Architects of Armageddon

By: John L. Flynn

Narrated by: Kevin Chambers

Someone is hellbent on world destruction....

Inspector Kate Dawson is called to investigate a mass murder, a call that will change her life, and possibly the whole world - forever.

Certain parents have been directed to put their children to death. They believe they are the Chosen Ones, destined by God to inherit the Earth. The charismatic leader of End Times Ministries, whose grand plan includes stoking the fires of Armageddon, has ordered parishioners to close ranks and prepare for a holy war.

Kate Dawson knows this is not God’s will, but that of a dangerous, diabolical cult leader who controls the lives of his people. "They plan to start a war!"

"Nearly a million people live in the San Francisco Bay area," Senator Santiago said. "That’s a lot of lives that would be lost, but nowhere near the hundreds of millions of lives lost in a global war and the starvation, and sickness, and disease that follows."

"So, you’re saying, the Doomsday clock is ticking?" Kate asked, already sensing the answer.

"It’s five minutes to midnight...."

Kate would have been the first one to confess that she didn’t know a whole lot about politics and religion - but she did know there was a group of fanatics out there who were determined to move the hands of the clock closer to midnight, and it was her duty to stop their plan to detonate an atomic bomb in the San Andreas Fault.

©2017 John L. Flynn (P)2019 W&B Publishers

Thanksgiving Delight! Remember to be Grateful!

I just finished listening to Architects of Armageddon. 5-Stars all around for a great story, an incredible audio performance by Kevin Chambers, and an outstanding book. I am reminded how fortunate I am, when I read a book like this, that I live the life I do. I am surrounded by great friends at work, at home, and at church. Kate Dawson put herself out there to save the people she loves and stop really bad people from doing bad things. I'm grateful for the men and women of our local police who put themselves on the line every day for us. While I realize this is a fictional tale, I also know that it reflects the lives of our police and fire and first responders. What a great message to send, particularly at Thanksgiving.

Kate Dawson is Awesome! Love her thrillers!

Several months ago, I listened to my first Kate Dawson thriller, Merchants of Death. The book was incredibly intense, well-written, masterful in its plot, and introduced me to the character of Kate Dawson for the first time. She was a strong, independent-minded homicide detective who didn't put up with a lot of bull from her male boss or predominantly male coworkers. She wasn't always right, and made plenty of mistakes along the way; she was at times vain, arrogant, haughty, but always her own woman. I liked that because I enjoy stories about strong women and female empowerment. Architects of Armageddon takes place right after her ordeal with a serial killer (as set forth in her debut novel, Intimate Bondage). She survived the ordeal, but came away from it, suffering with psychological wounds. (The wounds go so far deep that she has to drink herself to sleep every night and carry a hangover into the next day's work.) Her boss is ready to fire her, and with the insistence of Internal Affairs, she is forced into therapy with the flamboyant departmental shrink. She keeps her badge, and at the same time must investigate a murder-suicide of members from a strange religious cult. The "architects" of the title refer to the cult leaders who plan to start a jihad that will engulf the world with a nuclear holocaust. All the while she is fighting her inner demons, she is fighting real-world demons who will stop at nothing to set their unholy plan in motion. While I loved the work as a whole, each struggle she overcomes in the course of her investigation reveals a different layer of her character...revealing a strong work ethic and as well as a weakness for men who are out of reach. I do find it curious that each man she has met - in each of the different books - is named "John" or a derivation of John, like Jay or Jack. The author's name is John, too. I have raised questions in each of my reviews as to whether "John" (the author) is actually a woman using a man's name. S/he seems to have an incredibly deep understanding of what makes a woman tick, and offers up specific scenes in each of the different books that show Kate's vulnerability. Here, she is tempted by a Jesus-lookalike named John, and even invites him home to her bed, but he turns her advances down because of a vow of celibacy. His rejection makes him even more desirable to Kate. A male writer would not necessarily know that, but a woman would. Regardless of whether he is a she, II absolutely adore these books, and I can't wait for the next one. I love these thrillers.

OUTSTANDING BOOK TO READ!

