Silent Source

Silent Source by James Marshall Smith is a well-crafted, highly enjoyable thriller. With two dead bodies and a third one—a priest who’s lying in the hospital with very unusual symptoms, including rosary beads that have turned the color of blood—the Atlanta PD is at a loss over where to look or how to look for the mysterious and unforgiving killer, and doctors have no clue about the mysterious sickness of the priest. But someone knows the truth, and that someone must be found before he or she does more harm. There is only one likely person who can unravel the mystery: an intelligent and skilled scientist, Dr. Damon Keane.

James Marshall takes readers on a breathtaking ride to London’s Hyde Park, the Siberia, and Georgia while hunting for the killer, however, it isn’t the ride that is exhilarating, but the fear that something sinister could happen any moment. What is most exhilarating is the fact that time is running out, even for the highly skilled detective and for the entire city as it awaits the unpredictable.

One author has succeeded to make me feel the way James Marshall Smith’s writing makes me feel, and that author is James Patterson. It’s funny they both have the same first names, but their styles are vastly different. The author’s style is unique, and his voice is very powerful, coming across to readers very clearly. The plot is complex, and the characters are monumentally conceived and masterfully sculpted. James Marshall Smith is the master of suspense, and he knows how to use it to build the tension in readers, playing with time and the unsettling sense of mystery built around the case. Overall, the story is fast-paced, spiked with surprising turns that will send readers jolting or gasping at times. This is one of the stories you won’t put down easily. Marshall Smith’s charm is irresistible and his characters memorable.