Kindle Edition Category:  Action/Thriller Copyright: 12-25-2011 The second in the series of fast-paced, high octane thrillers starring Park Skarda and April Force! OSR agents Park Skarda and April Force are back in their second pulse-pounding adventure from Brian January, author of "Emerald"! When a volcanic eruption destroyed the island of Thera in 1600 BCE, the fleeing inhabitants carried away with them a huge hoard of silver. But this silver wasn’t pure—it contained quantities of a rare earth element known as neosamarium, an element vital to the military strength of the United States, and one that the Chinese will pay a small fortune to get their hands on. Searching for the hoard on Crete, OSR agents Park Skarda and April Force are given an ancient silver plaque by a dying archaeologist. They enlist the aid of Nathaniel Bennett, a genius Minoan scholar, to help them translate the artifact and unravel the clues about the treasure’s location. But the long-dead Minoans are not going to give up their secrets easily, and the ultimate answer will come at too high a cost. With time running out, Skarda, April, and Nathaniel hunt through hidden caves and buried temples across the breadth of Crete, Turkey, and Cyprus, pursued by a ruthless female pirate, a cold-blooded mercenary, and an unscrupulous black market art collector. Facing betrayals, danger, and certain death, they must survive a life-and-death race to stay one step ahead of their enemies and find the fabled treasure before it’s too late. "Silver" is approximately 52,000 words or 210 printed pages.

I bought it right away!
As soon as I saw that Brian January's next book was out, I bought it immediately! I liked the first one (Emerald) so much that I wanted to read more about these characters (Park Skarda and April Force, who are agents for OSR, a fictional secret government agency that investigates anomalies around the world). Silver didn't disappoint! In fact, in many ways I liked it better than the first one! It's very fast-paced, which I enjoy. Usually it takes me a week or so to read a book like this, but I couldn't put it down, so I read it in a day-and-a-half (it's shorter than Emerald, too).

In this adventure, Skarda and April are looking for an ancient hoard of Minoan silver that contains neosamarium, a rare earth element vital to the manufacture of weapons systems, supercomputers, etc. Currently the Chinese have a lock on the world's supply of this element and are withholding it from the United States, so if a stash of neosamarium can be found...

There's an American Army colonel involved, a U.S. senator, a modern-day pirate, a mercenary and his team, and a rich art collector with some bizarre kinks to his personality. And the heroes hook up with a Minoan scholar named Nathaniel Bennett, who's unique in his own right! I really enjoyed the character of the modern-day pirate, Morgana.

As I said, I really enjoyed the pacing of both novels. There's a section in Silver where Nathaniel outlines the history of religion (some will definitely find this controversial). At first (like April!), I thought this was slowing down the momentum of the plot, but then I really got fascinated by it and realized that it was necessary information for the reader to understand what's going on. In both these books, the author has included some very interesting historical background for the reader.

For me, this book was like one of those movies where you hate it will end, because you're enjoying spending time with the characters so much. So I hope Brian January hurries up with his next book!