The Gods Who Walk Among Us is a fast paced thriller. There is plenty of action, suspense and twists in this story to keep any reader sitting on the edge of their seat. This is Max Eastern’s debut novel and a thriller that will have you wanting more; therefore, thriller lovers should be on the lookout for more from this new author.

The story is set in New York City where Adam Azoulay is a washed up attorney working as a paparazzo trying to survive on a merger living selling celebrity photos. By chance, one evening he captures a brief video of an African warlord with an American celebrity of sorts. This draws the attention of a nonprofit looking to make a name for themselves by presenting an award to an elusive, but well known, human rights advocate. To date they have not been able to reach the recipient. They recruit Adam to track him down.

Adam, very down on his luck at the moment, takes the job. He needs to do this job, not only for the money, but to prove to himself he is still capable and worthy of redemption. In Adam’s search, he is thrown into the dirty underside of the nonprofit world where people will do anything to make a name for themselves and their charity, including murder. It will take all of Adam’s wits just to stay alive.

Overall Eastern has written a solid debut thriller. Anyone who likes thrillers that are fast paced will enjoy this one. However, there are a few items that detracted from the story. First, Adam’s character had a tendency to ramble on. After the first few, I found them annoying. Second, I felt the characters lacked development. The author used the story pace as his main tool to keep the reader’s interest and the character development suffered for it.

I received a free e-copy of this book through Amazon’s Kindle Scout program. As always, the above is my unbiased opinion.

You can see my other reviews, and author interviews, on my blog at www.thespineview.com. ( )