It may save your life! Author John Flynn has a real talent for storytelling, starting out with a simple murder-suicide and building a thrilling tale about religious fanatics and nuclear holocaust.  This new audio book has a large, grand scope and talks about the real psychology behind what turns regular, every-day people into fanatics who would seek to destroy the world in order to try to save it.  At the same time, sandwiched in between the thriller aspects of the novel is a very personal story about Kate Dawson, as a shell-shocked veteran of the SFPD, working with a police psychiatrist to overcome the effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome.  Everyone is rooting for Kate to succeed, but really, this time, things seem very much out of her grasp.  I would rate this as the top book from the author.  Very thoughtful and enjoyable listening. Narration of Kevin Chambers is outstanding.
This was a third book of Kate Dawson series I read. The first book was about arms dealers selling illegal arms to third-world countries, and the second book was about a serial killer loose in the BDSM underworld of San Francisco. I enjoyed all of them.
I have been a proud member of the United Methodist Church for over 50 years, and I also belong to the Senior Citizens Book Club at church.  Several seniors in my group and I have shared books in the Kate Dawson thrillers; they enjoy reading Kate Dawson's adventures, and each of them have their own favorites. But I submit The Architects of Armageddon is the best in the series. It seems like it was written specifically for people of faith. 

Fantastic Story, Once Past Disturbing Prologue!

Earlier this month, my reading group decided to read John Flynn's Architects of Armageddon. I had my reservations after listening to the highly detailed and disturbing murder-suicide in the first few pages. (Note: I had similar reservations about Alice Sebold's The Lonely Bones.) A friend of mine in the group encouraged me to keep listening. I'm so glad that I did. The mystery-thriller turned out to be an excellent book. The characters were really outstanding, with Kate Dawson as the Homicide Detective exploring the activities of a twisted religious cult quite inspired. Rather than make her a traditional, stalwart hero, Author Flynn introduces a broken woman who can barely function without a drink; compound her obvious character flaws with a person who is suffering with PTSD, and she appears to be on a collision course with oblivion. Dawson is actually redeemed by her actions, and emerges from her ordeal at the end of the novel as a flawed but still worthy hero. The plot is well-written and extremely well-detailed as the religious fanatics pursue their murderous actions; naturally, they think they are right, and do not hesitate to destroy anyone in their way. The best villains - I contend - are always those who think they are right and their actions are justified. I finished listening to the book the morning of our discussion in the evening, and a number of group members pointed things out I missed. Overall, I would say this is one of my favorite books now, despite my initial misgivings. The prologue to the book is disquieting, but sets in motion an excellent end-of-the-world thriller that I'm probably going to listen to again.

A Worthy Successor!The "one" Audio Book this Year!

I've never been so scared by an audio book than in the first few minutes of Architects of Armageddon. The murder-suicide was shocking, to say the least. Then author Flynn plunges his readers on a one-way rollercoaster ride to hell as Inspector Kate Dawson struggles to wake up her booze-addled brain from the nightmare of all nightmares. And I thought Halloween was last week! The second book in the Kate Dawson thrillers finds our favorite homicide detective suffering PTSD after her encounter with a serial killer. She can't seem to sleep or eat her favorite donuts or even do her job as she confronts demons from a previous murder case, and she is forced by Internal Affairs to see a wacky shrink who wears wild Tommy Bahama shirts and listens to Opera. Dawson feels like she has hit rock bottom. Then clues to a murder-suicide lead her to religious cult leader who is planning to start World War 3 with a stolen nuke in this end-of-the-world chiller. I loved Intimate Bondage when I read it in print form in 2014, and as a 30-something, single woman, I identified with Kate Dawson! This is a worthy successor to that story. Kate must now summon every ounce of courage she has to pull herself together to stop the megalomaniac at the heart of the story from destroying her beloved San Francisco. The plot is both gripping and frightening at the same time, and Flynn pulls out all of the stops to make it truly thrilling. Cudos also go out to narrator Kevin Chambers for his excellent narration. If you're only going to listen to one audio book this year, make it this one!