Review: Covenant by Brandon Massey

Rating: 4 Stars
Pages:  364 (paperback)
Genre: Thriller
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Publication Date: 2010
Source: Purchased eBook from B&N

Synopsis (GoodReads):

On a golden summer morning, fifteen-year-old Anthony Thorne is on a fishing boat with his father, rods cast into the lake, when the crack of a rifle shatters the silence. His father slumps forward, blood leaking from his chest. Horrified, Anthony spins in the direction of the gunfire, and sees a shadowy figure race away from the shore and vanish in the cover of the trees--a vision that will haunt him for years to come . . .

Anthony pulls his dad into his arms, but he is beyond help. He dies in Anthony's embrace, Anthony's scream of anguish echoing across the still waters.

Fifteen years later, a happily married Marine veteran and author of a bestselling series of crime novels, Anthony has achieved a measure of success. But the past still haunts him--in spite of his eyewitness testimony, his father's murder was declared a hunting accident, and no one was ever brought to justice.

On the anniversary of his father's death, a mysterious message arrives from an unknown sender that promises to lead Anthony to the truth. But is Anthony's helper the angel he'd been waiting for--or a devil in disguise?

Determined to find answers, Anthony and his wife soon find themselves hunted by a team of assassins dispatched by a powerful organization with frightening technological resources. The killers pursuing them are as fanatical in their beliefs as they are well-equipped--loyal followers of a charismatic leader who might be the most dangerous man in America . .

Review:


I am normally not a huge thriller fan.  I do read them, for the same reasons that I read romance.  They have a tendency to get to the action fast and keep me wanting to turn the pages.  Brandon Massey's Covenant,  did just that; hooked me.  In fact, I read the whole book in two sittings.  I just had to know what would happen next and didn't want to put it down.

Covenant opens with what should be a relaxing afternoon between father and soon but there is something wrong with father.  The son, Anthony, knows this and think that he has done something wrong.  Then a shot is heard and the father is killed.  Reading this made me sad.  Massey did a good job in showing how important and deep the relationship was between Anthony and his father.  This helps the reader later understand why the death of the father had such a profound affect not only on Anthony but the who Thorne family, even 15 years later.  It also makes the reader what to know why the father was killed and by whom.

I tend to fill that thrillers in general don't focus on characters that much, and often times they can seem a little one or two dimensional. Covenant, sort of falls into this trap.  The main characters, Anthony and his wife, Lisa, are well thought out. I really enjoyed both of them, even though I would have liked to see more of Lisa.  The secondary characters were a little flat.  I wish that characters like Mike, Anthony's best friend, was flushed out a little more.

The way that Massey handle the clues that helped solve the murder was clever.  I loved it.  Everything added up perfect and when it all came together, I didn't find myself scratching my head and thinking WTF?   I did make an accurate guess on some of the clues, they weren't that hard to figure out (at least of me) and knowing what was going to happen did not lessen my enjoyment of the story.  It just made to excited to get to a section and say "I know it".

Covenant, was filled with some good quotes, both from the bible and some from Massey.  One of my favorites is:

They said that time healed all wounds, but that was bullshit.  Some wounds, time allowed to fester and spread, until they had consumed body, mind and soul.

For a minute I wonder if Massey was committing Thesaurus abuse.  I had to look up several words, them seemed to fit perfectly in the sentence but sometimes their placement did mess up my flow.  But on the other hand I did learn new words. For example;

cabal (n): the artifices and intrigues of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government); also: a group engaged in such artifices and intrigues. 

Overall Recommendation:
I would have no problem at all recommending Covenant, to a friend. In fact, I read it for a book club and everyone loved it.