The Tesla Secret The Project Book 5
Action/Thriller
December 19, 2012
261
Lost plans for a terrifying weapon designed by Nikola Tesla fall into the hands of a centuries-old conspiracy bent on world domination. Powerful men will stop at nothing to use the weapon to achieve their goal, even at the risk of nuclear war.
Director Elizabeth Harker runs the Project, the secret hand of the US President. Nick Carter heads up the Project team in the field. Selena Connor is his teammate and lover. Together they pursue a twisted trail of clues that tests their relationship to the breaking point.
From the cobbled streets of Prague to the jungles of Mexico, from the ancient countryside of Tuscany to the barren plains of Central Russia, the story moves with relentless pace toward a final, explosive confrontation that will determine the future of humanity.
Dual Review
The Tesla Secret – A Project Novel – Alex Lukeman
Reviewers: She Said – Gloria Lakritz / She Said – Penelope Adams
Nikola Tesla invented and demonstrated a devastating weapon that the tabloids of the time labeled a “death ray”. Tesla claimed he’d never written down the plans.
What if he lied?
Seventy years after Tesla’s death, the plans fall into the hands of a centuries-old conspiracy bent on world domination. Powerful men will stop at nothing to use the weapon to achieve their goal, even at the risk of nuclear war.
Review by Gloria Lakritz/She Said:
Review Chair and Sr Reviewer of the Paranormal Romance Guild
I cannot recommend The Project Series enough to any adult who enjoys reading. I have been hooked on Mr. Lukeman’s series for a few years now, and I await each chapter in his EPIC STORY.
The Project is a small band of heroic men and woman who believe in their country and would put their money where there mouths are and die for it. Elizabeth Harker is the head of our Team which has grown a bit more with each story.
Elizabeth has the ear of the President of the United States, but he would disavow any knowledge of them if he needed to. They go and do America’s dirty work. Nick Carter, ex marine heads the team as Team Leader. Harker’s assistant and computer techky extraordinaire is Stephanie Willets, along with Ronnie Peete and Lamont Cameron ex Navy Seal. Selena Connor joined the team helping with her expert knowledge in ancient languages. With her training in jujitsu and handguns, while a young woman being raised by her Uncle, Selena has added the spice to Nick Carters life.
We have followed them over hill and dale, jumping from helicopters, diving in oceans and their once unobtrusive team has come into the spotlight now as a might to be reckoned with. To open this newest book and find Selena and Nick all curled up together, and Nick hears a slight sound that peeks his psyche. Jumping up, alerting Selena they move quickly from bed, pull some clothes with them and jump from the cabin; Nick had thought safe as it explodes in the middle of the snowy forest. Besides the enemy having new plans for Americas destruction, the head of a group known as AEON, Malcolm Foxworth has not been happy being thwarted by our gang recently, he has put a ‘hit’ on all it’s members. Hold on to you hats folks…Here we go again!
As in the last book, Black Harvest, we have two more allies. One gentleman is a mystery to us all, he seems to pull up in a mysterious car, invites Nick entry and fills him in on important pieces of information… We like him… Who is he and what is his agenda???
Major Arkady Korov, working for the Russian Secret Service, had worked with our team in Black Harvest. This resulted in both he and our team a mutual respect and he again will be involved in this story as well.
Mr Lukeman takes us to all corners of the globe in his stories, but I had the most fun with going to Brooklyn the Borough of my birth, being in Brighton Beach , and dealing with the Russian Mafia.
The story is faced paced, true to a power house of good vs evil. But I stepped back this time, as maybe Alex did, and read the wonderful job of his searching out Selena. Remember she came from great wealth, and now she is in Camo, holds a gun like the boys, jumps from heights shooting, and has become a killing machine. Mr Lukeman takes her story one step further with Selena and her her emotional fight, dealing with what she has becomeand having to decide if this is what she really wants….This made a marvelous story within a story and I applaud him for taking this time to add this to her character. The ‘Boys’ were all servicemen, special ops and had always said they had a different philosophy. Now Selena has to measure where she is going and what she wants.
Alex Lukeman it is always a pleasure to read your work. You are a truly a wonderful storyteller and I await the next in your series…A wonderful addition.
Review by Penelope Adams/She Said:
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
There is an elite group of troubleshooters that work under the radar for Uncle Sam, they are not known by most, have the ear of the President himself and go by the name of The Project. Lead by Elizabeth Harker, a small woman with raven black hair, wide green eyes she is easily overlooked, but only once. Her crack team is made up of team leader Nick Carter – ex-Marine, slightly well used in his looks and tough as nails; Selena Connor – the newest member of the team she is an expert in ancient languages, just as capable with her hands and a gun as she is with a book; Ronnie Peete – a deeply spiritual man who takes his Navajo roots seriously he is a crack tracker and loves his Hawaiian shirts and Lamont Cameron – ex Navy Seal at home on land and in the water; last but not least is Stephanie Willits – there is nothing she can’t make a computer do and in her hands they sing.
The Project is supposed to run under the radar but it seems there is someone out there that not only knows of their existence but is out to wipe them off the face of the earth. In The Tesla Secret the team will face what possibly could be their hardest assignment yet, holding themselves together as a cohesive unit even after multiple attempts on each of their lives.
Mr. Lukeman has kept us on the edge of our seats in the previous four books of this series and once again delivers a winner. Elizabeth Harker is dealing with someone trying to shut down The Project the easy way, killing everyone and in the midst of it all while looking at satellite photos taken over the far reaches of Russia she notices something that looks like a pyramid being built. Knowing this is something the team can’t deal with alone, she again reaches out to her equivalent in Russia General Alexei Ivanovich Vysotsky, the head of the SVR and he assigns Major Arkady Korov to once again work with the team.
