The search for the 30 magical silver coins Judas received for betraying Jesus drives a thriller with Dan Brown aspirations.Teens die imitating a perverted reality show. A U.S. senator expires on a diving trip after a fishy anti-vaccine vote in Congress, and bad guys move in to kidnap his pretty young wife. A pregnant woman is imprisoned and abused by a sadistic doctor at an evil institute. Who you gonna call? Jack Logan (not Jack Ryan, but close), investigative journalist-turned-action hero, who fortunately has taken an evasive driving class and done a stint undercover as a bodyguard in Colombia. Logan is the creation of Shaw, a pseudonym of Lynne Constantine, who, together with her sister, writes under the name Liv Constantine (The Last Time I Saw You, 2019, etc.); since the cover proclaims this "A Jack Logan Thriller," it's apparently the first of a series. If Tom Clancy inspired the character's moniker, Dan Brown is the model for many other elements, down to the wooden writing and laughable, expository dialogue. "I mean, exploiting vulnerable teenagers for ratings with no regard to the consequences. It's unconscionable." "The same Saint John who wrote the Gospel?" Maybe you have to read it in context to get the joke; do so at your own risk. While Brown often uses Christian mysticism and iconography as plot elements, Shaw's story makes faith itself central. The good guys are saved, and the bad guys represent Satan; they need those silver coins back to support their various evil plans. "What does increasing the abortion rate do for your cause?" one character asks another. "There's nothing more precious in the eyes of God than new life. Anything I can do to destroy those lives, I'll do. If I can prevent the birth of just one true believer who might shape the world in a better direction, I'll have done well." A Christian fable with a right-wing agenda lurks beneath the surface of this action/adventure debut. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Investigative journalist Jack Logan is speechless when U.S. Senator Malcolm Phillips (now married to Jack's ex-fiancée, Taylor) pushes into his apartment, claiming that Logan placed Taylor in grave danger by scuttling a bill Phillips was ordered to push through. Phillips insists that if he's killed, Jack must protect Taylor and take her to a man named Jeremy who can explain everything. If anything, Jack expected to read that Malcolm had suffered a breakdown, so he's shocked by urgent reports that Malcolm has suddenly died in a diving accident. Jack rushes to Taylor, and they barely escape men attempting to break through her door. As they dive underground, Malcolm's final letter leads them to the horrific truth: Taylor is being hunted by Damon Crosse, the leader of a shadowy but well-connected scientific organization. Crosse believes that Taylor holds the secret to finding a hidden relic he plans to pair with genetic science to draw humankind away from God. A staccato-paced series opener that will appeal to readers seeking conspiracy-laced thrillers with strong Christian themes.--Christine Tran Copyright 2019 Booklist

Shaw is the pseudonym of Lynne Constantine, who, with sister Liv, just about knocked our eyes out with the thrillers The Last Mrs. Parrish and The Last Time I Saw You. Here, investigative journalist Jack Logan is visited by a desperate U.S. Senator Malcolm Phillips who believes he's targeted for murder and begs Jack to protect his wife, Taylor--Jack's one true love. With the senator soon dead (it looks like an allergy attack), Jack and Taylor follow clues to the Institute, which has been sneakily influencing political players for decades and hopes Taylor will spill a final secret needed to assure their success. With a 75,000-copy paperback and 20,000-copy hardcover first printing.

Investigative journalist Jack Logan, the hero of this uneven series launch from the pseudonymous Shaw (Lynne Constantine, coauthor with her sister of The Last Mrs. Parrish under the name Liv Constantine), is in his East Village apartment when Sen. Malcolm Phillips appears with a wild story about how he will soon be murdered. He wants Jack to give a packet of information to his wife, Taylor, about a plot to take over the U.S. Jack, who was once Taylor's fiancé, jumps at the chance to reconnect. After Malcolm is poisoned, Jack and Taylor go on the run. Meanwhile, megalomaniac Damon Crosse, the director of a research facility known as the Institute, has selected medical student Maya to bear his child. Cue the Nazis and the 30 pieces of silver Judas received for betraying Jesus, and the plot becomes a mash-up of Dan Brown tropes held together with romantic prose ("The stirrings of desire fluttered as she remembered the feel of those strong arms"). Romance readers with a taste for action thrillers will best appreciate this one. Agent: Bernadette Baker-Baughman, Victoria Sanders & Assoc. (Dec.)