Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ASIN B0088DQMFI.
The last thing Parker Chase expected to find after burying his murdered uncle was a cryptic letter from the dead man. Parker realizes that his death was far more than a robbery gone bad, and soon finds himself pursued by the very men who killed his uncle. Joined by his brilliant ex-girlfriend, Parker fights to stay one step ahead of a shadowy organization hell-bent on silencing him forever.
Desperate to discover why his uncle died, Parker realizes that he had uncovered information about a centuries old mystery involving America's Founding Fathers. Soon both the CIA and police join the death-dealing group of murders in the chase to capture Parker, who must run for his life while unraveling the greatest conspiracy in American history.
Andrew Clawson is from Pennsylvania and fervently hopes the Pirates win a World Series in his lifetime.
He is currently writing two series.
The Harry Fox archaeological adventure series involves a Pakistani-American who chases artifacts for the Italian mob. He’s a man caught between two worlds, uncovering history’s greatest treasures while carving out his place in the world.
The Parker Chase series follows a daring banker who unravels forgotten historical mysteries while outpacing modern villains intent on using the past for their own nefarious purposes.
The TURN novels reveal the exploits of a former American big-game hunter turned conservationist who battles to save his adopted African homeland from being ripped apart by greed and violence.
Andrew lives near Pittsburgh with his wife, two young children and a rescued black cat.
I was asked by the author to review this book and received a free copy of the book in exchange.
I really had a difficult time deciding whether to rate this book 2/5 or 3/5 and finally went with the lower rating because although the story line is promising, it ultimately falls flat. I had a difficult time reading it all the way to the finish.
My biggest problem with this book is the writing. It is not well written and the readability of the story is negatively impacted. The most prevalent problem is the confusing use of pronoun. Here's a good example:
"In one lightning fast move, Nick whipped his arm upwards at the exposed flesh. Broken glass ripped through his skin, slicing tendon and muscle on impact. The improvised blade cleanly severed his carotid artery."
I read that and wondered if Nick had killed himself. Well, of course he didn't! But that's how it reads. The confusing use of pronouns is commonplace throughout the entire book.
I also had a problem with the entire story line. I didn't find Vogel's motive for suppressing the historical foundation of his wealth believable, or the lengths he was willing to go to in order to keep it a secret. And if it was so important, why didn't Vogel, his group and/or his ancestors just hunt down the information themselves and get rid of it, instead of just killing anyone who showed any sign of stumbling on it? They certainly had the financial resources, and it would've been cleaner. I just wasn't buying the motive, which was the basis for the entire story.
The characters also felt one dimensional to me. I never really connected with any of them and by the time they end up in a shoot-out at Mount Vernon, I really didn't care much.
As a result of all the above, the story never reached the "thriller" level for me. I didn't stay up late, turning pages and fighting to stay awake because I couldn't wait to see what happened. I find it difficult to really immerse myself in a book when I'm constantly having to re-read sentences and paragraphs to make sense of the writing.
I really can't recommend this book. The writing makes it too difficult to read and it falls flat in almost every respect.
Sort of a National Treasure type deal, where a banker who just happens to know krav maga gets on the trail of a vanished piece of history after his historian uncle is killed. His former girlfriend just happens to work at the same university as the uncle.
A ludicrous conspiracy involving Salmon P. Chase is involved. Everyone involved in the conspiracy is inept.
Almost a comedy at times, but doesn't quite go there.
"A Patriot's Betrayal" is a brilliant debut novel and clearly a 5-star read. This is my first experience reading Andrew Clawson's writing, I must say it was extraordinary in every way; it inspires me to read more of his writings. The characters were well developed and authentically true to life. The story was incredible, realistic, and historically intriguing. "A Patriot's Betrayal" did remind me of the movie "National Treasure" with Nichols Cage; maybe it was the similarities of the clues that lead Parker and Erika down the path to find the reason behind the murder of Parker's Uncle Joe.
"A Patriot's Betrayal" will keep you turning the pages long into the night.
When I started this book, I was drawn right in with needing to know what was a secret worth killing for that ran all the way back to the days of George Washington. As a lover of conspiracy books, I thought this was right up my alley.
Without including any spoilers, I found myself kind of disappointed when the secret was revealed. The secret itself was interesting but did I really think it was worth killing over or that it would impact people associated with it in present day? No.
