Depth of Deception by Alexander Galant

 About the Book:

The year is 1982, and a beautiful young woman, dressed in Edwardian clothing, is found floating unconscious in the North Atlantic with a 1912 boarding pass to the RMS Titanic. 

Over in England, Callum Toughill, an insurance investigator, is assigned the case of a missing brooch that was stolen during a horrific, unsolved murder in 1909 Glasgow. He is chosen because it was his own grandfather who had botched the original investigation. Despite the painful family memory and likelihood that all evidence will be long gone, Callum dives in. As he begins to uncover the tangled truth that the missing brooch may have ended up on the ill-fated RMS Titanic, someone is one step ahead, trying to stop him. 

Miraculously the mysterious young woman, nicknamed 'Myra' because of the inscription on her locket, survives and awakes in a Manhattan hospital with no memory of who she is. Myra’s vague recollections are from the gilded age of 1912 and she is lost in the alien, harsh world of 1982. A respected and wealthy Titanic survivor named Edward Hoffman assists in exposing her as a fake, but the plan backfires and stirs up more details in Myra's memory which include the fact that Edward may be her son. Is it a bizarre case of time-travel or an elaborate hoax?

About the Author: 

  

Alexander Galant was the historical researcher for the novel 'Dracula the Un-Dead', which was on the New York Times Best Sellers list in October 2009. Alexander also co-wrote the screenplay adaptation that was optioned briefly by Jan de Bont and adapted the novel into a dramatic stage reading for the Toronto book launch of Dracula the Un-Dead, which brought out the highest turnout for any event on the book tour.

Alexander has also written and directed several short films including "The Jigsaw Puzzle", which won the Festival Buzz Award (most talked-about film) in the New York Independent Film Festival; "First Light", Winner Bronze Remi Award for Fantasy Horror at the WorldFest Houston, USA, Special Commendation Award at the Festival of Fantastic Films, UK, and Best Technical Achievement from the International Festival of Cinema and Technology; "The Missing Piece", Winner Silver Remi Award for Suspense Thriller at the WorldFest Houston, USA; and co-wrote and directed "Star Wars: Blasted Behavior", a finalist in the Atom Films/LucasFilm Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge (George Lucas was one of the judges), which also won the Best Foreign Sci-Fi Film Award at the New York International Film Festival and continues to make the festival circuit this year.

Alexander's love of historical details can also be seen in some of the stage productions he has directed, such as the silent film era of "Singin' in the Rain" (Act-Co Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement in Live Theatre), a 50-year span in "Love Letters" and the World War II Amsterdam annex for "The Diary of Anne Frank".

My Review:

I can honestly say that this is one of the best mysteries I've ever read, and I've read a lot of mysteries. The story was intriguing from the very start, and the myriad of characters literally kept me on the edge of my seat. I must admit, however, that by the time I was a third of the way through, I wished I had been making notes to keep track of who the different characters were, how they were related and to which time frame they belonged. There was a lot of information to keep up with, which made the story much more involved but also made it a little harder to keep up with.

Nevertheless, I found that once I had begun, I just couldn't put it down. I thought I had it figured out (and in a way I did), but nothing could have prepared me for the ending. After reading the epilogue, I just sat in stunned silence--that is, after I yelled, "Oh man!" The whole thing was masterfully done, and I'm eager to read the next book by Alexander Galant. (I already read the "sneak peek" at the end of Depth of Deception.  It sounds like another winner.)

For the Christian reader, I must point out that this is not a Christian book and does contain profanity. In the first few chapters, there wasn't any. Then, the author sprinkled a few in here and there. But by the middle of the book, it was constant in every chapter. Being such an avid reader, I've trained myself to skim across curse words without paying them much heed, but if you don't have that ability, you may find the profanity distracting. I, personally, felt it was overused and actually distracted the reader from the plot and characters. That being said, there's a great story if you're willing to overlook the profanity. Normally, I wouldn't even recommend a book with that much profanity, but the story is just awesome, so I do recommend it with the cautionary note about the use (and overuse) or profanity.

At the time of this posting, Depth of Deception is available on Kindle for a mere 99 cents.

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007O3IKTY (Kindle)

http://www.amazon.com/Deception-Titanic-Murder-Mystery-Volume/dp/0987983512 (print)

Website:

http://www.depthofdeception.com/

June 25 - Introduction at VBT Cafe' Blog
June 27 - Reviewed & Interviewed at On Emily's Bookshelf
June 29 - Guest Blogging at AZ Publishing Services
July 1 - Reviewed & Interviewed at A Book Lover's Library
 July 3 - Interviewed at KWOD Radio
July 7 - Reviewed & Guest Blogging at Waiting On Sunday To Drown
July 10 - Interviewed at MK McClintock's Blog
July 11 - Guest Blogging at Celestial Reviews
 July 12 - Reviewed at A Word Fitly Spoken
July 15 - Guest Blogging with Cindy Vine 
July 16 - Guest Blogging at The Book Hoard
July 17 - Reviewed & Guest Blogging at Words I Write Crazy
July 18 - Guest Blogging at Lori's Reading Corner
July 20 - Reviewed & Guest Blogging at The Lucky Ladybug