Book Review: Realm of the Unknown

Realm of the Unknown by James B. McPike
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Follow Vince Ramsey and his new acquaintance, the knowledgeable April Fulton, as they track down a serial killer who does not seem to be entirely human. Their journey takes them all over Israel and a few places in Europe as they follow the trail of a secret society based on the teachings of the ancient Pythagoras and slightly more modern Albert Pike, whose secrets are slowly revealed by clues found on an ancient amulet unearthed by Ramsey at the grizzly site of a brutal mass murder. In this Dan Brown meets Left Behind style script you are introduced to a new secret society with a penchant for summoning the apocalypse, and wonder just who is it that is trying to keep Vince and April from learning the truth.

The Realm of the Unknown is a fast read and keeps you engaged with a lot of action interspersed with history and perhaps a blossoming romance - not that there’s time for that. I really enjoyed the teasers, and particularly the history surrounding some of the secret societies. While I liked the book overall, there were a few grammar/editing errors that need to be eliminated, and some of the lists of facts at the end probably need to be integrated a little better. I also enjoyed the descriptions of various things, but found some of them to be a little superfluous, like the constant description of clothing, which, again, could have been integrated into the narration a little better. And while I thought a lot of the facts were well researched and interesting, I would have appreciated similar attention to some of the motivations of the characters, who seem to take on a quest of great danger with little to no thought as to why, other than it’s a puzzle to solve. I also wondered about their background, for instance Vince Ramsey is a native Israeli, however he does not appear to practice Judaism, rather Christianity in some form, and I think that bears a little more explanation since that would not exactly be the norm. Other than nitpicking though, this was a very enjoyable read.


View all my reviews

Please note, while there may be affiliate links or payment for reviews, all opinions are my own. You can't buy a good review from me, people. I am way too mouthy for that.