Customer Reviews

Parallax

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just finished the book and I agree with everyone who gave Parallax a 5 Star rating - It was thrilling and a book I could not put down until I read the last page. Wonderful!

I've been a fan of Jon F. Merz since I first read THE FIXER three or four years ago. When he first released PARALLAX, I wasn't sure about it. The premise sounded good, but I wanted more Lawson. Still, it was Merz, so I figured how bad could it be? I bought the PDF and started reading.

I was not disappointed at all. Merz writes fast-paced, heart racing thrillers and PARALLAX is no different. From the opening chapter when Frank and Stahl make their simultaneous hits to the inevitable meeting of the two, there is no point in the book that really lets you stop and take a breather. You just have to keep reading because you need to find out what happens next. Merz fans are used to this; we've come to expect it.

As always, Merz delivers effortless, hard-hitting prose and an action-filled story. A great read, and highly recommended.

Wow! What an excellent thriller!

Parallax is my second fiction read by Jon F. Merz after I got a taste of his short story and I'm definitely hooked. This was an awesome thriller with lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I love stories that take me off guard and deal with complex characters that don't seem as if they're who they are, only to turn your expectations of them right on the side.

The story deals with Frank Jolino and Ernst "Stahl", two expert assassins living on opposite sides of the globe in different lives until one fateful moment of mental interlinking brings them together. Soon each is allowed to view the other's experience as if they were perched on the other's shoulder. Their lives interconnect from jobs to love lives and betrayal while each have something in the balance. With Stahl, his son's life is at stake on the condition that he kills a scientist connected with the SARS disease. With Frank, he is sent to kill his old girlfriend, the long lost niece of his mafia boss who he still is in love with, on suspicion that she is connected with the feds.

This was one novel that was hard to put down. Merz excels at creating engaging characters wrapped in a fast paced read. One moment I was sympathizing with them and the other felt the complete opposite. Overall, my nose was in the pages all the way to the very satisfying end.

This is a late entry for the best of my 2009 reads and it goes right at the top. I hope Parallax makes it to the big screen like Merz's Fixer series is coming to television. I'd definitely grab a ticket!

Jon F. Merz gives us a new definition of Family in this snappy and engaging thriller. From the start we see genres we know become combined in new ways and in layers that leave the reader shaking their head. Yes, this book is a thriller but it is also a sci-fi mystery; something for everyone. Just when you think you know where the story is going you begin to ask yourself how you got there.The clock was ticking and the story was ending but I found myself wishing the story would continue. Jon,will we get more installments with these characters? I hope so.Sign me up for the Trilogy.
Signed, Michael's Secret Reviewer

Jon Merz is a throwback to the days when men were men and women were trouble. I have a crush. Parallax was a delight to read and he deftly draws two killers that we actually root for, not an easy task for any writer. Weaving together mafia, terrorism, and remote viewing with personal lives that tug at the heartstrings, Merz renders a believable story with heart while at the same time blasting the reader with exciting, page turning action. I couldn't guess the ending and when I got there, finally let out my breath.

I LOVED this book! It's very difficult to find worthy thrillers, it seems, but this one is a winner. This was me, during the last chapter and epilogue:

"Oh, that bastard, Jon F. Merz!" (but in a GOOD way! ;) )

He had me raging and screaming against him...

"NO! He can't do THAT!"

"Yes! He DID do it."

"NO! He's doing something else even WORSE!"

"Eeeeeekkkkkk!!!"

This was a really fun book unto the very last page.

Frank Jolino and Ernst Stahl, professional assassins and strangers to one another, become linked in a very unusual way. What ensues is a LOT of excitement and an ending that had my head thinking it was playing Twister.

Read this book for FUN!

It would be a terrific movie, too.

Just when you're settled in expecting your typical thriller, Jon F. Merz knocks your socks off with a plot twist that distinguishes Parallax from anything you've ever read. If you're a writer yourself, Parallax is a text book on character development and point of view and how to keep your audience "turning pages". I am recommending this book to everyone.

Jon F. Merz is one heck of writer - his current paranormal thriller, PARALLAX, is a tour-de-force.
Two killers for hire in different parts of the world, Frank Jolino in Boston and German terrorist Ernst Stahl seem to connect to each other's thoughts and worlds as they are committing their latest 'assignment'. Needless to say, it is an experience the other cannot understand. But the psychic connection is there and continues to get stronger.
Frank's latest killing assignment is the niece of one of the gangster bosses - problem is, Frank and Gia, the target used to be in love. Rather than kill her, he warns her and they go into hiding.
Ernst's next assignment is to kill someone in Boston, and he must do this for the money, as his child is in hospital and needs a transplant to live. Ernst doesn't have the money for the child's transplant and would do anything for his beloved child.
When they are both in the same town, the connection continues to strengthen, and the action is both amazing and non-stop.
Characterization development is excellent and we are reminded that Russia had a large paranormal project trying to use Remote Viewing and other paranormal connections for national security - if you can see what the 'enemy' is doing literally/psychically in the room, as it were, what more do you need? You have the enemy's classified info without leaving a room.
This is true research and am sure this gift has touched many people, whether they realize it or not. Psychic abilities are strong and real and being studied and used now.
PARALLAX is taut fiction and is a fascinating read.
It combines thriller, and paranormal fiction into one fascinating adventure.

Well written, excellent book.

The author pulls you in and doesn't let go.

Oddly enough, even though the main characters are contract killers, you still feel an empathy for both of them. It is truly amazing how the author manages to make you identify with these people.

Multiple surprises within the book keep you truly entertained.

I really enjoy Jon Merz's work. This did not disappoint...

Loved being taken through the neighborhoods of Boston at one moment and then someone gets whacked the next. There's mystery, suspense, emotion, drama. It has it all.

I was on a long flight for business and this made the trip a pleasure.