Review of The Prophet by Ethan Cross

Disclaimer: I suggest reading The Shepard, Cross' debut novel featuring Marcus Williams, the Shepard. I won't go into detail or spoil any surprises for The Shepard, but I gaurantee the reader will appreciate this book more after having read it. There is background to the organization that the reader may want to get a handle on because it doesn't expound in any way really in this second book. So go get it! And then read the review...

My initial thoughts on this book is that I am so happy it started where it left off from the last book. The time span is only about a year and Marcus has been working with The Shepard Organization for that whole time. His life has gone is a dramtically different way than is expected from The Shepard novel. The reader gets to take this journey with Marcus and see how he evolves for better or worse. He is constantly hankered down with his internal struggle with good and evil. He is as much psychologically scarred as the deranged serial killers he chases for a living.

I have seen many reviews that compare Ethan Cross to James Patterson, but I honestly have only read one book by Mr. Patterson so I can't make that comparison. It's not that I haven't heard great things, it's because I can't scan books into my brain and must read my books one day at a time. Sorry, I digress. I will say that I think that Ethan Cross is a great addition to the psychological suspense, thriller genre that I love so much. He keeps the chapters short and to the point, pacing is fantastic, and the deranged madmen in his books are pretty interesting by themselves. The constant struggle with right and wrong, good and bad, light and darkness is always a good storyline because everyone on a daily basis deals with these things. Of course we're not teetering the line between ridding the world of killers who set their captives aflame while they are still alive or becoming one ourselves. But we are always interested in good triumphing over bad. The journey of the hero is always just as captivating. I look forward to the next book in this series I have thoroughly enjoyed it.****