The Judgment Stone (Immortal Files, 2, Band 2) - Softcover

Liparulo, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1595541721 ISBN 13: 9781595541727

Verlag: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2013

Inhaltsangabe

What if praying became a curse instead of a blessing?

Former Army Ranger Jagger Baird thought he had his hands full with the Tribe—the band of immortal vigilantes fighting to regain God’s grace by killing those opposed to Him. But that was before he encountered the ruthless group of immortals called the Clan. The Clan is after a prize that would give them unimaginable power—a piece of the Ten Commandments known as the Judgment Stone.

Those who touch the Stone can see into the spiritual world: angelic warriors, treacherous demons, and the blue threads of light that signal the presence of believers in communion with God.

By following the blue beam radiating from those closest to God, the Clan plans to locate His most passionate followers and destroy them.

Jagger quickly realizes his high-tech gadgetry and training are no match for these merciless immortals. But how can he defeat an enemy who hunts believers through their prayers . . . and won’t stop until they’ve annihilated all those close to Him?

In this high-action thriller, best-selling author Robert Liparulo examines the raging battle between good and evil on earth . . . and beyond.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Robert Liparulo has received rave reviews for both his adult novels (Comes a Horseman, Germ, Deadfall, and Deadlock) and the best-selling Dreamhouse Kings series for young adults. He lives in Colorado with his wife and their four children.

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THE JUDGMENT STONE

THE IMMORTAL FILES BOOK TWO

By Robert Liparulo

Thomas Nelson

Copyright © 2013 Robert Liparulo
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-59554-172-7

Contents

......

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

The surface-to-air missile blasted out of a rocket launcher resting onthe monk's shoulder and streaked toward the hovering helicopter. Fireplumed from the rear of the bazooka-like weapon, bright in the night-timegloominess of St. Catherine's courtyard, momentarily blindingJagger Baird, who stood behind it and off to one side. Through thehaze of bleached retinas he saw the 'copter rise and whirl around withthe aerial agility of a hawk and the rocket sail past it. Seeming confused,the projectile corkscrewed toward the moon and exploded. Thehelicopter moved beyond the compound's west wall, over the monastery'sgardens, and vanished.

Jagger watched for a few more seconds. When it didn't reappear,he stepped closer to Father Leo. The youthful monk's splotchy beard,flowing black cassock, and—mostly—the smoking weapon stillperched on his shoulder made him look more like a Taliban fighterthan a man of God.

Jagger said, "Where'd you get that?"

Leo turned a big grin on him. "If only the rocket had beenheat-seeking."

"Any more?"

Leo let the launcher slide off his shoulder and fall to the stoneground. "I wish." He reached inside his cassock and pulled out a blackshotgun. He pumped the forestock, chambering a shell.

"I need a gun," Jagger told him.

Leo's forehead creased. "Where's yours?"

As head of security for the archeological dig outside the east wallof the monastery, Jagger should have been armed to the teeth—atleast better equipped than the monks—but Egypt enforced strictgun restrictions, especially among foreigners. Still, he had petitionedGheronda, the monastery's abbot, for a firearm, and the old manhad reluctantly given him a Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan, a short-barreled.44 magnum revolver with a wicked recoil. "All the brothersare afraid of it," Gheronda had explained with a slight smile. It wasJagger's under one condition: he had to keep it locked in a pistolsafe in his apartment. Far from ideal—how many bad guys waitedaround while you ran for your gun?—but it was better than nothing.Or maybe not. Not when you were making your rounds when theaction started, as he had been just as someone tried to blow open thecompound's main gate.

Jagger looked up to his third-floor apartment, where he hoped hiswife and son were holed up in a makeshift panic room: a small closetwith a bolted metal door, which Jagger had installed after the lastattack on the monastery. "Beth has it," he told Father Leo, picturinghis wife pointing the weapon at the door in a two-handed grip. Don'tmess with Beth.

