Reader Reviews: Marc Royce – A Sensitive Man of Action
Today we wrap up our reader reviews for Strait of Hormuz with three fantastic reviews that reflect on Marc Royce’s character. Today’s reviewers are:
Peter Leavell
Gigi Murfitt
Lonzine Lee
I hope you’ll click the link next to each name to read their full review.
New Novelist Grows Along With Marc Royce
Marc Royce, Davis Bunn’s leading character in Lion of Babylon, Rare Earth, and Strait of Hormuz, showed me something important during a vital time in my life.
I met Davis Bunn the week I won Operation First Novel in 2011. Two things dominated my time that week: wandering the hotel in a state of shock, and chatting with Davis Bunn. That day he signed my copy of Lion of Babylon, and that night I met Marc Royce.
Royce, the main character in the trilogy, is like no one I’d ever met. On one hand, he’s sensitive to the leading of God, and on the other hand, he’s a man of action. Very rarely had I seen the two come together so well.
While I tagged along in the world of Marc Royce, in my personal life I was plunged into the world of being an author. Out of my comfort zone, I floundered. I had many friends and confidants, all who helped me along. But looking back, it was Marc Royce who showed me the way.
Time and time again, especially in the newest book, Strait of Hormuz, he steps out on faith, not knowing the future, but knowing Who holds the future. The results are usually not as the reader would guess, or Marc Royce would hope for, but like the real world, God knew the larger picture.
And so, as Marc Royce and I grew together, we found that if we place our trust in Christ, we would be led to grow, expand, and He would change lives for the better. It may hurt, but the outcome far outweighs our current discomfort.
That is why I keep copies of Davis Bunn’s Marc Royce series on hand. My signed copy of Lion of Babylon is as worn and dog-eared as my other copies. Because I keep going back to read certain passages, my favorite parts, and to relive that special day when I won Operation First Novel, met Davis Bunn, and started my journey with Marc Royce.
Marc Royce: My New Favorite Hero
By Gigi Murfitt
Get ready for an adrenaline rush because this book has it all. Money laundering, explosions, assassination attempts, fast cars, a castle, high-tech spy equipment, a multi-million dollar yacht, and international terrorism threats.
Strait of Hormuz is the first book I’ve read in the Marc Royce Adventures by Davis Bunn. It certainly won’t be my last. I’m hooked! The pace is fast and descriptions of scenes well written. I could feel the chill of excitement on my skin as I waited for the next surprise. I was rooting for the characters all through the book.
Marc Royce is on assignment to follow a rumor trail to the Mid-east. Time is of the essence as he pulls a team of operatives together to outsmart the terrorists. Failure to do so could escalate into global disaster. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through this thrilling book.
Now I’m anxious to go back and read Lion of Babylon and Rare Earth, the other books in this series.
I am most excited to hear Davis Bunn in person at the Seattle area Northwest Christian Writer’s Association Conference this year from April 11-12, 2014. He is an excellent writer who has captured my attention. I’ll be a reader of Davis Bunn books for a long time.
From Lion to Warrior to Friend
By Lonzine Lee, GoodReads
First Lugal (a lion), then Shujaa (a warrior), and now he confirms, “It’s my job to protect the innocents… to serve my country.”
That’s Marc Royce, the consummate man of conscience, daring and focus that author Davis Bunn has gifted to his readers in his exciting Marc Royce trilogy.
I’ve long admired Davis Bunn’s amazing ability to draw his readers into a story with compelling dialogue, compassion and action scenes. With the character of Mark Royce, he has outdone himself. We first meet Marc Royce in Lion of Babylon, the first book in the series. He’s emotionally bruised from the death of his wife, and spiritually thirsty.
We next meet Marc in Rare Earth in Kenya on another undercover assignment. There he meets Kitra Korban, an Israeli nurse searching for her missing brother. Those are understated references to two highly recommended, excellent reads.
If you have read the first two Marc Royce books, the expectation is different, the bar has been raised. We know more about Marc, and we expect great things of him. We expect a compelling witness of his Christian life; we expect to be introduced to a different culture, to grow to better understand a people; fights, intrigue, peril and a miraculous exposure of some type of deadly evil. Book three in the Royce trilogy, Strait of Hormuz, meets those expectations with a flourish and a twist.
Marc Royce is the heart of the trilogy. His journey from a bruised soul to a man of purpose to a man awakened to hope and finds true joy is such a wonderful transition. You begin to see how one person that chooses to give of self for others can truly make a difference, and possibly you will arrive at the realization that you, too, are one person that can be led by God to influence a people or a nation to the greater good of all.
It sounds lofty and ethereal in some camps I’m sure, but that’s what Davis Bunn has created with Marc Royce, a man that faced the worst within himself, took a stand for others, and embarked upon a great adventure. I really hope you take it upon yourself to read this trilogy.
