BOOK REVIEW - CAST THE FIRST STONE

 

This is the first book in the Real Lies of Rembrandt Stone series, and it was authored by a team made up of David James Warren, Susan May Warren, and James L. Rubart. When I first downloaded the story to the Kindle app, I had a rough idea of what the book might entail—crime, time travel, and thrills. I was so excited, and the intensity and creativity of the story did not disappoint. 

The first sentence sucked me in, and it never let go—literally, since the book ended on a cliffhanger.

 I'm a fairly easy to please reader as long as the story captivates me, but before I gush about the amazing aspects of the story, I want to mention a couple of things that threw me off, considering Susan May Warren and James L. Rubart helped in writing the story. First of all, Cast the First Stone was written for the general market, so it doesn't contain a spiritual element. Along that vein, there were a few words in the book that I wouldn't choose to say and an allusion to activities that took place between unmarried people. No details or anything, but no room was left for confusion. Also, there were several occasions of drinking mentioned among the main characters of the story.  While I found these things jarring at first, they weren't overt enough to drag me out of the action on the pages. 

Okay, now that the housekeeping is out of the way, we can get to the fun part.  From a story standpoint, Cast the First Stone met and exceeded my expectations. The story follows former detective Rembrandt Stone who was left with a box of case files from the cold cases he was unable to solve during his time on the force. When he discovers his ability to travel back in time, the potential to use modern methods to solve old cases  gives him hope of finding a coffee shop bomber who killed twenty people years earlier. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that the ending left me in tears. Many of the 90s references were fun, because that's a decade I remember well. 

All in all, this was a well-written story. The twisting of suspense and sci-fi was fun and refreshing, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. They'll all be on my summer TBR list. 

What book are you most looking forward to reading this summer? Leave a comment below for a chance to win an ebook copy of Cast the First Stone. 

Mary Preston is the winner of The Purple Nightgown from last month's drawing! I'll email you a copy!