Via Goodreads
Title: The Magnus Covenant
Author: Toni Pike
Genre: Religious Thriller
How I got the book: I got a free digital copy from the author in exchange for an honest review
Summary (from Goodreads):
The fate of the world is in the hands of one man and the covenant holds the key.
The Reverend Jotham Fletcher is in Rome to give a lecture on his PhD thesis about Simon Magus at the church where he fell to his death beside the Roman Forum. Magus was a cult leader mentioned in the Bible and his libertine sect disappeared by 400 AD.
But did it really die out?
A robed man is pushed from the belltower of the church at midnight and Jotham becomes the prime suspect. His lover Antonella, an expert on ancient documents, has a shocking secret. Rumours fly about a papyrus scroll that mentions Magus. A ruthless Catholic Brotherhood will stop at nothing in their hunt for the Simonian Sect. And a reclusive billionaire has the chance of a lifetime to get his revenge.
Jotham is kidnapped, tortured and on the run. He races from Italy to England to Sweden. But the body count continues to rise and so does the heat in this non-stop thriller that will leave you breathless.
My Review:
The Magnus Covenant was an interesting read, to say the least. The religious aspect of it was a fun twist and created a whole new meaning to the usual standard murder mystery.
Jotham goes on quite the adventure as he tries to figure out what exactly is going on. In the end, you find out the reason behind everything and Jotham, despite everything he went through, realizes that he needs to stop it.
Like Jotham, I felt as though I didn’t really know what was going on in the story. There was no clear motive right off the bat. Being a mystery, that’s fine. We’re supposed to figure that out.
However, I even had a hard time following the characters. There were a lot of page breaks switching between each character’s point of view (especially in the beginning of the book), but the point of views were all third-person. So there weren’t any need for page breaks and sometimes the character switch went to a character who wasn’t part of the main cast, which confused me even more. A lot of characters were introduced at the beginning and it was hard to follow.
The book was a quick read and each chapter was about three pages long. But there were sometimes about five or six page breaks and it made the story jarring to read.
While I liked the characters, Jotham, Antonella, and even Iago at the end, I couldn’t relate to any of them. When someone died, I didn’t care. The dialogue was a bit bland at times so often I had to reread what they said because I found myself not paying attention.
Overall, the plot drew me in. I was curious about where the story was going to end up, who killed who and why. It was a unique thriller and a fun mystery to follow, but I think I would have been into it more with a different set of characters.
The Magnus Covenant by Toni Pike gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Favorite Quote:
“There was a subdued round of applause. It was far too polite, as if they were not there for the lecture but for the fireworks that came afterwards.” –Toni Pike, The Magnus Covenant
About the Author:
After graduating from the University of Sydney, Toni progressed from being a veterinary surgeon to a high school teacher and then a public servant in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Her husband Jon was in the Air Force and, while raising two beautiful children, they had several years living in England and America. Toni’s main passions are family, writing and travel – in that order.
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