White Jade: The Project: Book One

This book was free from Amazon through Bookbub. The mechanics of good writing were fine. No doubt this author is talented, and I can see this book made into a really good action movie. I could not get a mental picture of any character. The author wrote a formula book, and I think he knows that. Iinside him, he has a better book to write. I will want to read that book. Trying to move the main characters from their separate abodes in California and the D.C. area looped me. Their sexual exploits were unnecessary and detracted from the book. I did like the author`s handling of emotions resulting from killing other human beings.

Thank you, Mr. Lukeman, for an entertaining read.

I had heard about Alex Lukeman's book White Jade prior to having his submission request come to the PRG Review Team. I was also delighted to be challenged to do the story as a Dual Review. To make it even more appealing, the next Dual Review was slated to have a Guest Dueler, for a change of pace for your reading enjoyment. So here I am writing this review, and so is Andrew Valentine, writer of Bitter Things, as my Siskel to his Ebert or the other way around.

When I began White Jade, I could see this was going to take me to places I loved. Murder, foreign intrigue, FBI, CIA, plots and plenty of action.

Elizabeth Harker is in charge of a group called Project. She works within the levels of the FBI and CIA and Homeland Security, with technology at her hands to analyze threats to our country. She is a woman who has a voice to the President.

William Connor was a very rich man who was tortured and killed, his home ransacked, and there was a transfer of 4 million dollars from his accounts to accounts in China. He was a personal friend of the President. Project was asked to look into this.

Elizabeth Harker has contacted Nicholas Carter to come to her office. He is recently back from Afghanistan, dealing with emotional issues from his last mission, and the loss of his fiancé, which has changed his view on life. Upon hearing of the way Connors was killed, `it became personal, and Nick needed personal cause God and country wasn't working for him anymore'

Enter Dr. Selena Connor, attractive, in her thirties, PhD in oriental and ancient language, niece to the deceased. Harker tells her that they feel her Uncle was killed for a book he had acquired in Bhutan. Selena reveals it is a copy of an ancient text about immortality. She has no idea where it is, but after further investigation on her Uncles laptop, a letter to her tells them where the book is possibly hidden.

This is where our story unfolds. Mr Lukeman has done a wonderful job of introducing the reader to all the players. We are in San Francisco, China, and back switching scenery from one part of the globe to the other. The intrigue, the lust for power, the thrill of the hunt, all add to the beauty of the ruins I could see, the fear in the tunnels I could taste, and the miracle of finding artifacts untouched by man for centuries. Yes, it truly was Indiana Jones meets 007.

The story was well described and points well documented. I love a thriller where the good guys are so good and the bad guys are unredeemable. The quest for POWER makes this story come to life and we always pray the good guys win. I do not want to add any more to the story, as **Spoilers** are a no no with my reviews. So with the weather getting cooler, if you had the idea of curling up with a good Mystery/ Thriller, White Jade would be a good bet.

I might also add as I read this story, ideas kept forming in my mind as to who would play the bad guys, of course I had already picked who I envisioned to play Selena and Nick on the Big Screen. Kate Hudson would be a good Selena and Alex O'Louglin from Hawaii Five- O would be a wonderful Nick. How about Kathy Bates for Elizabeth Harker??? Hmmm anyone looking for a great screen play?

Mr Lukeman has graciously sent on to me the next book in this series called The Lance, which I will put on my personal TBR pile and review for you at a later date...

Review by Gloria Lakritz

Senior Reviewer and Review Chair for the Paranormal Romance Guild

At the heart of Alex Lukeman's debut thriller, [[ASIN:1463783175 White Jade]], is a two-thousand year old book once belonging to the first Chinese emperor, supposedly containing the elixir of immortality. Fanning out from this central piece of intriguing archeology is a web of deceit and murder, stretching across the United States, to China, to Tibet, tangling counter-terrorism operative Nick Carter in its coils. He is assigned to assist and protect Selena Connor, a beautiful, strong and skilled linguist who is interpreting the book's ancient language. Without divulging some of the twists and unexpected plot elements, the ingredients to elixir have a very tangible use in modern warfare; if they make it into the wrong hands--such as the evil rogue General Yang of China--the balance of power in China can shift and the effects in the United States can be catastrophic.

Against this backdrop of international intrigue, terrorist acts and the threat of nuclear war is the powerful and engaging relationship of the main characters. Nick Carter is taciturn and tough with a dark history; his scars from his tours in Afghanistan--both emotional and physical--give him a complexity not often found in thrillers. The scenes between Selena and him are powerful, if expected. The best of them may be when Nick instructs Selena in the proper use of some serious firepower; Lukeman eschews the flirtation and brimming sexuality that seems to invariably arise in books like this whenever a man and woman talk quietly over a gun. Instead, the author opts to imbue this scene with real emotion that catapults White Jade to a much higher level of the genre.

The jacket cover says this is the first book in the PROJECT series. The PROJECT is the fictional president's brainchild, a smaller, leaner intelligence agency that reports directly to him. Today's thriller landscape is replete with similar organizations--like Robert Ludlum's and Gayle Lynd's Covert One series [such as [[ASIN:044669908X Robert Ludlum's(TM) The Ares Decision (Covert-One)]], James Rollins' Sigma Force [[ASIN:0061784788 The Devil Colony: A Sigma Force Novel]]and Steve Berry's Magellan-Billet [[[ASIN:0345505514 The Jefferson Key: A Novel]]] to name a few -- but Lukeman's entry comes across as realistic and convincing.

