Serpent's Grasp by C. Kevin Thompson

Dr. Evelyn Sims, a brilliant marine biologist, is being watched. Her husband's mysterious death at sea-with the only survivor of the Greenback telling a shocking, unbelievable tale-has thrown her personal life into chaos. Her scientific views are being scrutinized. Her husband's office and their home are investigated. Called in by the FBI to help solve the mystery, Evelyn is thrust into her toughest research project ever and forced into a maze of deception and betrayal.

Micah Gregson, the Coast Guard captain who rescued the Greenback, is determined to find out why a special unit at the FBI-the one assigned to cryptozoological cases-is involved.

Together Evelyn and Micah will uncover a plot more deadly than anything the ocean could ever produce. One that will either save Evelyn's life and redeem her career, or destroy everything she-and myriad others-stand for.

I always like to give a personal insight into any book that I’m reviewing.  For this one, I met the author during a chat one evening on the Book Fun Network (www.bookfun.org)  We were discussing his new book, “30 Days Hath Revenge”, and he agreed to send that book to me to review.  When the book arrived, I found that Mr. Thompson had been nice enough to include “Serpent’s Grasp” as well.  Long story short, I reviewed “30 Days Hath Revenge” and forgot all about “Serpent’s Grasp”.  The other night, while ribbing Mr. Thompson about getting his sequel written for “30 Days Hath Revenge”, he mentioned that I hadn’t yet reviewed “Serpent’s Grasp”.  So I picked it up from my church library and had it done in a few short days.

Dr. Evelyn Sims seems to be barely hanging on.  Her scientific views aren’t the “norm” in the science world, her science lab needs some serious updating and her marriage of 6 years appears to be falling apart.  When a boat is attacked off the Florida coast, her lab is sent in to investigate what may have attacked the boat.  Unfortunately, this isn’t just any regular boat, this is her husband’s boat.  Micah Gregson is the captain of the vessel that intercepted the distress call from the boat.  With a background in Naval Intelligence and many years on the seas, this is the first such attack that he’s ever seen.  Micah and Dr. Sims join forces to find out what exactly is happening in the ocean, especially when another ship is attacked.  A roadblock to their joint effort, though, is FBI Agent Jackson.  Jackson runs an elite group of FBI Agents that track down and investigate “paranormal” occurrences.  Agent Jackson will do whatever it takes to keep the truth hidden, even if it means murder.  What is in the ocean attacking these ships? Can Dr. Sims and Micah expose the truth?  Is Agent Jackson able to keep the facts from being investigated?  Who really is Agent Jackson?  Pick up the book and keep reading and you’ll find all of these after you BUY THE BOOK!

I read a lot, so I like a lot.  It really takes something really bad in a book for me to say that it didn’t bring me enjoyment.  “Serpent’s Grasp” is one that not only brought me enjoyment, it held my attention and give me some great research material.  This book, while being a great mystery/suspense novel about a creature under the sea, is also a book about evolution and thoughts on science in general.  As this is a work of fiction, I understand there are times when the creative license gets to be used, so keep that in mind while reading this book.  The pace is very fast, the author breaks down time lapse by doing mini chapters within a main chapter.  This keeps everything moving quickly and the action never time to stop.  Mr. Thompson provides some witty repertoire for his characters so I found myself chuckling at their interaction sometimes.  I enjoy a book that gives me a comedic pause in the midst of all of the suspense.  It’s almost like being on a rollercoaster and having a chance to catch my breath before the next big drop.

Is this a man’s book?  With the suspense and the intrigue, this book would fit into any man’s “to be read” pile.  This book has government conspiracies, fishing and monsters.  Everything you need to make it a perfect book for a man to read.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin is an ordained minister, having served churches in New York, Mississippi, Texas, and Iowa. He holds a B.A. in Bible from Houghton College (New York), an M.A. in Christian Studies from Wesley Biblical Seminary (Mississippi), and an M. Ed. in Educational Leadership from National-Louis University (Illinois).

Married, he has three daughters, two sons-in-law, and five grandchildren. He speaks in churches on occasion, presently works as an assistant principal, and plays the drums in his church's praise band. He is a huge fan of the TV series "24" and "Criminal Minds," loves anything to do with "Star Trek," "Sherlock Holmes," and reads lots of books, thrillers mostly, but is known to do a great deal of research in the non-fiction realm, too.

He has published articles in such publications as "The Wesleyan Advocate," "The Preacher," and "Vista," as well as in newspapers such as "The Des Moines Register" (Iowa) and "The Ocala Star-Banner" (Florida).

I received this book from the author for the purpose of posting my honest opinion in this review.