Comes a Horseman [Hardcover]

Robert Liparulo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2005

The ancients saw Death as a blazing figure on horseback, swift and merciless. Those facing the black chasm often mistook their pounding hearts for the beating of hooves.

Now, two FBI agents pursuing a killer from a centuries-old cult realize they have become his prey.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Toward the end of this debut novel, its heroine, FBI Special Agent Alicia Wagner, summarizes its plot to herself, characterizing it as "the stuff of bad movies." Indeed, with its myriad contrivances, gratuitous gore and tedious explanations of crime-scene investigation technology, this novel does feel like the screenplay for a formulaic suspense thriller. Complete with earnest, good-looking law enforcement agents, an even better-looking Antichrist candidate and gory murders committed on his behalf by a modern-day Viking, this novel travels territory familiar to fans of both contemporary crime thrillers and apocalyptic Christian fiction. However, there are strong points: Liparulo's prose style is smooth, and he, like many contemporary Christian novelists, avoids miscues of previous generations of Christian fiction. For example, while he engages in some gender stereotyping, his heroine is actually tougher than her male counterpart. And rather than making liberal Christians evil and conservative Christians good, this novel, much like Ted Dekker's best work, does not draw such simple distinctions. Rather, Liparulo weaves conservative Christian belief into the novel with subtlety and restraint. While these virtues do not entirely make up for the novel's tendency toward convolution and suspenselessness, Liparulo may well find a readership among existing fans of Christian thrillers. (Nov. 3)
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Review

"Grabs you from page one. Be warned: Your heart will race, your head will spin, your palms will sweat!!" -- Robert Andrescik, editor of New Man magazine

Comes a Horseman offers "hold your breath" thrills at a breathless pace. Well-developed characters drive the suspense-filled plot. -- Aspiring Retail Magazine, July 2005

A thriller in the truest sense of the word. -- Focus on Fiction, October 2005

Comes a Horseman is easily one of this year's best novels. -- New Man magazine, November/December 2005

This book is loaded with suspense and moves at a very fast pace. Highly recommended! -- BestSellersWorld.com, October 2005

This is a fast-paced page-turner as gracefully written as anything churned out by Koontz or Crichton. -- Dancing Word Magazine, November 2005

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson; First Edition edition (November 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785261761
• ISBN-13: 978-0785261766
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,087,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been writing since before I could drive. Short stories, investigative exposes, celebrity profiles, editorials, business columns, radio dramas, screenplays--you name it. "Comes a Horseman" is my first novel. I was thrilled and humbled to have many of my favorite authors endorse it. The film rights sold to a top Hollywood producer (Mace Neufeld, who made the Tom Clancy movies, among many others) before publication, adding to my sense of having entered The Twilight Zone on the way to realizing my dream of being a published novelist. My short story "Kill Zone" appears in the James Patterson-edited anthology "Thriller," and my second novel, "Germ," releases in October. It's been one wild year!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You have GOT to read this one!, December 6, 2005

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comes a Horseman (Hardcover)

FBI Agents Brady Moore, criminal psychologist, and Alicia Wagner are used to grisly scenes of death. They are the ones assigned to the Pelletier Killings. The murderer uses wolf-dogs to restrain his targets as he uses an axe for the killing blow. Though the MO is the same for the victims, no one could find a link to connect them.

Then Alicia located Father Duncan McAfee, a Catholic priest in Manhattan. Father McAfee has published books pertaining to near death experiences. The people who died, went to Hades, and was then granted a second chance at life would tell Father Duncan their stories. As Father Duncan told Alicia their stories, things began to come together.

Meanwhile, in Israel, Luco Scaramuzzi is with a group called the Watchers. Luco and Father Adalberto Randall are trying to convince the Watchers that the prophecies are coming true and that Luco is the Antichrist. Enter a world where right and wrong of religion is a thin line that can kill.

***** Whether you are religious or not, this novel will give you the CHILLS! There is no way I can give a clear synopsis without giving away vital information that would nullify several surprises. This is a thick novel, but the content is so intense the time just seemed to fly by for me. I must have finished reading it in record time! It grabbed me on the first page with an assassination and kept going until the climatic ending. To put it in simple words, "You have GOT to read this book!" *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hard-Kicking Thriller, November 21, 2005

By 

Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Comes a Horseman (Hardcover)

When a novel gallops onto the scene with this much applause, I tend to get suspicious. Few can live up this type of hype. It's unfair to poor Mr. Liparulo.

Fortunately, this book speeds ahead of our expectations and provides a photo-finish with the other top thrillers of 2005. "Comes a Horseman" qualifies for the race with thorough research and likeable--and very unlikeable!--characters. It draws on ancient prophecies and distorted religious schemes to conjure a beastly foe. In a refreshing twist, the female FBI agent (Alicia) is the one who must prop up and prod the male FBI agent (Brady), a man still mourning his wife's death. They have much to fear, considering the horrific crime scenes wrought by the axe of a fearsome Norseman. The assassin is really only a tool in the hands of much more powerful men. Unless Brady and Alicia can unravel the lies, they too will be victims to a malevolent evil.

Are you still suspicious? Still wary of the hype? Don't take my word for it. Go pick up a copy, read the first fifty pages, then see if you disagree. Like me, you may find yourself dragging behind this racehorse, trying to put the pieces together as it thunders toward a clever and satisfying conclusion.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comes A Horseman, October 11, 2005

By 

Rebekah Martin (MI,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comes a Horseman (Hardcover)

Investigating a series of chilling murders, FBI Agent Brody Moore and his partner, Alicia Wagner, are puzzled by the seeming random choosing of all the victims. While the MO is all the same - bodies bitten by hybrid wolf-dogs, heads sliced off and set away from the body- discovering a motive or the killer has been unsuccessful. However, as the two agents are drawn further into the search for answers, they find there is a larger evil at work.

In Israel, an ancient society of antichrist supporters have raised up Luco Scaramuzzi to power. Claiming he is the Antichrist, Luco has convinced the group to back him up in his crusade to become the ultimate authority - and evil- of the world. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Though the shocking murders and this dangerous sect seem to have nothing in common, the connection is still there - it just has to be discovered.

Comes a Horseman was an intense novel that kept me at the edge of my seat almost the whole time. If you love authors Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti, you'll almost certainly enjoy reading this book. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more from the author, Robert Liparulo.