Readers of The Project series have grown used to being transported to exotic locales and put into impossible situations. This time around we start out in the less than exotic locale of Nick’s cabin in the woods and travel to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, to a penthouse in London, to the campaign trail with the President, to Prague, to the Western Siberian plain to Portugal and jungles of Yucatan to a villa in Tuscany. Each stop along the way will bring surprises and, per usual with this series, some kick A action scenes. Once again, Mr. Lukeman manages to transport us to each place with such skill that the reader truly has no problem seeing exactly what the characters are seeing, we marvel at an old castle in Prague, we whisper in a library in Portugal and smell the musky odor of old books, we hear each bug and feel the oppressive heat of the jungle and could swear we feel the wind in our face as we race along at top speed in a cigarette boat.
This book is no walk in the park; the team will have to deal with the possibly mortal injury of one of their own and still function. Nick and Selena’s relationship will be tested almost beyond breaking and each member of the team will be affected by their tension. Once again the mysterious Adam will drop in to give the team guidance and they will face a truly evil man in Malcolm Foxworth, the leader of the shadow group AEON, which is made up high power men from all over the world who want to rule the world.
Strap on your seat belts folks, this ride is a bumpy one filled with murder, mystery, the Russian mob and shadowy men who do bad things, bombs and explosions abound, every one of your senses will be tested and if you make it out the other end you will be exhausted but well satisfied. Enjoy – I did.
Now that the reviewers have read each other’s thoughts…
Thought we wouldn’t be busy right after the Holidays, Right Penny?…Were we wrong! Alex Lukeman’s release of The Tesla Secret was during the Holiday Season. He was a Winner for Best Action Adventure Series for The Project Series by the PRG Reviewer’s Choice Awards of 2012. He certainly deserves all the accolades. You and I have been raving about this series to anyone who reads books… But he did change this story up a bit. Yes it was the planes, trains and automobiles type race for good and the American way, and yet this time he sat back and humanized Selena. We watched her go from rich ingénue to a pistol wielding momma. It had to take its toll, or she would have been de- humanized by the team. I loved what he did.
Yes, this was classic Project Series, those guys and gals know how to do it right. I had mixed feelings about Selena’s crisis of faith, there was one side of me that thought wouldn’t anyone with her background have a melt down long before now and part of me felt like she was just too strong for such things. I’m still debating with myself about that one. I also had mixed feelings about how she reacted to Nick after getting hurt. I won’t throw any spoilers in here but I thought she may have been a little harsh on the poor guy. I’m hoping Mr. Lukeman gives us more on Elizabeth in a later book. I just know that woman has a story and I’m dying to know what it is.
I disagree Penny, about Selena. She has from the moment she met Nick fallen into a cocoon shrouding herself with his strength and knowledge. Her blaming him might have been blaming herself in a way for giving all of her safety over to someone other than herself. He is only human. Again, I found Selena go from rich entitled young woman to double fisted blazing guns action hero, having no time to think these things through. The men have had time, they have been trained as oiled machines. Selena not so much. This felt so right for me. I do agree that we need to see more about Harker. Loved the scenery jumping as only Alex an take us on, and his Tesla Secret theories. Did you notice in his Q&A he mentions ‘The Cloak of Invisibility”
It’s nice to see we can occasionally disagree about something, just proves different people take different things from a book, yet both loved it. Yes I noticed the “The Cloak of Invisibility”. It actually made me chuckle, one because I just always think of Maxwell Smart and the cone of silence when I see those kinds of things, and two I can just see the possibilities for fun with that. I’m loving the way this series is going and can’t wait to see what is next for The Project gang. Mr. Lukeman can’t crank em out fast enough for me.
Good Night Gracie.
Yes you are right George….Ha ha that is so funny, I thought of Maxwell Smart as well…Oops, that agreeing again…
Night Georgie
Q&A with the author, Alex Lukeman:
Q-Your books are always full of history and science, are they either your field of expertise or are you just a closet geek?
I studied history in College for a while. I have always loved it, read voraciously as a child and later, still pursue a few books. I do a lot of research since no one can remember it all. Folk music, which is what I did for years, is history in song. Science has never been my strong point. The explosion of technology brings new things to the surface every day. When I see something, like the fact that the government is developing a “cloak of invisibility”, I research it and put it in a file for future use in a book. That might or might not be a hint about the next book.
Q- I loved the tract you took with Selena. What made you do that ?(to my delight)
Things needed shaking up for Selena. For all of them, really. Plus I have to keep it interesting for myself and everyone else. I’m glad you liked it. Who knows where it’s going? I don’t, that’s for sure…
Q-You always take us to great locations, how do you pick them, throw a pin at at map or is it something more scientific?
I don’t know. It’s driven by the story, mostly. Russia, for example, and I’ve been there. But I usually start with an idea. For example, if I should decide that evil bankers are after the world’s security, they might come out of the Central European Bank in Germany, or maybe Geneva.. That would lead to a German or Swiss location, or several of them, which I would then research. That in turn would take the Project elsewhere as they follow the clues that will lead to the final confrontation.
Q- do you have the next journey we are to go on researched? And when can we expect where our Project moves to?
No, I don’t. Europe is likely to play a significant role, though. And Washington. The next book will not be out until next summer at the soonest. The new location of the Project is classified.
Ha ha , yes Alex I expected that answer…We look forward to your entertaining us for many summers to come! Thank you for taking time with us…