Beyond that, the editing was very bad in this book. The wrong word was used frequently and in such ways that it really took away from the story. Having to stop and go "oh, he meant..." got extremely annoying.
There were too many grammatical errors and too many typographical errors. I can overlook a few but this really detracts from the enjoyment. Even making the same mistake twice is annoying. The word taught is used rather than taut! There were many missing words that the reader has to supply. In spite of these glaring errors, the characters were likeable and the story interesting even if unlikely.
This book seriously needs a proof reader. Tons of formatting errors. Author doesn't seem to know the difference between taught and taut. There are even a few sentences that just seem to make no sense since words are left out. Do yourself a favor and find a proof reader before publishing. It gets really annoying when you have to reread sentences just to make sense of them due to formatting errors or poor punctuation.
There was a part in the book where the female main character tells the male that their adventure was like being in a Jason Bourne flick. I'd say more like Ben Gates (National Treasure). Overall pretty good and fast paced....a few surprises but at least one detail kind of left unanswered. A little more violent then I expected too. However, I would have no problem reading more from Mr Clawson.
Solid 3 1/2 stars. Clearly a first novel, but one with lots of potential for future improvement. While this one did sometimes read more like a synopsis than a fully fleshed out novel, it did have the advantage of moving along at a crisp pace. The plot was far-fetched, but in a fun way. I liked the three lead characters enough to look forward to seeing them again. This is enjoyable, historical cotton candy. My only real complaint was the egregious lack of proofreading, editing, and proper formatting of the Kindle edition. It was so bad that some of the author's private notes were left in.
During these times in the US, reading this story brought many thoughts about the current political concerns (despite the pandemic). What if the incidents found in the story were true? What would the US be like if that were to happen? Would the actions of the former president make more sense than just his desire to rule the country and the world?
This is an exciting story with lots of action. It certainly kept my attention, right to the end. It would be well worth continuing to read the series as the books are published.
This was my first Andrew Clawson novel. I loved the story and it’s premise. But one thing that really bothered me was this book was not edited very well. At one point it seemed to me a whole sentence of a paragraph was missing. There were a lot of words with no word spaces and pronoun mix up. Because I liked the story and characters I will give book 2 a try, but if the editing is as bad as this book I won’t go on.
Andrew Clawson has expanded on the cryptology genre Brown started. Parker Chase is a banker who enjoys Krav Maga but never intended to use it anger. Then his historian uncle is murdered setting Parker and his ex girlfriend Erika on an exciting chase for George Washington's truth. This a fun filled and exciting story with all kinds of twists and turns arriving at a believable conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am happy to recommend it.
I read an average of eight books a month and this will go down as the worse. The entire story line and the actions of the characters were completely implausible and just, well, unbelievable. I kept reading thinking it had to get better but it never did. Unfortunately I can never get the time back I wasted reading this book!
The characters were enjoyable and down to earth. The one thing that bothered me how the CIA agent, Nick, didn't realized that Ericia office would be bigger and with the three of them being tracked and why he didn't he get rid of Ericka cell phone even letting her talk on it??? That just did not seem right.
Found this author by chance and I am hooked on the Parker Chase/Erica Carr books. I love the hidden treasure and historical information given in each book and am immediately drawn into them and just want to keep reading them. This is Book 1 and you need to read them in order. I read all 3 in a row and am anxiously awaiting the next one.
To get the best out of this book you need to suspending belief if the accepted history of the early years of the Unite d States of America, which is of course accepted literary device. Here that device really works. The author has come up with a, to me, perfectly believable plot and developed it in a gripping tale.
The history co-mingled with Clawson's creative imagination provided a riveting story! Highly entertaining! CIA involvement in domestic issues though threw me off!
Definitely hidden and not so much treasure as dark secrets. A race to find the secret and expose the truth that someone really, really wants to keep hidden. Parker and Erika thankfully get some help on their quest for the true story of the birth of a nation.
I couldn’t tell you about the story because I got about 5% of the way through and gave up due to the frequency of typos, missing words, and just a general inattention to producing a readable story. Don’t waste your time.
What can link the death of George Washington and a history professor in present day Philadelphia? It's up to Parker Chase, an investment banker to find out. Fast paced action from the very start.
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
Parker's scholar uncle is murdered and his death leads to an ex-girlfriend and a CIA agent to solve a mystery that will change American history. I liked the characters. I rate this a 3.8