The Hades Project

The book is entertaining and I would gladly recommend it to others, but I had a hard time liking the main character, Cotton Stone. She was a bit too whiny for my taste. Why did this bother me? Because she has already been on several adventures fighting the forces of evil, yet she hadn't truly accepted her role in the giant scheme of things. Fortunately, there's is so much going on and quite a few other strong characters that carry the story along. Will I pick up another book in the series? Yes. The story was well written and held my interests all the way to the end. Friday House Xiii Lost Hours

I didn't really care for this particular Cotten Stone novel. As you know, Stone, the daughter of the forgiven angel, is a TV correspondent. A terrorist attack kills off her entire team. Secretary for Homeland Security, Rizben Mace, turns out to be a Satanic priest, and aims to launch a blitzkrieg of attacks on the internet (named the Hades Project). The novel keeps the adrenalin flowing with action packed sequences in the Kremlin, the Vatican and even the purported Ethiopian church that is rumored to have contained the ark of the covenant. A great roller coaster ride except for the fact that the format itself has become a little too clichéd. I bought this along with The Rozabal Line and found myself wondering whether today's novelists are as besotted by theology as they were with the KGB and espionage during the 80's.

Cotton Stone is persistent, loyal and (unlike her name) complex. Her pursuit to squash evil is put to the test when she gets a call for help from a friend. Lindsey's daughter, Tara is in danger. While at the same time other children are going missing. Cotton enlists her friend Cardinal John Tyler, head of the oldest spy organization in the world, located in the Vatican to help her find Lindsey and Tara. The complex tale of the battle of evil and good is an old one, but there's no place where it's more exciting. Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore have given us an exciting, fast moving, and scary novel. The proverbial "page turner". Reviewed by Wanda C. Keesey, author of Lost in the Mist (release date May 2008)

Reporter Cotton Stone is a Nephilim, the daughter of a fallen angel and a mortal; but unlike the rest of her species, she is on the side of good as one of God's warriors. Her father repented his sin and he had two daughters; one took his place in heaven. A new battle is brewing as the Devil's Nephilim is creating a super computer using the code given by the kidnapped son of Alan owner of CyberSys. The forces of evil intend to unleash the Hades virus, which will cause disasters leading to millions dead and a new Dark Ages. A childhood friend of Cotton is on the run with her daughter who sees the red auras of those aligned with Satan. They want her dead and Cotton is her only hope for survival. Alan's son and Lindsay's daughter meet after both are temporarily free of Satan's minion and it is obvious they know each other. Cotton thinks these Indigo children are blessed by God and there is an increase in their births for a reason she does not know. Both supercomputers need thodium, the substance found in the resin of The Tree Of Life and the wood is used by Noah to build the arc; the only known artifact that still contains this is the Spear of Destiny. If Satan obtains it hell will come to earth. Once again, Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore have written a compelling thriller in which Satan, the Nephilim and their offspring the Rubie walk the earth as government, religious, and financial leaders. Cotton plays a major role in putting the pieces together that lead to the Spear of Destiny, but that only insures she will be under attack by the dark forces who already loathe her as a traitor. Readers will enjoy the latest escapades of God's champion as she battles the minion of Satan. Harriet Klausner

Cotten Stone is peculiarly suited to fighting the forces of evil. By day a senior investigative correspondent for the Satellite News Network, Cotten also happens to be the mortal daughter of Furmiel, the only one of the Fallen Angels to have sought forgiveness for following Lucifer over to the dark side. In this third installment in Lynn Sholes' and Joe Moore's series of Cotten Stone mysteries, Cotten and her off-limits love interest Father John Tyler, director of the Vatican's intelligence gathering arm, uncover another fiendish plot hatched by the "old man" and his cronies. The "Hades Project" of the book's title, a marriage of modern technology and ancient religious artifact, threatens to unleash a hell on earth unless Cotten and John can do the Lord's work in time. The fate of the world is at stake, of course, but of more immediate concern is the welfare of two extraordinary children whom the bad guys need to have in their power if their diabolical scheme is to succeed. The Hades Project, like its predecessors in the series (The Grail Conspiracy and The Last Secret), is a smoothly-written, nicely paced page-turner. The prose is transparent--which is to say that one doesn't notice it much, for good or ill, while reading, which is appropriate for the genre. The plot is not edge-of-your-seat gripping, but it definitely holds one's interest. The characters are likable but not as fleshed out as they might be. This time around the story is furthered both by the introduction of a character, one of the children, who is likely to become a fixture in the series and by--if I'm not imagining it--a ratcheting up in intensity of the just-this-side-of-licit relationship between Cotten and Father John. it will be interesting to see what happens to these characters in subsequent installments. -- Debra Hamel