Between The Lines

Red Moon

Author: Randy Mixter

Kindle Edition

'Jake Stanton, FBI Agent and former member of the U.S. Army’s elite Omega force, is dispatched to Virginia to find the murderer known only as the Red Moon Killer. Together with Silvanus Merlin, a man with extraordinary talents, they track the elusive killer who attacks only on nights of the full moon. They must hurry, for soon the moon will be full once more, and the killer will strike again.'

‘The moon is rising, and a killer prowls the night.’

After reading the wonderful Swan Loch I wanted to follow Jake Stanton’s story. Before Sorcerer comes a short story, Red Moon, in which we’re introduced to Silvanus Merlin and his daughter, Keira. Jake and Merlin solve a series of gruesome murders which only occur during nights of the full moon. Merlin has an uncanny capability and is able to solve seemingly impossible cases. He is sometimes brought in by the FBI and he and Jake are assigned to the Red Moon case. They are in a race against time to find the murderer before the effects of the next full moon have more horrific consequences. A really good lead in to Sorcerer.

Sorcerer

Author: Randy Mixter

Published: April 2013 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Category: Mystery, Suspense, Adventure, Fantasy

FBI agent Jake Stanton is a wanted man. He is wanted by the same individuals who search for Keira’s father, Silvanus Merlin, his partner in a previous case, and the man who once saved his life. Together, Stanton and Keira will journey to a place dark and dangerous, a place where an amazing discovery awaits and a secret that may change the world as we know it.

Keira hasn’t seen her father since the Red Moon case but they communicate regularly through dreams. Merlin is in danger and wants Keira to find Jake and ask for his help. 

The danger involves an artefact Keira uncovered at a dig in Egypt. An artefact that could, and probably would, catastrophically change the world if it fell into the wrong hands. Even as Keira and Jake race to find Merlin, men with evil on their minds are on Merlin’s trail and they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

From a cave deep in the forests of the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina to the heat and dust of Egypt, a trip undertaken by extraordinarily unconventional means, a very descriptive tale of adventure, action and mystery, with a sci-fi twist, pulled me along on a tide of suspense. Whatever thought I had of what was about to happen was turned on it’s head as something completely different transpired.

Great character development, and especially interesting is getting a little more of Merlin’s backstory and a slight insight into his amazing powers. 

'He leaned on the railing and closed his eyes. He set his mind free to see what it would find. When he oped his eyes an hour had passed and he had found things hidden in the dark, things born in fire, with sharp teeth and claws, crouched and ready to spring. He had been wrong, but there was still time to make the necessary changes. At least he hoped so.'

I love how Randy Mixter stretches the bounds of possibility, in different ways in each novel, and compels the reader to consider unimagined concepts. The quote in the front of the book is very apt.

‘The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious’ ~ Albert Einstein

The epilogue is bittersweet. Will Jake and Emma meet again? I hope so.