What do you think?
Rate this book
The Eye of the Idol
The biggest thing on Jacob's mind was how he failed his Jesuit assignment when he stole the object he was asked to 'acquire' for the church. Little did he know that what he had done would initiate events leading not only to several beheadings, murders and the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, but to a conflict that would bring together the world's superpowers in a final showdown. With North Korea stirring the pot, could a single SIS agent from Britain prevent the disaster?
Meanwhile, RCMP Detective Antonin Aumont has a mystery on his hands. The murder and torture of an old man and the assassination of their only suspect was odd in itself, but he’d seen stranger things. It was the note – the old, cryptic Latin poem that had him wondering. Who wrote it, what did it mean and why would two people be dead because of it? Before the day was done, a true Pandora’s box would be opened...
Follow the trail of SIS agent Coleman, Detective Antonin and Professor Sanchez as they piece together the puzzle while running a race against time and enemies. Their goal? The Box and its incredible contents.
Meanwhile, RCMP Detective Antonin Aumont has a mystery on his hands. The murder and torture of an old man and the assassination of their only suspect was odd in itself, but he’d seen stranger things. It was the note – the old, cryptic Latin poem that had him wondering. Who wrote it, what did it mean and why would two people be dead because of it? Before the day was done, a true Pandora’s box would be opened...
Follow the trail of SIS agent Coleman, Detective Antonin and Professor Sanchez as they piece together the puzzle while running a race against time and enemies. Their goal? The Box and its incredible contents.
219 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 9, 2010
1 person is currently reading
About the author
Paul Dayton
13 books1 followerPaul Dayton is an adventurer, traveler and volunteer. When he's not writing or reading the works of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, you'll find him on a motorcycle, bike or at the top of a mountain.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 22, 2011
The Eye of the Idol. An incredible and mesmerizing artifact that has touched the lives of many. An artifact with a story and a history- cursed, perhaps, as those who touch it seem to suffer the consequences. North Korea on the warpath, a luxury ship sunk in the early 1900s, a thief forced to execute his own wife; all seemingly unrelated elements that are somehow connected in the most unusual ways.
Blending fact with fiction, Paul Dayton weaves a tale of intrigue that spans centuries. The author pulls seemingly unrelated pieces of history together in a fictional tale fueled by actual truths. I thought the concept was really interesting, and I was pulled in by the description. I was envisioning an exciting tale filled with historical facts and fascinating ties. I wanted to be drawn into the story, to escape into a fascinating tale of adventure. I really wanted to love this book.
While I was interested in the historical details included in the book, I just couldn't immerse myself in the story. I was confused by some of the exchanges and events in the story; perhaps because the characters all sounded the same to me. The conversations between characters didn't ring true, and I felt the characters were mostly one-dimensional. A lot of historical context gets explained by way of conversation between several RCMP officers, and, although the facts themselves were of interest, the conversation relaying those facts was dry. Adding to my confusion, there were several sentences with entire words missing, and the punctuation (including quotation marks) was incomplete in places-- this story would really benefit from additional editing. Some of the transitions to different time periods in history were clearly defined by chapters and headings, others were not defined at all, leaving me to wonder where in time I was. I felt the characters and the connections needed some more polish and substance. I think the potential is there for this story to be a riveting adventure, and the author has really done his research into these historical events, but the execution fell flat for me.
In the beginning of the story, there were numbers (but not hyperlinks) that I assumed corresponded to endnotes. Later in the text, there were hyperlinks that led to websites with more information. When I got to the endnotes after the epilogue, the notes had no numbers attached. It wasn't easy to see which note went with which item in the story. As I read most of this story on my Sony PRS-505, the endnotes and the hyperlinks were useless to me. I could click on the hyperlinks on my Droid X, and that was nice, but for ereaders with no touchscreen capability, it doesn't serve much purpose. I wish the author would have chosen either endnotes or hyperlinks: I vote hyperlinks, even though I couldn't access them on my 505, as they are less obtrusive. Endnotes make me feel I'm reading a history book, and this was meant to be a fictional tale with historical facts embedded. If I'm reading a novel, I don't want to be flipping back and forth (a frustrating task on an ereader, in particular). A hyperlink I can ignore or follow (if my device supports it).
