The Cross of St. Maro

GREAT FIRST NOVEL FOR MR KEADY AND JACK BAUER TYPE MODERN TERRORIST FICTION.

What a great first novel! Mr. Keady writes of places he has lived which provides a first-hand and accurate knowledge of the area of the country he writes about. What was even better is that I live in the St. Louis area and have lived in the Keokuk Iowa area as well so I know the descriptions of these places are accurate. The story is structured around lawyers, politics, terrorism and government secrecy. The main character, Peter Farrell, is an attorney living in St. Louis. He meets with a client and finds himself deep into a government conspiracy, complete with bribes and blackmail. His brother is murdered and the frame-up makes it look like Peter is to blame. Not knowing who to trust, Peter runs for refuge and help in the only girl he has ever loved, Sara Ahrens. Sara believes she can help him provide the truth to the police through her father. Belatedly, she finds out her father is a part of the conspiracy. The two run to a family friend of Sara's, Redwood, who has been in the political/security scene many years ago. While the life he lives shows to the world a backwoods man, he has kept up on the technology and abilities of his past life. This saves Peter and Sara from sure death. Once again on the run, they end up with the President of the United States and his right-hand man. This time, the President is killed and yet another murder is added to Peter's supposed killing spree. Who is behind all of this? What is the agenda of that person? The finger points to Elias St. Armand, son of Lebanese parents, who believe his way is the only way to save the world. Between the political intrigue, the up-to-date scenarios of world problems and various people trying to accomplish their own agendas, Mr. Keady writes a powerful story. It was one I didn't want to put down. There were sections that were a bit hard for me to keep straight as I am not fully versed in today's politics and who is terrorizing who but even with that, I was able to follow the main thread of the story with no difficulty. For anyone who knows the past history of other countries and keeps up with today's headlines, the story would be a breeze to read and understand the deeper intrigue and meaning of this first novel. I hope Mr. Keady intends to write a second novel because he writes in a clear and easy to understand language on today's topics.

One day Peter Farrell is a rising young St. Louis attorney who is reviewing files related to the involuntary commitment of a socialite, recently divorced from billionaire Elias St. Armand. The next day those files trigger the murder of several attorneys, including his brother, John. Peter is thought to be the murderer and is now dubbed the "Shakespeare Killer." Peter attempts to undo a multinational company's plan that will give it unseen control of the U.S. government, unleash another terrorist attack in New York City, and cause a war in the Middle East. Discovering this plan has led to the deaths of nearly everyone he loves, and everyone he has asked for help. Peter flees to San Francisco and Sara Ahrens, the only woman he has ever loved. What he doesn't know is that his every move has been manipulated, anticipated, and only furthers the diabolical plan and causes even more deaths. Every chapter in this book unveils more plot twists, more deceits, and more danger for Peter and Sara. Like a chess match, Peter is being slowly pushed into a corner where checkmate is inevitable - or so it seems. Keady's The Cross of St. Maro is a well-written, multi-layered and exciting novel. You'll keep turning the pages, not wanting to put the book down. And you'll forget that this is a story, and you'll want to see it resolved as though it were happening in real life.

"The Cross of St. Maro" by E. Kelly Keady, Magdalene Books, Minneapolis, 2004 - ISBN 0-9749738-0-7, HC, 398 Pg. (9" x 6") includes Prologue 30g., Epilogue 8 pg., & 54 Chaps. divided into 3 Parts (I-657 pg., II-177 pg., & III-132 pg.). "The Cross of St. Maro" is a lengthy, powerful & entrancing thesis depicting widespread corruption at all levels of government: - local, state & federal - a product of long standing bribes & political gifting by multi-national corporations for favorable bank & trade policies (including money laundering), corporate welfare relief & sanctioned trading of arms to foreign governments, - but even more worrisome is the CIR, an elitist organization of weathy entrepreneurs with an inconnu soliciting domination with intent to provoke a worldwide incident between Syria, the U.S. & the Muslim world by inciting a major terrorism attack on New York. The story is told through protagonist, Peter Farrell, an junior investigative attorney provided boxes of damning documents which could inculpate many bureaucratic & administrative officials in both governmental & private sectors. Even as Tasha Dolnick disposes of sexaholic FEC Commissioner Jeffrey Speeter as a suicide, Golde & Rosendahl's law firm attorney Peter Farrell is telling wealthy client Paul Simon he'll accept his case & interview Paul's sister, Rose who'd been placed in a mental facility after attempting to kill her husband, billionaire Elias St. Armand, & he'd review whatever papers she possessed. Rose tells Peter that Elias was integrally sinister, admitting he'd killed her father with a cattle prod to inherit his business; moreover, her mother Lillian had secreted boxes of ruinous documents against Elias. Because Peter was going fishing, his brother John transported some documents for him. Returning home Peter is assaulted by a uniformed man, finds his house ransacked & learns both his brother John & Joe Rosendahl were murdered. Worried, he calls Dean Adams & is told to mail documents to surviving law partner Aaron & then meet him in Washington. Adams makes 3 calls, including one to Aaron, & is found the next day, shot to death in a car wash. Feaful, Peter visits friends Henry Knops & nephew Jimmy Powell. Recognizing danger he connives a flight to San Francisco via Chicago to seek sanctuary with a trusted girl friend, Sara Ahrens, daughter of Judge Douglas Ahrens. Using a fictitious name concocted years earlier, Peter phones Sara as "Joey Sukapukavic" for a meeting at the Mission Dolores. He is recognized by agents & in a shooting spree he & Sara split. But the story has just begun, it goes on & killings continues, the plots thicken: -- and, the terrorists have finely tuned their malevolent deranged activities to produce maximal casualties. Woven in, is a cast of characters with their in-depth pasts fully revealed: i.e., stark details of Tasha Dolnick's dehumanization as a young maiden in native Srebrenica, an are

A day and a half read. To borrow a cliché, I could not put this one down. Usually, I enjoy reading a book over the course of a week (gives me something to forward to at the end of the day), but this one had me on the edge of my seat the whole time (second cliché). The plot is engaging and fluid. A mental patient gives a lawyer(Keady's cliché, not mine) some files, but the lawyer, Peter Farrell, pretty much blows her off and goes fishing. Thirty-six hours later he returns to find out he is the main suspect in serial murders. Farrell stumbles into a parallel political world where corporate giants pull politicians strings with an eventual ploy to attack Syria as the crusade for the 21st century. Keady's attention to detail and pace make the unthinkable, believable. Also enjoyed the visual style of writing. I felt like I was in Peter's shoes as he was chased through San Francisco and New York. It would be a cool movie. It's a lot like the TV show 24.