Review: The Betrayed Omnibus Edition
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 1, 2014
This has to be one of the best bargains among eBOOKS.Four great novels and three shortish stories involving a small but lethal American Special Forces Team all at one low price that can only be described as H. Rider Haggard on triple steroids. The action and cliffhangers never let off from start to finish leaving the reader exhausted. One must suspend belief as the improbable  adventures unfold.We first meet the Team in "Ambush" a short story set in a Mexican jungle. Their assignment is to rescue captives taken by a drug cartel but they are not helped by a protective jaguar Team Leader Brandt and his team complete their mission against all odds and we learn how Corporal Lopez can drive anything that comes his way. Set for home and well-earned  rest they find themselves sent to the Ecuadorian jungle to transport an attractive lady scientist to Paris."30 Pieces of Silver" starts with us back in 1st century Jerusalem on the eve of The Crucifixion then to modern Paris and a suicide bomber, then that jungle in Ecuador where Dr Rebecca Monroe seems in deep trouble with local Indians. Our Team rescue her but things were not as they seemed. Back to Judea in 14 AD, all most confusing but read on, this is essential to the series. We meet up with some real villains back in the jungle but Rebecca is rescued and flown to Paris. Rest assured all will  eventually be clear.They land in Belgium and only just manage to escape with their lives before arriving in Paris and more troubles as they learn more about a Cult bent on destroying them and events in Judea centuries before, Rebecca and the Team travel to Budapest in search of more clues and we learn about the ancient Jewish community there. There are several cliffhanging crises in Hungary when  they seek for clues that could lead to the remains of Jesus's Disciples. Even those of The Messiah himself but they survive to reach Turkey.and more dramatic actions culminating in the destruction of two important historical monuments, first in a long series of disasters. All this and more in a single novel. "The Betrayed" is an entertaining collection full of action but it is only the start as subsequent stories continue the Team's travels. Carolyn McCrae has researched the history of several great religions, much of this information was new to me but was confirmed in Internet searches.It is beyond my ability to go into details of the other novels and short stories in this collection in a short space. If you enjoy good thrillers believe me this is for you and you have hardly started yet.