In short, a great concept with real possibility, but it just didn't do it for me. Add in the need for further editing, and I gave this 2.5 stars at MotherLode blog.
Blending fact with fiction, Paul Dayton weaves a tale of intrigue that spans centuries. The author pulls seemingly unrelated pieces of history together in a fictional tale fueled by actual truths. I thought the concept was really interesting, and I was pulled in by the description. I was envisioning an exciting tale filled with historical facts and fascinating ties. I wanted to be drawn into the story, to escape into a fascinating tale of adventure. I really wanted to love this book.
While I was interested in the historical details included in the book, I just couldn't immerse myself in the story. I was confused by some of the exchanges and events in the story; perhaps because the characters all sounded the same to me. The conversations between characters didn't ring true, and I felt the characters were mostly one-dimensional. A lot of historical context gets explained by way of conversation between several RCMP officers, and, although the facts themselves were of interest, the conversation relaying those facts was dry. Adding to my confusion, there were several sentences with entire words missing, and the punctuation (including quotation marks) was incomplete in places-- this story would really benefit from additional editing. Some of the transitions to different time periods in history were clearly defined by chapters and headings, others were not defined at all, leaving me to wonder where in time I was. I felt the characters and the connections needed some more polish and substance. I think the potential is there for this story to be a riveting adventure, and the author has really done his research into these historical events, but the execution fell flat for me.
In the beginning of the story, there were numbers (but not hyperlinks) that I assumed corresponded to endnotes. Later in the text, there were hyperlinks that led to websites with more information. When I got to the endnotes after the epilogue, the notes had no numbers attached. It wasn't easy to see which note went with which item in the story. As I read most of this story on my Sony PRS-505, the endnotes and the hyperlinks were useless to me. I could click on the hyperlinks on my Droid X, and that was nice, but for ereaders with no touchscreen capability, it doesn't serve much purpose. I wish the author would have chosen either endnotes or hyperlinks: I vote hyperlinks, even though I couldn't access them on my 505, as they are less obtrusive. Endnotes make me feel I'm reading a history book, and this was meant to be a fictional tale with historical facts embedded. If I'm reading a novel, I don't want to be flipping back and forth (a frustrating task on an ereader, in particular). A hyperlink I can ignore or follow (if my device supports it).
In short, a great concept with real possibility, but it just didn't do it for me. Add in the need for further editing, and I gave this 2.5 stars at MotherLode blog.
May 12, 2011
Storyline: We should all keep an eye on the Paul Dayton as his story, The Eye of the Idol, is surely the first out of many successful books.
The Eye of the Idol follows an incredible journey from the early 1600s to present day and impacts nearly every corner of the globe along its amazing journey and mystery.
The story starts with an obsession and a murder that leads to a series of unfortunate accidents and even more mysteries and murders. What could possibly be in that box that would mean the destruction and potential start of another world war?
Follow SIS agent Coleman, Detective Antonin and Professor Sanchez as they attempt to chase the clues to solve the mystery before it’s too late.
Storyline: Mr. Dayton would make any boring history class a lively and entertaining experience with his true talent of taking seemingly unrelated (and potentially boring) historical events and weaving them all together into a believable and compelling story.
Grammar/Spelling:I have a few, let’s call them quirks (I like that better than “ticks” because “ticks” implies that either I’m a little mad like the Hatter or I’ve been in the woods and forgot to check for those gross hitchhikers), one of which is the misuse of ethnic descriptors. I have a rule as it pertains to Asian peoples: If it’s a rug, it’s Oriental. If it’s a person, they’re Asian.