The author's tight, terse prose is muscular and punchy; it reads like Hemmingway filtered through Vince Flynn [[ASIN:1416595201 Kill Shot (Mitch Rapp)]]. It's deceptively simple and a joy to read because it so perfectly fits the character of Nick Carter.

PET PEEVES AND NIT-PICKY COMPLAINTS: The page numbers begin too soon on the paperback copy; the title page appears on the left hand side instead of the right; the chapters begin at the top of the page instead of in the middle. While a little disconcerting, these things ultimately don't take away from the enjoyment of the book. Both Lukeman and White Jade clearly deserve a dedicated small press or a mass market publisher because as this debut shows, Alex Lukeman is a powerful, new voice in thriller fiction and should have legions of fans. I am one of them!
# # #

Andrew Valentine is the author of the erotic vampire thriller, [[ASIN:0881001457 Bitter Things]], the sequel to which will be released in 2012. He lives and writes in NY.

"Other than bad memories of Afghanistan, former Recon Marine Nicholas Carter thought he'd left combat behind when he joined an elite counter-terrorism unit called the Project. After all, Washington isn't much like Kabul. But when a two thousand year old book about the First Chinese Emperor and the secret of immortality goes missing, he's right back in the thick of it."

When one loves thrillers, as I do, exciting prose is expected and welcome. An added ...and rare..benefit is when a thriller not only excites, but it educates. White Jade is just such a thriller. Alex Lukeman, drawing on a facinating background, has written a truly enjoyable thriller that also leaves the reader with much facinating information about various cultures, both current and ancient. This makes for a very rewarding reading experience.

In creating the character of former Recon Marine Nicholas Carter, Mr. Lukeman has managed to introduce a complex and engaging new figure in the world of thrillers - and one is delighted to know that White Jade is the first in a planned series. Carter is a character who is very accessible to the reader, one who is so finely drawn a personality, that he virtually pops off the pages. This is always the sign of a great writer, and as this is Alex Lukeman's first book, I feel comfortable in proclaiming that a major new talent in fiction has arrived!

The plot, involves a Centuries old Chinese Book, a dynamic (and wiz at martial arts) supporting character named Selena and Nicholas' struggle to accept his past and embark on a complex adventure that will require all the skills he has learned as a warrior in Afganistan (and they are plenty) while dealing with the very human emotional toll his past battles have scarred him with. The aim of those up against Carter and Selena is nothing less than the secret of immortality,and they are quite willing to kill for it. The reader is transported from DC and California to the magical and hidden enclaves of Tibet, and along with page turning thrills, historical facts and details are so deftly interweaved, as to created more of an amazing experience as opposed to simply reading a novel. White Jade is #1 in Mr. Lukeman's PROJECT Series, and #2 will have a very hard act to follow, but given Mr. Lukeman's exceptional writing skills, there is little doubt that lovers of well written and intelligent thrillers have little to worry about!

A JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB MUST READ

RICK FRIEDMAN
FOUNDER
THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB

White Jade is a great read that pulls you in and keeps you turning the pages. Wonderful characters and lots of good material to keep it unique.
I just ordered the next in the series.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It was a fairly quick read and I can see he left a lot of room for future stories. The characters are good and well thought out. Maybe a little one dimensional in parts and predictable but you can see that the characters will grow as the series continues. The author has a vivid imagination and was able to convey his ideas very well onto the page. I look forward to continuing the series.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It was a fairly quick read and I can see he left a lot of room for future stories. The characters are good and well thought out. Maybe a little one dimensional in parts and predictable but you can see that the characters will grow as the series continues. The author has a vivid imagination and was able to convey his ideas very well onto the page. I look forward to continuing the series.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It was a fairly quick read and I can see he left a lot of room for future stories. The characters are good and well thought out. Maybe a little one dimensional in parts and predictable but you can see that the characters will grow as the series continues. The author has a vivid imagination and was able to convey his ideas very well onto the page. I look forward to continuing the series.

The Project is a series of (currently) 8 books involving a small, elite counter terrorist group that answers directly to the President. In this book we are introduced to the main characters; ex-marines Nicholas Carter and Ronnie Peete, Project Director Elizabeth Harker, and Assistant Director and computer expert Stephanie Willits.

When millionaire and friend of the President, William Connor is murdered, the Project is asked to investigate. Dr. Selena Connor, language and martial arts expert, and the niece of the murder victim joins the team. They learn that her uncle was killed by the Chinese looking for a book supposedly giving secrets of immortality, the real burial place of first Chinese Emperor and the location of new potent source of uranium.

There is a lot of fast paced action and international intrigue. The characters are very compelling

One of the things I most enjoyed about the book was the way the characters dealt with emotions. They didn’t just kill bad guys and think nothing of it; they anguish over the taking of human life, even while recognizing the necessity.

I’ve already bought the rest of the books in the series and can’t wait to read them.

This book was the first book in 'The Project' series. I had already read 'The Seventh Pillar' and really liked Alex Lukeman after reading it. Being the first book in the series did not disappoint me. Each book stands on their own. 5 stars' well written and action packed, you will not be disappointed.