Shiva

I've enjoyed each book and short story in this series and I recommend that the series be read in order for better enjoyment. I also like the fact that the author has chosen to end the series. There are many of the "popular, well known" authors who run there series into the ground but this author has decided that for now she will let these characters rest. This is not to say that she will not revisit them in the future, but she is not going to run them into the ground as other authors of serial are doing and this reader thanks her.**UPDATE: June 2013: After much contemplation, I have decided to change how I rate the books I read. I feel that this is necessary for two primary reasons; there are too many high rated reviews from "SP's and or friends of the author. Secondly, we are limited by Amazon's rating system which I feel needs to be changed but until then this is my only option. My standards for the stars, (noted in the title of review), are shown below:**5 STARS: This will be for books that I consider outstanding, meaning that I will keep the version I have to reread again.4 STARS: Books I would have previously rated as 5 will be 4.50 or higher and books under 4.50 will be the same as Amazon's 4 (I Like It).3 STARS: Books I would have previously rated as 4 will be 3.50 or higher; books under 3.50: will be the same as Amazon's 3 (It's OK, recommend).2 STARS: Books I would have previously rated as 3 will be 2.50 or higher; books under 2.50: it was good enough to finish, not recommend.1 STAR: Books I would have previously rated as 2 will be 1.50 or higher; books under 1.50: I didn't like it, but eventually I finished it; books under 1.50: I did not like it and may not have finished reading, not recommend.0-STARS: Need I say more; NOT RECOMMENDED!

I have read all but Mayhem as I had bought the books in this series separately. If you are not open to possibilities, do not read. But if you are open to possibilities you will read an excellent set of books. Read in order or buy the full set. By Shiva you will have become so involved with the characters they are part of a dysfunctional family. You will have such disappointment in some and wonder if they will ever redeem themselves. You will find yourself getting so damn tired of evil you want to jump in the book and shake someone. Toward the end you will understand love has no borders, and your heart will break at what evil will do. You will hope for a different end. And then what ever your faith is you will understand that God has not abandoned us ever. Many would say this is a book of non faith as it is against everything we have been taught. But that is not true. And one line in the book Shiva says it all. Can you find that line? For me these were books so good, so full of the what if's and I strongly recommend them. If you are not smiling at the end there is something wrong as there is always hope!Just received a copy of Mayhem, read it and loved it. I felt after reading this book that all could be right with the world. This book gave closure for Brandt, Rebecca and Vakasa. Great set of books writen by a great writer. I am surprised by one thing, why are these not out in book form, if Dan Brown's books are these are 100% better.

I'm giving this book 5 stars, only because you can't do 1/2 stars. This book picks up where havoc left off. Then big wedding. As us usual, people interfere with those plans.Brandt, Monroe, Bunny, Davidson, Lopez and a few more characters make up key parts to this book. Again, Rebecca is on the controversial religion kick. Brandt is in denial due to his Catholic upbringing.Where I really would had liked to have seen more background into this book. You don't really get much in depth with the little girl Vakasa. There is just hit and miss information into her past and all that she's capable of.I love that Lopez is the go to man when it comes to the getaway cars, planes, boats, snowmobiles... What I was getting tired of was the surfing of everything. I know it's fiction, but seriously, surfing on lava?I'm glad to see Davidson getting his second chance. I really like his character. He's so complex. With his past with the Knot, he struggles with the problem of then and now. Plus, now he has Bunny!In all it was a great book. There has to be a follow up. She left me hanging!

I am still reading Shiva after having read the first two novels in the series in last 2 days. That said it is an amazing treatment to a plot so complicated - probably the best of the three so far. Calling it exciting is an understatement. I have read a fair share of fast-paced action novels/movies/games in the past 20 years of my exposure to proper fiction, but never have I had my heart up my throat for half the novel. Hope to read more of her..Couple of questionable plot decisions though (spoiler alert)1. Bunny.. How the hell did she she turn from a scared / nerdy cute girl vying for her prof's interest to a smart / confident and so much sure of herself around all the security protocols... Possible but a bit far-fetched.2. Davidson. I am still trying to figure out why his return into the fold after the falling so important to the overall plot.Well.. maybe I need to finish my reading to figure out..NAUGHTY DOG.. Kick Drake Aside, you need Brandt and Rebecca as your next heroes

