The Last Secret (The Cotten Stone Mysteries) [Paperback]

Lynn Sholes (Author), Joe Moore (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Cotten Stone Mysteries | Publication Date: September 8, 2006

In this riveting follow-up to The Grail Conspiracy, famed journalist Cotten Stone is at the top of her craft until one of her discoveries is proven to be a hoax. Without a steady job, credibility, or a shred of self-respect, the struggling reporter fades from the limelight. A year later at a famous Inca site, she unearths a crystal tablet that predicts the Great Flood and another final "cleansing" -- yet to take place -- to be led by the daughter of an angel. According to the Venatori -- an ancient society of spiritual warriors -- a series of these sacred tablets exist . . . and the last one holds the key to surviving Armegeddon. Racing to recover this last secret before the Fallen Ones, Cotten comes face to face with her terrifying destiny, a legacy to battle the Son of the Dawn until the End of Days.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fascinating and breathless, The Last Secret by Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore will leave you glued to your chair. From Texas to Peru and Italy, the story sweeps across centuries in a quest for the secret key to surviving Armageddon. Sholes and Moore are true story-tellers, with unerring eyes and the souls of artists. You'll love this one!"

About the Author

Lynn Sholes has worked as a writing trainer for Broward County Schools and Citrus County Schools in Florida. Before writing thrillers her interest in archaeology led her to write historical fiction under the name Lynn Armistead McKee. Lynn is a member of the International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and The Authors Guild.

Joe Moore is a former marketing & communications executive and two-time EMMY® winner with 25 years experience in the television postproduction industry. Joe serves on the International Thriller Writers board of directors as Co-President. He writes full time from his home in South Florida.
 

Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: MIDNIGHT INK (September 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073870931X
• ISBN-13: 978-0738709314
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read, October 1, 2006

By 

D. K. Shore (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Secret (The Cotten Stone Mysteries) (Paperback)

I rarely am interested in sequels because I discount them as marketing ploys. It was a rare treat therefore to read The Last Secret. Not only was it, in my opinion, a story that stood on its own, but this fast paced thriller far exceeded the 1st of the Cotten Stone trilogy (The Grail Conspiracy). I read it in one sitting, and it blew my mind.
If you are like me alternatively cursed and blessed with a wild and hairy imagination and the kind of mind that is always asking "Why not?" then this is the book for you. Can you imagine quantum physics meets the struggle between good and evil set in play by an impossibly old relic that could change the course of history? Not many people can. My gratitude and kudos to Sholes and Moore for this truly original read. This story was made to be a movie. Before Hollywood can ruin another fabulous story, go out, read it, and imagine it for yourself.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A skillfully crafted page-turner, October 15, 2006

By 

Debra Hamel (North Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Secret (The Cotten Stone Mysteries) (Paperback)

Journalist Cotten Stone is back in The Last Secret, the second installment in Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore's series of religious thrillers. (Read my review of The Grail Conspiracy.) The book starts with a deliciously suspenseful chapter: the pilot of a Virgin Atlantic Airbus announces his suicidal intentions mid-flight, prompting scrambling on the ground as a criminal psychologist tries to talk the pilot out of it, and scrambling in the air as two F-18 Hornets prepare to shoot the aircraft down. But the pilot's death is just the first we hear about in a world-wide rash of suicides, a phenomenon connected with an age-old battle between good and evil: the Nephilim, the fallen angels who signed on with Lucifer back in the day, are preparing for the Final Conflict and attempting to bolster their ranks with the souls of suicides while they can.

While the death toll mounts, Cotten Stone finds herself at an archaeological dig near Machu Picchu in Peru. An unusual artifact is unearthed, an elaborately incised crystal tablet which, evidence suggests, may have been inscribed by the hand of God.

Readers coming to the series for the first time will be curious as to what makes Cotten Stone so special, a woman who has destroyed her career and her credibility with a stunt on a par with Geraldo Riviera's opening of Al Capone's vault. The authors do fill in Cotten's back story eventually--let's just say she's unusually suited to the task of fighting evil--but they take their time doing so. Readers will have to wait some 150 pages to find out why Cotten is the Chose One. But that's one of the things I liked about the book, that information revealed in The Grail Conspiracy is dribbled into the new story rather than dumped on readers in chunks of explanatory prose.

The Last Secret is told from multiple perspectives, among them that of the intriguing Lester Ripple, a nerdy, obsessive compulsive scientific genius, whose story is woven through the book until it intersects with Cotten's. I'm hoping Lester figures somehow in the next book in the series, Indigo Ruby, which is due out in September 2007.

Needless to say, I enjoyed The Last Secret. Like its predecessor in the series, it's a skillfully crafted page-turner with likeable characters. I hope that Cotten Stone and her demon-fighting cronies are in for a long run.

Debra Hamel

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cotton Saves The World, September 27, 2006

By 

D. Pack - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Secret (The Cotten Stone Mysteries) (Paperback)

WOW, Cotton Stone is glamorous, smart and like any good reporter she needs to uncover all the secrets. I read the "The Last Secret" in just two sitting. You just have to keep turning the page to find out what Cotton will do next. And she goes to some very fascinating places. This book moves right along like an action adventure movie but better because it has a wonderful message for all. These two authors know how to tell a really good story. I loved the "The Grail Conspiracy" and now I can't what to see what happens to Cotton and Father John next.