his Irish wife, a widowed writer and owner of the place, a real estate executive, a financial genius with a jealous and insecure husband bitterly seeking vengeance, a cowboy and NASCAR engine man, a pair of West Coast disk jockeys, a retired military man and his wife, and a group of 'gifted' teenagers. And as in any thriller, we meet megalomaniac antagonists and their cohorts.

It is through these children of the maze and with their psychic powers that they come to realize what they must do and just how much power they have to influence the outcome of this catastrophic evolutionary changes.

The suspense is underlaid with a razor-sharp edge of steel. I don't want it to come true, but while reading it has made me occasionally pause and think 'what if it really happens?' Diane Newton is most brilliant in her creativity. The Epilogue provides a wonderful finale twist in a tale. Thrilling, unputdownable page-turner! This book is one to keep, and highly recommended. Diane Newton, a sequel please!



Rating:
Summary: Another page turner from Diane J. Newton !!
Review: When I read Ms. Newton's first book, Unusual Destiny, I put her on my list of authors to watch. With Children of the Sun, she again delivers non-stop, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and you only need to read the prologue to realize it. It is a worthy stand-alone short story and tantalizing bait for a great book hook.

In 2022, the war on terrorism is over and the people of the world have united under the all-pervasive and watchful eyes of a global security network. With solar storms of unimaginable strength bearing down on earth, the same computer controlled systems meant to protect mankind will soon go berserk. For reasons deliciously undefined, the GSAC refuses to admit that its shiny new inventions could become weapons of mass destruction. We're reeled in by muzzled astrophysicist, Steve Corwin, a man desperate to tell the world it has a target on its back. To insure Steve's silence, his phone is tapped, his lab is under surveillance and he's shadowed by a GSAC spook. We are netted and pulled into Ms. Newton's boat as we wonder, Will Steve Corwin get his message out? Will he survive? Will mankind survive?

In the first of many unexpected twists, Ms. Newton then moves across the country to introduce her reader to an outstanding cast of memorable characters. Among them is Jennifer Andrews, a widowed writer whose nightmarish short story turns maddeningly real. David Cramer is a real estate mogul whose people skills are about to come in handy. Santa look-alike, Jeremiah Gates is a sociologist with an earth mother Irish wife and a burning need for answers. Vince Pardon, cowboy and NASCAR engine man turned trucker, has a huge heart and an even bigger 44 Magnum. I also have to mention a pair of kooky, West Coast disk jockeys, a band of 'special' teenagers. Kathy Mangionne is a homemaker with a dusty MBA and a jealous husband bent on revenge. I wish I could say more about each one, or even briefly mention the next generation, but I would spoil some terrific surprises.

As the book moves on, the folks we've come to care about must match wits with several all too believable antagonists. There is a maniacal master criminal/dictator who loves to pillage and enslave, an otherworldly crone with a dark secret, misdirected religious fervor and treacherous designs for newfound glory and, finally, an ethereal beauty with a twisted mind and a fantastical plan for a hair-raising future.

Saint Peter has the last word, and it's only then the reader realizes this is an Aesop's style cautionary tale exploring the difference between perception and truth.

A thoroughly enjoyable, whiz-bang read!

Rating:
Summary: Children of the Sun
Review: Wonderful mystery, suspense and maybe some Sc-Fi. Very hard to
put down. Very well done for only the authors second book. I can
see the similarity to the setting in Western NY and I hope that
there will be a sequel to this book.

Rating:
Summary: Children of the Sun
Review: Wonderful mystery, suspense and maybe some Sc-Fi. Very hard to
put down. Very well done for only the authors second book. I can
see the similarity to the setting in Western NY and I hope that
there will be a sequel to this book.