The Shepherd

Highly Reccommend Cannot Put It Down!!!!!

I found this book to be very addictive. I read half of it the first night I purchased it and finished it the second night. Some of the turn of events in this book I never would have suspected. I believe this would make a very entertaining movie and look forward to more from this author.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended - you must check it out!!

This is one of the BEST books I have ever read. A tight well written suspense novel that keeps the pages turning and is hard to put down all the way to the end. And that's where it blows your mind!!! This book IS a must read!

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Loved it!

I honestly couldn't stop reading it. One of the better ebooks i've read since i first got my nook. Loved the story line and especially how the author keeps you hanging at the end! Certainly not bad for a free book! :D

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended! I couldn't put it down

Great read for those that love thrillers & psychopaths. The characters are interesting and believable. Many twists that will make you wonder what it going to happen next. You will never guess the ending. I am truly looking forward to another book from this author.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

EXCELLENT!!

First nook book I read. Very interesting -especially the ending. Ethan Cross did a great job with this one!!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Once you pick it up its nearly impossible to put down!

I give this book 5 stars only because it's as high as I can go! I have checked my closet every night since i started reading this book. The Shepherd has blown away my previous favorite book and I can't wait for the next book! Congrats on writing an amazing book!!!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excellent book...a must read page turner

I was impressed that this book was Mr. Cross' first book. I read reviews from others and was really impressed with this book. It was hard to put down. Characters were believable and real. Just when I thought I had figured it out I would turn the page and it wasn't as it seemed. The book is fast paced, and left me up late reading. Enjoyable. I am amazed a large publisher hasn't picked up this author. This is a well written book I would highly recommend for the beach, a rainy day,or simply your next book. I look forward to the next book produced by this author a true story teller!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I highly recomend this book...

This was a very well written and twisted story about good and evil. I enjoyed it very much and will highly recomend it!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Intriguing!!!!

This book was suspensful and I enjoyed reading it. The characters where very interesting and then end.....Intriguing!!! Cant wait for further books from author....Highly Recommend this book.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Love this Author

I live to read and I get really excited when I come across a new author who can capture and hold my attention through the whole book. The Shepherd is a fast-paced book with lots of twists and turns; each time I thought I had figured something out it changed. I also love when an author can tell a very good story and not use profanity (I believe I counted 3 or 4).

As I read the story, I found myself pondering about some of the moral delimna's the protaganist faced, I wondered what decisions I might make if placed in the same situations.

I highly recommend this book and look foward to reading future stories by Ethan Cross!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Surprisingly good

I had never heard of this author, but I was pleasantly surprised with his novel. He created a thrilling plot that made it impossible to put down. I am looking forward to reading more of his work.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book! Couldn't put it down!

This is the first Ethan Cross novel I have read but it won't be the last. I just finished 'The Shepherd' and will be purchasing more of his books.

A thrill ride from page one. One of the few books you cannot figure out until the very end... and then Mr. Cross throws you for another curve.

Great book!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awesome

No text was provided for this review.

a really good read

an excellent story. wish he had more books available

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Could not put it down

I haven't read five books in the 24 years I have been out of high school but loved this book!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

BEST THRILLER SO FAR IN 2011

Marcus Williams is a retired New York City Homicide Detective that has left New York to move to a farmhouse in Texas that was willed to him by his aunt. He made a choice to save others and due to that choice it was definitely time for a change. Small town life has a great appeal.

At the same time Francis Ackerman, Jr. makes a different choice. He chooses to inflict pain and suffering to as many people as possible and happens to arrive in Texas at exactly the same time as Marcus.

They both become very unwilling pawns in a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of our government. Marcus becomes involved in a "game" with a psychopathic serial killer and a vigilante group with unlimited resources. He must wrestle his own demons all the while trying to stop one of the most ruthless killers in the world while trying to figure out and expose a huge political conspiracy.

Hold on tight, this book is going to shake you to the core!!!


