Raptor of Deliverance: Raptor of Deliverance, Book II: The Only Thing to Fear (Paperback)

"The Alliance?" Sian whispered the name, as if speaking it out loud would cause them to appear out of thin air. "Do not fear to name them," Gavin replied. "Fear is their ally, their friend. It is what allows them to thrive unchecked and causes our fellow citizens to treat them with deference-to let them do whatever they will unchallenged." He took her by the shoulders and gazed deeply into her beautiful eyes, green like the sea, with a rim of darkest gray. "Remember, Sian, fear is their greatest weapon." The Only Thing to Fear follows the story of Sian and Gavin, members of the Children of the Source in the Second Age, as it also continues the story of Mary Catherine and Richard Pengellis begun in Raptor of Deliverance: Book I. After discovering a cache of video recordings and documents from the Second Age, Mary Catherine and Richard form the Crystal Project with family and friends, and work feverishly to decipher the information as they try to protect it from members of the Alliance, who are unwitting pawns of the Fallen. Along the way, Mary Catherine dreams about the Second Age and Richard's daughter, Gwylan has her own dreams about a mysterious temple and a young girl she meets there. From a Clarion Review for Raptor of Deliverance Book I: This insightful novel, the first of an intended series, offers a glimpse of integrity in a world filled with malicious individuals. The supernatural plot proceeds with a sense of direction, despite a tendency to meander into esotericism. Laced with symbolism, Baxter's writing is fertile with details that invite interpretation. From a Customer Review for Book I: The internet is awash with tales of discoveries old and new related to ancient civilizations, the origins of good and evil, extra-terrestrials, dark matter, quantum physics and creative consciousness. What is rare, however, is a cogent theory that accounts for all these disparate pieces in a convincing "story" that can easily be followed without a degree in any of those areas. Baxter draws together many loose ends of history one digestible insight at a time, as his characters seek a rational explanation for what at first seems to be a paranormal event. So far, they have stretched the envelope for me without requiring me to accept anything that I can judge patently implausible from my studies in history, religion and physics. I carried it everywhere until I finished it, and I can't wait for Book II. From a Customer Review for Book I: A young woman, who apparently called on some mystical power under stress, slowly recalls not only what occurred, but also events, individuals, and rivalries from past lives that bespeak a spiritual and physical plane upon which the ultimate fate of humanity is being played. The author is skillful with dialogue, which is good, since most of Baxter's debut novel unfolds much like a play; through what characters tell each other.