Piercing the Veil
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Book Review: Piercing The Veil by Eric Wentz
Posted on August 25th, 2009
by Simon Barrett in Book Reviews, Reviews
Read 196 times.
I was reading some of the praise for this book, and one reviewer likened Eric Wentz to Tom Clancy. I thought about it, and I guess the comment is valid, but only with a rider. Eric Wentz writes in the same style, but it was way back when Tom Clancy was actually an author rather than an industry! Eric Wentz puts his heart into his book Piercing The Veil.
I love action and adventure books, and Piercing The Veil satisfies my hunger. There is action from page one until you reach the back cover. This is escapism at its finest. As a reviewer, and a lover of books in general, I never assign a number of stars to a book. People have their own criteria of what they like and what they do not. My wife Jan for example, does not read many books, but she is my bellwether on how good a book is. Her scale is based on time. I like to read while sitting outside on the porch, the longer she does not see me, the better the book! Piercing The Veil scored 5 hours! There are few books that reach that lofty height.
Good book huh? - was her comment when I finally came inside. She knows me too well!
Piercing The Veil hit all of my neural receptors in all the right spots. We have a secret military unit that comes from various countries, they are so secret that they do not even have a name, the term ‘plausible deniability’ comes to mind, a phrase that has a long and illustrious past in politics. The secret military force plot has been done before, but Eric Wentz manages to put a very unique spin on it.
Lieutenant Commander Grant Chisholm looks like a life timer in the armed forces. He has the smarts, he has the leadership qualities, but does he have the edge? Some people think he does. It is with this in mind that they contact him, making him a very strange offer.
The idea of a mystery assignment piques his interest, and the game is on.
It does not take Grant long to figure out that he is indeed ‘an army of one’. Information is plentiful, yet actual assistance is somewhat spotty. He also starts to ’smell a family connection’.
Mostly the action takes place in England and Scotland. But, there are lots of events in other countries that have great bearing on this story, but to share more of the plot would spoil it.
Piercing The Veil is a wild and exciting ride. If you are looking for a few hours of escapism this book is for you.
From a technical perspective this book is put together very well, the plot moves rapidly and Eric Wentz has done an excellent job of character development. It has been well edited and the end result is a novel of the highest quality. It will be interesting to see what his next project is like. You can pick up your copy of Piercing The Veil from Amazon, Eric also has a web site, http://piercingtheveilbook.wordpress.com/
Simon Barrett
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About the Book
In 1941 the precursor to the OSS and the CIA combined with British SAS to produce an elite fighting force whose mission it was to carry out subversive activities against the fascist regimes of Europe, actions that continue to resonate in the world today. These activities play a very important role in Piercing the Veil.
A warrior with the intellectual agility of a Delphic oracle, Lieutenant Commander Grant Chisolm leads his exceptionally highly-trained, well-equipped team of SEALs into the heart of darkness. His highly secretive mission is to rescue hostages taken by the charismatic and cunning leader of a major insurgency in sub-Saharan Africa. He is forced to confront the irrationality of malevolent genius, bureaucratic quackery posing as government, and the link between a man’s past indiscretions and present death and destruction.
As he becomes more deeply involved in this extremely dangerous mission, he discovers that his own life is a mirror of ancestral ambitions that reveal themselves through an unexpected discovery for which nothing could have fully prepared him. The historical implications of his discoveries are truly breathtaking. His warrior quest is the stuff of legend and the crucible is bequeathed by mythical figures only to those who are worthy. Chisolm learns firsthand that not only the sins, but also the blessings, of his family must be borne to discover the true purpose of his life.
About the Author
Eric Wentz is a teacher with an international reputation. He has a background in military affairs and linguistics that enables him to craft his stories with factual precision and aesthetic delight. Wentz is a husband, a father, a sometime poet, and a wilderness wanderer.