Of course, if the character is designed to be racist, then I can adjust the rule for that personality flaw, but I don’t think Mr. Dayton intended that when he wrote up this sentence: “Of those twenty, are any oriental looking?” I only noticed it once and it should be an easy fix.
Character Development: From the laidback Canadian agents, the oh-so-proper and well-prepared British SSI agent to the delusional North Korean agents, the characters are wonderfully developed. I even found the poor Jesuit priest who became obsessed with the Eye of the Idol easy to imagine – given I’ve met my fair share of fanatical Christians here in the south. (Not knocking those of the Flock – just saying I’ve met a few that kind of made me say, “Whhhhaaaaaaaat?!” and then quickly run away.)
Writing Style: His use of flashbacks and references to actual events and stories told from the point of view of someone going through the experience is fantastic. It really did seem like a movie. Maybe I lack the imagination to think beyond the reference of a movie with flashbacks, but dang it! That’s how I sees ‘em!
Continuity: No issues with continuity.
Overall Rating: 4
Diamonds. North Korean agents. British spies. Murder. Mystery. And even some Canadians. This story has it all.
Get out your Kindle, your Wikipedia and get to readin’ The Eye of the Idol. It’s sure to grab you by your scruff and shake some knowledge, action and adventure into ya!
A great read for everyone over the age of, let’s say, 14 because I have a hard time imagining my 6 year old son really following along with all of the historical references and there are some particularly violent situations, as well as adult language.
Great job, Paul! You’ve really knocked it out of the park with this one!
The Eye of the Idol follows an incredible journey from the early 1600s to present day and impacts nearly every corner of the globe along its amazing journey and mystery.
The story starts with an obsession and a murder that leads to a series of unfortunate accidents and even more mysteries and murders. What could possibly be in that box that would mean the destruction and potential start of another world war?
Follow SIS agent Coleman, Detective Antonin and Professor Sanchez as they attempt to chase the clues to solve the mystery before it’s too late.
Storyline: Mr. Dayton would make any boring history class a lively and entertaining experience with his true talent of taking seemingly unrelated (and potentially boring) historical events and weaving them all together into a believable and compelling story.
Grammar/Spelling:I have a few, let’s call them quirks (I like that better than “ticks” because “ticks” implies that either I’m a little mad like the Hatter or I’ve been in the woods and forgot to check for those gross hitchhikers), one of which is the misuse of ethnic descriptors. I have a rule as it pertains to Asian peoples: If it’s a rug, it’s Oriental. If it’s a person, they’re Asian.
Of course, if the character is designed to be racist, then I can adjust the rule for that personality flaw, but I don’t think Mr. Dayton intended that when he wrote up this sentence: “Of those twenty, are any oriental looking?” I only noticed it once and it should be an easy fix.
Character Development: From the laidback Canadian agents, the oh-so-proper and well-prepared British SSI agent to the delusional North Korean agents, the characters are wonderfully developed. I even found the poor Jesuit priest who became obsessed with the Eye of the Idol easy to imagine – given I’ve met my fair share of fanatical Christians here in the south. (Not knocking those of the Flock – just saying I’ve met a few that kind of made me say, “Whhhhaaaaaaaat?!” and then quickly run away.)
Writing Style: His use of flashbacks and references to actual events and stories told from the point of view of someone going through the experience is fantastic. It really did seem like a movie. Maybe I lack the imagination to think beyond the reference of a movie with flashbacks, but dang it! That’s how I sees ‘em!
Continuity: No issues with continuity.
Overall Rating: 4
Diamonds. North Korean agents. British spies. Murder. Mystery. And even some Canadians. This story has it all.
Get out your Kindle, your Wikipedia and get to readin’ The Eye of the Idol. It’s sure to grab you by your scruff and shake some knowledge, action and adventure into ya!
A great read for everyone over the age of, let’s say, 14 because I have a hard time imagining my 6 year old son really following along with all of the historical references and there are some particularly violent situations, as well as adult language.
Great job, Paul! You’ve really knocked it out of the park with this one!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews