Brad Kelln

This is such a fun book! It’s a thriller, so it takes you on rides all over the place, with mysterious inventions and surprisingly lumpy men appearing now and again. Kelln locates the thriller in Halifax and those who live there or have visited will enjoy all the references to places and restaurants that he has tucked way in such a believable manner- I was grateful for the reality about distances and locations and the book gives you an excellent sense of scene.
I don’t want to spoil the book but I’ll just mention the antihero psychologist is quite fun (though given perhaps to too many one-liners in terrifying situations- if I were his wife I might well sock him one). The problem at hand is puzzling and, like Dr. Blake Waiter, the protagonist, the reader isn’t sure how things will work out until the end...which, in the best of thriller writer style, leaves a little tail hanging for the next book.
I hope he writes it. Couldn’t put this down and enjoyed it all the way through. Read it! It’s worth it for the thrill, for the characters (alas, only the male ones have any dimension), and for the local references.… (plus d'informations)

It is impossible to read Brad Kelln's novel and not immediately begin to draw comparisons between it and The Da Vinci Code. Both center around a little-known (or little-understood, as is the case in Brown's work) aspect of Biblical history and the controversies and coverups caused by these supposed "myths."

In Tongues of the Dead, the story follows the myth of the Nephilim, children of angel and woman, who have been forsaken by God. Their secrets are supposedly recorded in the Voynich manuscript, written in a language that no one can decipher... except Matthew (annoying called "Little Matthew" throughout the story), an autistic elementary school foster kid.

Though Kelln's book is a page-turner, no doubt, it falls short of its goal with flat writing and characters. The characters do not develop as the story unfolds; what is more, they are introduced and then left to disappear for chapters on end, making a miraculous re-appearance later on in the story. Even worse than flat characters, though, is that all of the characters-even the children-speak in the same voice.

Sadly, what could have been an excellent story is seemingly lost in the author's mind: the story is inconsistent, often confusing and there are several bits left unexplained or forgotten about. My best guess is that this made sense in the imagination of the creator, but was "lost in translation" when recorded, as it were.

Overall, if you are a fan of Church-cult fiction such as The Da Vinci Code, In Tongues of the Dead is an entertaining read and is sure to entertain for an evening or two (it's not a long book). But if you're looking for believable characters or something a bit more substantial, I'd take a pass.… (plus d'informations)

I enjoyed the story of In Tongues of the Dead, but the writing style didn’t entirely work for me.As an aside, I found it odd to read this book after reading [b:Hush Hush|6339664|Hush, Hush|Becca Fitzpatrick|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WG6WSHdPL._SL75_.jpg|6525609] and [b:Fallen|121127|Faith of the Fallen (Sword of Truth, #6)|Terry Goodkind|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171831666s/121127.jpg|1492897], two recent YA books featuring fallen angels, which appears to be a trendy topic in the genre. In Tongues of the Dead is a very different style of book, but I did keep flashing back to the other two simply due to the shared mythology they pulled from.In Tongues of the Dead has much more in common with [b:The Da Vinci Code|968|The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)|Dan Brown|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255581720s/968.jpg|2982101], with action and chases and puzzles and high ranking officials in the Catholic Church that will do absolutely anything to protect their secrets. The adventure was well executed, and both the action and the puzzles kept me involved in the story.I liked the characters, and wished they’d been a little more fully realized, so that I could have gotten to know them better. I found the pieces I did have of them (past and present) to be teasers, making me want more.The down side of this book for me was the writing. As I frequently state on this blog, what I want from writing is for it to deliver the story and stay out of my way. I kept being distracted by the words themselves, which seemed a little stilted, and kept the story from flowing cleanly.Overall, I still enjoyed In Tongues of the Dead, even while recognizing potential areas of improvement.… (plus d'informations)