Leo reached into his cassock again and produced a semiautomaticGlock, a model 17 9mm. He handed it to Jagger, who ejected themagazine, checked it for bullets, shoved it back into the grip, andchambered a round. That done, the two of them turned toward thegate. The inner iron door—one of three that blocked the entrance—bulged inward. Smoke seeped through the edges and streamed up thewall like a waterfall in reverse. Five other monks—Fathers Bardas,Luca, Antoine, Mattieu, and Corban—stood or crouched in a thirty-footsemicircle around it. Three of them wore black cassocks and caps.Luca, obviously rousted from bed, had on a gray flannel nightshirtthat fell to his knees; all he needed was a cloth nightcap—and thirtymore years—to be Ebenezer Scrooge awakened by a ghost. Corbanwore a brown bathrobe cinched tight around his waist; a silver pectoralcross hung over his chest. Each of them was pointing either a rifleor a handgun at the gate. They looked as incongruous and awkwardas Clint Eastwood competing in the Miss USA pageant.

"Back away!" Jagger yelled. He gestured with RoboHand, hisprosthetic forearm and clamping hook. "Hurry! Move!" The onlyway anyone was coming through would be if they detonated anotherexplosive, which would most likely send the doors and surroundingstone walls hurling toward the monks.

Apparently, when the first explosion failed to breach the gate, theattackers had decided to use the helicopter to get in. Having encounteredLeo's rocket, and with no way of knowing the one shot hadexhausted his supply, their next move was anyone's guess.

"Only six of you?" Jagger said to Leo. "Where're the rest?"

"Not all of us are fighters. Not the kind you're used to."

"What kind are they?"

"Prayer warriors," Leo said. "You can bet they're engaging theenemy at this very moment."

"Wonderful," Jagger said. He scanned the grounds. The courtyardwas wedge-shaped, about thirty feet at its widest point. It wasformed by the front wall; the long basilica, which angled diagonallyfrom the back of the courtyard toward the wall; and a structure builtaround the Well of Moses. No Disney-cute names here: supposedlyit was the very well at which Moses met his future wife, Zipporah.Radiating out from the courtyard was a crazy jumble of buildings—constructed at odd angles, in various shapes and sizes and materialsover the course of seventeen centuries—honeycombed by alleys, stairs,walkways, terraces, and tunnels. All of it was crammed into an areathe size of a city block, hemmed in by ancient walls sixty feet high andnine feet thick.

Over the multileveled rooftops and terraces he could see the topfloor of the Southwest Range Building at the far back of the compound.It stretched the entire length of the rear wall and, situatedon high ground—the entire monastery was built on the sloping baseof Mount Sinai—it appeared even larger than it was. In addition toa hospice, chapel, and monk cells, it housed a library and icon gallery,second only to the Vatican's in historic importance and monetaryvalue. Whatever the attackers wanted, chances were it was there.

Behind the Southwest Range Building, the mountain on whichMoses had received the Ten Commandments rose like a watchfulpresence, a charcoal silhouette against a slate sky. Jagger was thankfulfor the moon, which here in the Sinai always seemed closer to Earththan it did back in Virginia. Even in its current half-lit state, its radiancewashed away many of the compound's shadows and gave thesurfaces a silvery luminosity.

He turned in a circle and stopped when he was facing Father Leo.The monk held the shotgun in one hand, its muzzle pointed up. Feetapart, spine straight, eyes slowly scanning the top of the front wall, helooked ready for anything. No fear, just vigilance. Jagger wonderedhow many times the man had defended the monastery and if he'dknown what he was getting into when he joined the order.

Jagger asked, "What are they after?"

Continuing his visual sweep across the wall's ramparts, Leo shookhis head. "I don't know."

In the still air Jagger could hear the blades of the helicopter slowing,its engine dropping to a purr, then cutting off. It had landed infront of the gardens, on the opposite side of the monastery from thearchaeological dig. He ran toward the compound's northwest corner,bounded up a long flight of stone stairs, and came to a patio in frontof a row of unused monk cells. He climbed onto a railing and hoistedhimself onto the porch's steeply sloping roof. After twice almost losinghis footing, he reached the flat roof of the monk cells. It was only abouteight feet from the porch roof to the exterior wall; "small" didn't evenbegin to describe the private living space...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Thomas Nelson Publishers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2013
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1595541721
• ISBN 13: 9781595541727
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 400
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Reckitt Benckiser Deutschland GmbH; consumerhealth_de@reckitt.com; ; Darwinstrasse 2-4; Heidelberg; 69115; Deutschland