A Spellbinding, Enthralling, Mind-Bending, Riveting Thriller!!!! Look out James Patterson, Ethan Cross is giving you some fantastic competition. This is an excellent book but it will definitely give you nightmares and it will be a book you will be telling everyone about for a long time to come. The best thriller I have read this year!!!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Pump Your Book, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

HIGHLY recommended!!!

AMAZING BOOK!!! :P Everyone who has ever had any doubts about the rightness of vigilante justice, NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK!! There is a VAST difference between taking a life because you NEED to, in order to save other lives, and what most people judge vigilante actions as being which is pointless murder. READ this book; I don't think anyone on either end of the spectrum will ever view things the same again. And even other than that element, this is a phenomenal story-line, great action, nonstop suspense, definitely a good and entertaining read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great, great book!!

Very, very exciting book. Multiple plot twists and two of the best characters ever in Marcus Williams and Francis Ackerman. I was engrossed all the way through and some of the twists took me completely by surprise, but they were very good twists. A very good ending that kept the door open for more books in this series. I think additional Shepard books are required!! Ethan Cross is great at the thriller, action, mystery aspect and also adds some great character introspection. Great book!"

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Who really controls the players in the game??

The Shepherd is an action-packed thriller that will keep you interested until the very end.

Marcus Williams is an ex-cop who has seen his fair share of human brutality. He has inherited a house from his aunt and begins to settle into the quaint and charming town when he finds himself on a path he has no control over.

After getting into a fight with some locals while walking the Sheriff's daughter, Maggie, home, we learn of Marcus's skill in combat and his quick thinking actions in high adrenaline situations. Maggie and Marcus begin to look forward to their future together, each seeing in the other a magnetic spark. After Maggie takes Marcus to meet his next door neighbour, they learn that the sweet kind grandmother has been brutally murdered. From here things begin to escalate and the powers in control are dancing the unbeknownst players like puppets.

Francis Ackerman Jr. is a intelligent and good looking, however, he is also sadistic, brutal and a serial killer, a very good serial killer. He likes to play games with his victims, play with their minds, and make them do horrific things in order to survive. If the victims play by the rules, he allows them to live to win his game, however, Francis Ackerman never loses. When Francis comes to realize that he is a pawn in a game he did not create, he realizes that the stakes have become greater and while he is willing to play, he first, needs to change a few rules.

As good and evil come together to figure out the reason fate has joined them on this mission, we are caught up in the turmoil and the aftermath, and taking on a ride through hell and back. Who do you trust?? How does the government play into all this?? Who holds the strings that makes everyone dance?? Francis and Marcus are lead to the answers, with one believing he could be good if his need to be evil wasn't precipitated and the other who believes he could be evil, if he was to release the control he keeps upon his soul. Together the two must wrestle their own demons to find the truth about why they have become who they are.

I liked The Shepherd very much and found it to be an easy read, however, the crime scenes are descriptive in their brutal nature, if you are squeamish, be forewarned. I found the character of Ackerman to be well-written, and very believable as the serial killer. I felt torn between liking him and being repulsed by him. I liked how even though he was a serial killer, he had a side to him that was almost humane, there were a few testimonies of this throughout the story. I liked the fast paced plot and the flow of the story was good, without much back-tracking to keep everyone in mind. I enjoyed how the characters were well distinguished from the other.

I didn't like how Maggie was introduced in the story near the beginning and then you hear nothing about her for most of the story. The explanation before the mad hatter chaos ensued wasn't enough for me to have her ignored for most of the story after building her up to be a larger part, even though she is eventually re-introduced, you almost forget about her until she does. I'm also not sure if I liked the government conspiracy and the serial killer aspect, I think one or the other would have made a more enriching story instead of entwining the two together, but that is just me, and others may not find a problem with the two crossing together. All in all, the book is not a disappoint and you will find enjoyment in reading its

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

WHAT I THOUGHT...

I really liked this story.. I found that it was a lot like Prison Break season 4 because of the government conspiracy and the twist and turns in the plot but just like I loved that show, I really enjoyed this book. And also like the show I was never expecting the ending, which makes for a great read!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.