The Last Monument
One small handwritten letter, sent from a distant corner of the planet and lost in the system for sixty years… is about to change the entire human race.
Outside Denver, Colorado, Joe Rickards stands over a small aircraft wreckage, studying burnt remains still smoldering in a field of freshly fallen snow…an investigator for the NTSB, working to carefully roll back the last several hours and identify the cause of the accident.
But this time, he can’t.
The details behind this tragedy don’t add up. Unlike every other investigation of Joe’s career, the facts make no sense. Each new piece of information only makes the accident more mysterious, and more baffling.
Why would a person receive an age-old letter and suddenly disappear into the thick of night…paying to be flown out of a closed airport in the worst possible weather conditions, by a pilot who hadn’t had his hand on the stick in years?
With the only surviving relative insisting her grandfather would never have climbed into a small airplane in the first place, even in perfect weather.
A bizarre string of events culminating in a horrible accident unlike anything Rickards has experienced. Leaving his only hope at understanding it in the hands of the victim’s sole remaining relative. Beginning with how a mysterious letter could turn up after being lost in the system for sixty years. Sent by someone who should have already been long dead.
A single letter, Joe Rickards is about to discover, with a secret that will change the entire world.
ASIN : B086MBSPDK
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : March 30, 2020
Language : English
File size : 3.2 MB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 329 pages
Page Flip : Enabled
Book 1 of 2 : Monument
Best Sellers Rank: #31,164 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #265 in Historical Thrillers (Books) #367 in Conspiracy Thrillers (Kindle Store) #434 in Political Thrillers (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (22,154) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Original price was: $14.95.$7.99Current price is: $7.99.
One small handwritten letter, sent from a distant corner of the planet and lost in the system for sixty years… is about to change the entire human race.
Outside Denver, Colorado, Joe Rickards stands over a small aircraft wreckage, studying burnt remains still smoldering in a field of freshly fallen snow…an investigator for the NTSB, working to carefully roll back the last several hours and identify the cause of the accident.
But this time, he can’t.
The details behind this tragedy don’t add up. Unlike every other investigation of Joe’s career, the facts make no sense. Each new piece of information only makes the accident more mysterious, and more baffling.
Why would a person receive an age-old letter and suddenly disappear into the thick of night…paying to be flown out of a closed airport in the worst possible weather conditions, by a pilot who hadn’t had his hand on the stick in years?
With the only surviving relative insisting her grandfather would never have climbed into a small airplane in the first place, even in perfect weather.
A bizarre string of events culminating in a horrible accident unlike anything Rickards has experienced. Leaving his only hope at understanding it in the hands of the victim’s sole remaining relative. Beginning with how a mysterious letter could turn up after being lost in the system for sixty years. Sent by someone who should have already been long dead.
A single letter, Joe Rickards is about to discover, with a secret that will change the entire world.
ASIN : B086MBSPDK
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : March 30, 2020
Language : English
File size : 3.2 MB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 329 pages
Page Flip : Enabled
Book 1 of 2 : Monument
Best Sellers Rank: #31,164 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #265 in Historical Thrillers (Books) #367 in Conspiracy Thrillers (Kindle Store) #434 in Political Thrillers (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (22,154) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Kindle Customer –
A great story, plain and simple
I don’t normally write reviews for books I read for whatever reason. I’m not going to get too far into the story of this book either because I don’t want to give anything away. All I can say is READ THIS BOOK! It was a fun, suspenseful, exciting, emotional roller coaster ride of a book. I usually don’t want a sequel, except for now. Thank you Mr. Grumley! I have enjoyed your Breakthrough series and was thoroughly invested in these characters, too. I wish you would make this into a movie, only movies are never as good as the book. But in this case, after seeing the movie I think more people would end up reading the book. I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed this story. Maybe it was just what I needed… at just the right time. Thank you.
K. Schu –
Fun Read
The book has a good pace and is an entertaining read. Not exactly a riveting page Turner, but the plot was somewhat different, and it did have a slight twist at the end to make the finale interesting.
