The Doomsday Prophecy (Ben Hope, Book 3)

Love all the series I have read so far. Scott Mariani you are a brilliant writer. So descriptive, fast paced with so many twists and turns. Love Ben Hope. Can't wait for more. Buying the whole lot. Highly recommended as " stand alone" read or follow this brilliant character all the way through.

As the third in the Ben Hope series, we're expecting much more from the Doomsday Prophecy - we kind of know what Hope is capable of and we know just how far reaching conspiracies can be. We want the thrills and spills, we want to wonder whether these things might actually be happening out there, and we want a little bit more besides. It's an addiction of sorts, the preferred fix for armchair adrenaline junkies.The Doomsday Prophecy keeps us waiting a little longer for the action and the real intrigue to unfold, but then it more than makes up for leaving us dangling for so long. We're all familiar with at least the idea of biblical prophecy, whether we've waded through it ourselves or not. Every time there's trouble in the Middle East someone wheels out the predictions. Mariani takes it to a different level. Spoiler alert - Ben Hope does not fight God. At least not in the sense of fists and bullets flying.The plot, as we were hoping, is action, adventure and intrigue indeed, then cross and double cross and even a bit of triple cross in there for good measure. So we might see it coming before it happens. That's half the joy of this series. We know perfectly well there's no way we as average human beings could get out of these situations and we want to see how the highly skilled and possibly slightly mad Hope does it.The scheming in the Doomsday Prophecy is so multi-layered and far reaching that we can't see for sure where it reached its zenith until Hope has the answers. We are kept guessing just who is at the top. It's a little like playing a console game and just when you think you've beaten the boss, an evil laugh booms out and you fight on to meet the next one. To keep to the analogy, for every boss you kill, the danger mounts.Mariani never give us huge amounts of character detail on anyone but Hope, and yet he somehow manages to create strong impressions of each so that we can intensely like or dislike, trust or mistrust the cast. Female readers will appreciate his female characters. In this one ladies, there's one you'll come to dislike, but its ok girls - Ben does too.The Doomsday Prophecy gives us much more insight into Ben Hope, the man behind the operative. Again, Mariani tells us a lot in so few words that we hardly know why we know what we know. I may have been reading these books too much over a period of days, but I'm beginning to wonder if there's not some subliminal code at work. Or perhaps it's the simple fact that these books read like watching a movie - you see them as much as read them - so the impressions are that much stronger.Round three to you, Mr Mariani - as soon as I've posted this, I'm commencing round four.

Just had to keep going back to it.

This is my third encounter with Ben Hope, an ex-SAS trained soldier, after he leaves the army, he sets up a business dealing with the rescue of people kidnapped.In this the third book, Ben is still trying to recover from the horrific death of his wife, Leigh and decides to go back to studying theology at Oxford, except his professor Tom Bradbury's daughter goes missing while in Corfu.Ben arranges for his friend Charlie, also ex-SAS to fly out to Corfu to find her but things take a nasty turn (to put it mildy!) and Ben is forced to take over the investigation into her "capture" by rogue CIA agents who have shipped her back to America.With any Ben Hope book, one can be sure to be taken on a history, archaeology or current affairs investigation. Thanks to Scott Mariani, I've learnt about some subjects that otherwise would not have come under my radar. In this book, I've learnt about and to quote from Scott Mariani's summary of the book "Although The Doomsday Prophecy is a work of fiction, it is a fact that many millions of people across the world, the majority of them evangelical American Christians, fervently believe that we may at any moment be plunged into the apocalyptic End Time events that they claim to be forecast in the Bible." I had never heard about these fundamentalists before, so again, thank you Mr Mariani for my further education.I fortunately have about six in this series to read. Scott Mariani's style of writing flows and one can never claim boredom or lack of enthusiasm to turn the next page to find out how Ben will get himself out of his various escapades. A really excellent series of books and would make a wonderful television series as well.

I read this page-turning, all action thriller while away on a very wet and rainy holiday last week. It turned out to be the perfect antidote to the weather!In 'The Doomsday Prophecy' Ben Hope's plans to renew his study of theology are dashed as he gets involved in the search for a missing young archaeologist. The plot has plenty of twists and turns with Hope fighting evil foes in Corfu, USA, and Israel. However, while strong on action, the story is somewhat lacking in atmosphere and character development.The book is a perfect holiday read as it can be read as a stand-alone novel, without the need for any prior knowledge of the previous stories in the series.In some ways the novel reminds me of the stories I enjoyed in my youth; a gripping but slightly fantastical adventure story featuring a completely indestructible, all action, hero. In short, pure escapism ... can't wait to get stuck in to the next one in the series!

Not realising it wasn't my type of book to read

Scott Mariani has done it again! This book is another brilliant thriller. I cannot put these Ben Hope stories down.Now I cannot wait to begin the next one, which will be the fourthIn the Ben Hope series.To complete my view of the Doomsday Prophesy, the story line, linked to the Book of Revelation in the Bible, is so possible that it is really scary in reality. Taking into account the facts of corruption which do exist today, then all as written could happen . Thai also shows the excellent quality of the Authors research.Scott's books are very well written and planned and I thoroughly recommend them. I SINCERELY hope not in my lifetime. This all goes to show the amount

Like the way he brings in thoughtful topics

Ben Hope was an elite soldier, SAS. Highly trained, lethal.He has parted ways with his past. Returned to his theology studies at Oxford. An old family friend as well as a professor in his earlier days, prior to entering the military has asked him a favor. Find his daughter and bring her home. What unfolds is a mind boggling action packed thriller of atomic proportions.An excellent read!My highest recommendation.

Das Buch war superspannend, und ich habe es in 2 Tagen gelesen, konnte es kaum aus der Hand legen!

You have found a series of books that will keep you reading for some weeks to come. They are very enjoyable and have a dash of mystery all solved by a highly trained reliable hero who might look as if he's about to die, but comes through shining.Seriously, the books are fun and a great way to get out of your own head space.

Good read.