Customer Reviews

The Julian Secret (Lang Reilly Thrillers)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Former CIA agent Don Huff is in Seville, Spain writing a book about Sturmbahnfuher Skorzeny, an intimate member of Hitler's circle. One day when his housekeeper enters the house, she sees him shot to death. When lawyer Lang Reilly was asked by Ron's daughter to come to Spain to see if he can find any clues since the police aren't doing anything, he agrees because the deceased was his friend.

Lang and his lover Gurt who is a CIA agent on leave find out that all traces of his work on the hard drive are missing and the discs are missing. After asking lots of questions he notices they are being followed. When they return to the states Lang is shot and his car is blown up. Someone wants to make sure he and Gurt don't discover something that was in the manuscript, but if they want to stay alive that is something they must do. They travel across Europe, followed by assassins who keep trying to kill them and end up in Vatican City where secrets from the third century, World War II, and the present are revealed.

THE JULIAN SECRET is a riveting and exciting thriller that captures reader interest from the first page and keeps it throughout the entire book. Fans of Dan Brown will find this book just as riveting as the Da Vinci Code. Gregg Loomis is a talented storyteller who excels at creating characters that are heroic in an Indiana Jones sort of way. The protagonist performs tremendous feats so the audience feels he is an extraordinary person called to perform measures that would defeat a lesser person.

Harriet Klausner

I picked up a copy of The Julian Secret on the way to the airport as I prepared to depart Atlanta for Frankfurt. I blame Gregg Loomis for the fact I didn't get any sleep on the way to Europe! Simply couldn't put it down. My Frankfurt destination made an interesting connection with the story (and yes, the beer is actually that much better). The recurring references to familiar spots in Atlanta; Manuels, Westminster, La Grotta, Park Place and even the true account of the cop who pulled the lady out of her car at the airport totally immersed me in the story. Loomis' dry wit is fabulous and caused me to laugh out loud a lot (much to the dismay of those who were trying to sleep without the benefit of noise elimination headsets).

Loomis' first book in this series, Pegasus Secret, was terrific but it was only a "warm up" for The Julian Secret. Julian is absolutely great in the very best sense of thrillers. He has an excellent grasp on the ancient history underlying the plot and brings it to life and into the 21st century (there were times I thought he must have lived in ancient Rome). I think it is one of the best of its genre and I'm sure the critics will agree.

I'm writing and transmitting this review from 34,000 feet. Lufthansa has a satellite wi-fi hot spot connection on some of their planes and I couldn't resist the temptation to "connect" to the internet and get this review out to you ASAP.

Loomis is a truly gifted story teller. Congratulations to him on a FANTASTIC book!

OK, Mr. Loomis is now 2 for 2 in not being able to "close the deal". In both The Pegasus Secret and The Julian Secret Mr. Loomis starts with a great premise but just can't quite figure out how to successfully end the story. The Julian Secret built to a good climax only to fall flatter than a pancake on page 349! I mean come on Mr. Loomis the secret is there is no secret? The dumb CIA bad guys get snookered by a man with no weapon? Oh I forgot Lang's girl friend somehow magically shows up (how??) at the last minute and voilà Lang and Gurt destroy 3 CIA agents quicker than a melting ice cream cone in the hot Texas desert (CIA Station Chief Reavers' speak - sounded like Dan Rather. Would some one in the CIA really talk like this? NOT.

Enough bad. The first 349 pages are worth the read (3 stars). Good historical points and interesting plot. Just stop at page 348 and call it a day. The last 22 pages are a complete bust. Mr. Loomis has the talent he just needs to complete the sale. It is a toss up whether I will read any more of Mr. Loomis' books. Depends on how bored I am.

The Julian Secret is an incredible blend of facts and story telling. I could not put the book down. As a father of three, I am constantly involved in "kid madness". The day I picked up this book became "family reading/book day". Details you can smell and touch. This book keeps your attention and takes you on a great journey.

Unfortunately I had to put down this book after about 50 pages because I was just too pissed off with the disrespectfulness and misinformedness of the author.

First of all, if you're a supposed best selling author, and you feel like you need to pepper your book with a few foreign phrases here and there, can't you or your editor shell out the couple hundred bucks to have a native speaker read and double check those?? Hell, I would even do it for free! I'm sure there are still some more to come in the next 300+ pages which I'm not bothering to read, but the few German phrases in the first few pages where already completely wrong!

And then, what kind of name is "Gurt"?? One of the main characters', a German woman's parents seem to have wanted their child to be named seat belt, because that's exactly what Gurt means in German!

The last thing that finally made me stop reading was the following sentence:
World War II was something intentionally slipping from the German national memory. She would have been more helpful with the Franco Prussian War of 1870. Her people won that one.

I can't help feeling very offended by this statement. Growing up in Germany I feel like all we ever covered in History class was World War II up to the point where you felt like you were being brain washed into thinking you were to blame for what your grand and great-grand parents did or what they didn't do to prevent what happened back then.
As a result, Germans today feel reluctant or even shame when showing any kind of national pride. Which is too bad because there are many good things that came out of Germany which you should be able to be proud of.

Of course I'm not defending what happened 60 years ago, but I don't think it's too much to ask for a little respect for foreign languages if you really have to use them and maybe checking the facts before publishing such crap!

I have just finished Gregg Loomis' Julian Secret. It is a fast-paced, action thriller that races across Europe to a conclusion I never expected. I doubt I put the book down more than twice. A really good read

I've enjoyed other books by Loomis but this one just didn't go anywhere. If you take out all the pages spent complaining about the indignities rich people have to endure when traveling with poor people you'd loose 25% of the book. Less than half of what would be left would be the story. Pretty thin.

The Pegasus Secret was engaging and well planned and a satisfying read. As the second book featuring Lang and Gurt, I anticipated a tight story line and the development of the main characters. The Julian Secret had a promising beginning and then began to abruptly fall apart at the end. This book feels as if the author rushed to finish to meet a publish deadline.

I bought this book based on the Amazon reviews, which were mostly possitive. The story line is very interesting, unfortunately the main characters are not. Lang and Gurt are one-dimensional stereotypes whose lines are not worth reading. Because of this, I was unable to finish even a 100 pages of the book.
If you're looking for engaging thrillers, try Lincoln Child & Preston Douglas' Pendergast books.

A fast-paced adventure spiced with acerbic wit.
Loomis keeps The Julian Secret moving with unpredictable twists.
A great read!