Iola Eliana Gold –
Excellent Read with scientific 🧫 concepts integrated
This is the second book series that I have read of this author, and it proved to be as enjoyable and extremely interesting as these other stories.I am always intrigued by the use of scientific knowledge, integrated into storylines and though this one brought it in a little late in the story it was still quite interesting to pursue it with the characters.I’m looking forward to the follow up book
Diana D –
Entertaining blend of historical and speculative elements
I enjoyed this for the most part, and it was a fast read. The story was an interesting blend of historical elements and plausible speculative ideas, and the protagonists were likeable even if not as fully developed as they could have been. Other characters were a little too sparsely developed, although there was some good detail included on the main villain/antagonist. Overall I did like the plot because it wasn’t wildly out of the realm of possibility.My 3 star rating is due to the presence of three pet peeves: while the writing was generally effective, there was an irritating (to me) overuse of fragments, especially when describing settings or moving the action forward. This may be a “thing” in thriller stories of this kind to provide a seemingly suspenseful fast pace, but I find it annoying when it’s overdone. I keep on wanting to edit to make complete sentences. It’s perfectly fine in dialogue – it’s the way most people talk – but strings of fragmentary phrases in exposition narrative becomes irritating to read.I’m not a fan of obvious, heavy-handed cliff hangers in books, and, while I understand the reasoning behind it – to get readers to immediately go out and get the next book in the series (or impatiently wait for the sequel to be published) – it smacks too much of the sensationalist television series season ending cliff hangers – a form of click bait. There are more subtle ways to lead into a next book and still provide some satisfying closure of loose threads for readers. Not letting us know more definitively what happened to Ottman is a prime example of this – and I hope it will be fully and clearly answered in the subsequent book.And third, I am not a fan of throw away statements like “little could he know how this one action would change his life, and even the world, forever ” – first, such statements are “telling not showing” (the novel should show us this fact), and second, it sets the reader up for possible disappointment if the story does NOT truly show how this comes to pass – let the story unfold on its own. Subtle foreshadowing is one thing; prophetic pronouncements are not as effective and feel too heavy handed.Having said all that, this novel did intrigue me sufficiently to want to read the 2nd book in the series.
Jack Wills –
intriguing
This story builds to an intriguing story first then to an exciting and dramatic ending. The characters are interesting and the plot is unique. Well worth the read.
Kindle Customer –
Exciting read!
Exciting and mysterious story that I read in two nights. This book followed a former Nazi officer’s decades- long pursuit of an unparalleled and undiscovered worldly wonder at the expense of eliminating anyone knowing even part of this mystery. Theauthor weaves a story which starts from a letter mailed from Peru to an elderly man who instantly knows that the letter was from his brother who had not been heard from since prior to the end of World War II. Our protagonists are the great niece of the monuments – seeking WW II officer and a deeply flawed Transportation Board agent . Airplane crash fatalities, missing friend and postal agent of our female professor’s deceased grandfather and an assassin on the trail create tension for the reader. Throw in the Amazon locale, an ex- patriot and former NASA scientist, theories of energy and our longing for answers to our own humanity and this novel ticks off all the boxes.
Sharon Baum –
Brilliant, thought-provoking mystery
Wow, this book absolutely blew me away. It is a mystery about a letter that surfaces after 60 years, an NTSB investigator is about to discover that will change the entire world. It touches on the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Program (MFAA) which was formed to recover stolen art during World War II and return to the rightful owners. The author also weaves in mysterious passage supposedly written by British explorer Percy Fawcett that was translated into German and sent to the heroine’s grandfather. The characters were so well written. This book is thought-provoking, sometimes heartbreaking, but always non stop action with many twists and turns. It is so good it leaves you wanting more. Just when you think this amazing author can not get any better he does. I highly recommend this fantastic story.
stevedhomer –
An imaginative story with interesting characters. Perhaps a little too many scenarios that left the reader hanging until they were resolved. But the story drew me in and the ending was unexpected and satisfying.
Amazon Customer –
An interesting read with a number of unpredictable twists & turns. I will read his other books too. Thank you.
Victor F –
So excited I could finally give this book the time it deserves. Had it waiting in the wings for a while. At a time when many mass book series out there are pumped out lacking in developed writing and editing, it’s great to sit down with a really good read. Great story, well written and well edited with intriguing characters. Michael never disappoints.
Marcos Luz –
When I started the book, it had got me full attention. A letter found accidentally 60 years after sent, and all the mystery of it: who wrote, why and when exactly. 10 out 10. But after this first part, things began to be more of the same: another search for a lost Indiana Jones kind of City and from that point on the book was good but not the exceptional quality used to be on others written by this same author. The end – probably for personal reasons – was a spiritual one: a second chance to meet someone you love for a brief moment of time. I confess that I was expecting a lot more…If you have spare time, worth the shot.
Rob –
I liked this story. It ended not the way it began but in the way it should. Characters were real and realized. The plot was consistent and tautly written. I closed it quite satisfied.