Blasted through it in two days. The secret service investigates a series of global events threatening humanity, only to find out that they are part of an accelerating countdown. Hugo Hyde, a scientist, discovers the AI that has triggered those events. It is about to reach what he calls the "state of singularity"--becoming more intelligent than all of us together. Simply pulling the plug won't do it. Originally based in Mumbai, the AI has created may copies of itself and is now virtually indestructible. To get to the core of the matter, Hyde and special agent Diana Holborn have to deal with a secretive, dysfunctional clan residing in a giant skyscraper by the Indian ocean... and they only have 24 hours to avert the end of the world.

great author.

From the very get go this book draws you in, starting with Brandt in another death defying mission (and on his wedding day no less!) Which goes wrong as only Rebecca and Brandt can in the most dramatic way with the kidnapping of the bridegroom in the middle of the ceremony! I love the characters, who feel real, have doubts and worries same as you and I and the exotic locations as well as the fast paced and adventurous story but I'll always be Lopez's biggest fan, anyone who can get invent cave surfing gets my vote every time!

Being a big fan of religious artifact and adventure literature, this follow-up to Havoc was right up my street! It was fast paced, well written and carried me along with it - so much so I read it in a day and a half!!!(Not much work being done then, lol!)I'm hoping that this wasn't the last book in the Betrayed Series because there are still unanswered questions.

With "Shiva", Carolyn McCray manages to excel herself, sinking to even greater depths of mind-numbing ludicrousness than she managed in either " 30 Pieces of Silver " or even " Havoc ". This last (one hopes) part of her "Betrayed" series, delivers an all-action but utterly nonsensical finale of total tedium of truly epic proportions. Abandoning all pretence at plot or story-line, this book reads like a juvenile action-porn pitch, aimed at offering nothing beyond the largest number of explosions (and four-letter expletives) per page in a parade (or is it parody?) of obligatory, stereotypical action set-pieces.The book begins with our hero, Brandt, rappelling into church from a helicopter, having arrived late for his own wedding, hotly pursued by the bad guys, who succeed in blowing up the church and abducting our hero to the Congo before he even gets to say "I do". From there the book goes downhill rapidly, with an endless series of running battles between our hero (bride-to-be on his tail) and a) the bad guys; b) a herd of elephants; c) a herd of giraffes; d) a river load of crocodiles; e) a crazed hippopotamus; f) the bad guys again; g) rampaging bulls; h) the treacherous "good" guys; i) the bad guys yet again; j) the really bad guys' and finally k) the very mantle of the planet itself. And all of this while still in his tuxedo and without ever being allowed to call for backup or even acquired any additional ammo beyond what he already had about his person at his wedding (don't ask; there are no answers!) Along the way, we necessarily get the scene with geek and his loft of hack-proof computer gear (and let's not leave out his mum) who single-handedly (ok, dual-handedly, there's his mum, remember) manages to hack into the computers of the CIA, the Pentagon, and goodness knows who else, in order to summon up high resolution infrared satellite images of the (underground) action from half way round the world, so that he can maintain a running commentary of the action for no adequately explained reason. And all whilst fooling the bad guys who are hacking into his hack-proof computers into thinking they've hack in but haven't, so as to outsmart the CIA and FBI agents peering over his shoulders at his every action. I hope you're following all this because, for some reason, the author seems to have forgotten to have also had him blogging the activity at the same time...As with other volumes in the series, the author continues to demonstrate her ignorance of physics, geography, engineering, geology, politics, technology and just about everything else that's real in the world. But who cares, because, let's face it, the book is only about pretty explosions and special effect scenes (that you have to imagine for yourself, at least until Ms McCray secures that movie franchise she clearly desperately wants), so what does it matter? And in a book that ends with Israel consumed by volcanoes and a black, female, child Messiah returning from the dead -- come on, Dan Brown; beat that for an ending, if you can! -- who wants anything remotely real about the world intruding?(And because I refuse to include spoilers in my reviews, I'm afraid I'm not prepared to reveal whether Brandt finally does get to marry his girl. You'll just have to guess. And if you can't, I suggest you find a copy in a bookshop and just turn to the penultimate page, saving yourself some money and a lot of tedious reading.) 30 Pieces of SilverHavoc