This book began vaguely interesting. Sadly, it did not end that way.

The prologue should have been my first clue. It is a mini lecture on Darfur and the genocide that has/is taking place there, along with descriptions of the agencies trying to provide aid. We are introduced to Dan, a doctor with Doctors Without Border and Jodie, a doctor with an American NGO. Don't know what NGO stands for? Me neither. Still don't. The doctors are attractive and in their mid-thirties.

A young boy in the camp has brought Jodie something she wants Dan to see.

Then we are whisked away to Rome, where we are introduced to Yoshi and his sister Midori. They are gorgeous and in their mid-thirties and have a slightly icky attraction to each other. They are well off, and have clients. What kind of clients? No idea, yet.

Then we are off to Tel Aviv where we meet Nahum Oz, Zvi Shalit (director of Collections Dept) and Efraim Harel (director of Political Action and Liaison). What is Oz title? No clue yet. Oh, and the two directors, what agency are they directors of? Haven't the foggiest. Yet.

They discuss the object that has recently been discovered in Darfur. The know about the two doctors, and that they fled Darfur for London. There the doctors hook up with: Jean, a French researcher at CERN, mid-thirties; Pavlov, a Russian physicist, 68; George, and American, head of the Computer Science research department at MIT, 47; Francesca, Italian, mid-thirties, biochemist studying DNA and a consultant for the ESA. Is your head spinning yet? Mine was, because the author goes into MUCH more detail about these people and I was already lost trying to keep track of who was who.

Oz and friends think this group has discovered some kind of nuclear weapon of mass destruction at first, and they will kill them all to get their hands on it. They enlist the financial help of the Catholics and the Arabs in order to hire the Shadow, a hitman who never misses, to take out the group of scientists and receive the artifact .

We soon find out the artifact is a probe sent to our planet billions of years ago by an unknown alien intelligence. It often speaks to the scientific group but the author includes so much computerese that it is virtually impossible to figure out what its saying. I started skipping the paragraphs when it 'talks' and just read what the peoples reactions were afterward. They usually repeated everything so I could continue to follow along.

Speaking of repeating everything: thats what happens. The story constantly jumps back and forth from describing what the scientists are doing (by now they are being lead by Yoshi and Midori because, although scientists and doctors, they are too stupid to figure things out for themselves) to how the CIA (yes, they are in the hunt now too) and the Catholics and the Mossad have just learned what the scientists are doing and we have to listen in as they rehash it all over again.

Yoshi is in charge of the scientists because his client is Richard Hooper, a wealthy Englishman in his mid-thirties who has been dating the lovely Francesca. He is paying Yoshi whatever he wants to make he brings Francesca back safely.

Jump ahead to the end (I didn't but I desperately wanted to): Several people die (ho hum, didn't care), the true identity of the Shadow is revealed (yeah, yeah, figured that out 1/3 of the way into the book), and good eventually triumphs over evil. Whatever.

There is a teensy little cliffhanger at the end to set up for a sequel. Honestly, by then I could not have cared less about the probe, the scientists, or the out of left field romance between two of the characters.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

The first problem I encountered with this was that it's the first of a trilogy, which means it's really not a novel, but a prologue. The funny thing about that was that there is an author's note, an introduction, AND a prologue in this volume. Now that is serious and hilarious overkill. I do not read introductions, prefaces, prologues, author's notes, or any of that stuff. If you want me to read it, put it in the main text. Anything else is as antique as it is pretentious.

Despite this being a trilogy overture, I decided to take a chance on it anyway because it sounded interesting, but in keeping with its tripartite roots, it moved too slowly for me and didn't offer me much reward no matter how much I let slide. This is why I so rarely find series of any value. The first volume was boring - at least the fifty percent of it that I read - and it should not have been. I can't see myself being remotely interested in reading three volumes if they're anything like the portion I read of this one.

The second problem is that there are far too many characters introduced far too quickly. All this means is that we never get to know a single one of them in any depth, and so we have no one with whom to identify or for whom to root. This is another problem for me. I am not a fan of novels which jump around like this, especially when it's after as little as a single paragraph as often happens here. It moves so rapidly from one person to another, and one locale to another that it's likely to induce whiplash in many readers! It also pretentiously announces each paragraph with a dateline, like this is somehow crucial information. It's not, so why the pretension? Who reads datelines anyway?

This is translated from the Italian (as far as I know), so I readily admit something may have been lost in translation, but I doubt so much could have been lost that a brilliant novel in the native language would have been rendered so uninteresting in English. What bugged me most about this though, is that it was set in the USA. Italy has so much to offer - why betray that and set your novel in the US? Was it to avariciously pander to an insular US audience which evidently can't stand to read a novel unless it's native? And I don't mean Native American! I felt it would have been more interesting had it been set elsewhere, and Italy would have been a fine place to set this.

The most amusing thing was that Kindle's crappy app on my phone, which is the medium I read most of this in (and the formatting was, for once, fine) told me on page one that there were six minutes left in the book! Right, Amazon! Seriously, you still need to do some work on your crappy Kindle app. You're pulling down enough profit from your massive global conglomerate, so I know it's not that you can't afford to hire top line programmers; is it just that you're too cheap to hire them? Or are you purposefully trying to force people to buy a Kindle device?

The story opened amusingly: "Rome was beautiful in spite of the annoying wind that had been buffeting the city for the past couple of days." How might wind make it unattractive? Was Rome farting?! I liked Rome when I visited, but felt it was rather dirty - more-so than London is typically asserted to be, but that was a while ago. I don't know what it's like now, but I promise you the wind cannot make it ugly, so this struck me as a truly odd way of expressing a sentiment. Another translation problem? I can't say.

There were other such issues. One of them was that the artifact they found was six inches in diameter, yet it's referred to as a cane and a walking stick?! Again, this might have been a problem with translation, but with that repetition, it didn't seem so. I think it's funny that the artifact is described as sparkling, yet one guy assumes it's made from gold. Again, a problem with the translation? I don't know.

The truly bizarre thing is that I read, "Whatever metal it's made of isn't known to us." I'm sorry, but this is bullshit. We know all the metals in the universe. They're in the periodic table, and scientists can reliably project what others may be found. There are almost none beyond Uranium that are remotely stable. They can be created in the lab, but are so loosely wrapped that they exist for only minuscule fractions of a second, so this 'unknown metal' which often appears in sci-fi, is nonsensical.

The author would have made more sense and impressed me more if he'd talked about an unknown alloy instead of an unknown metal. I would have been more impressed still if he'd gone for one of the unstable metals and reported that it had somehow been rendered stable in this artifact (but then it might still have been radioactive), or if he had gone with one of the projected stable metals which are way off the end of the current periodic table. There's supposed to be one somewhere in the vicinity of Unbinilium. It hasn't been found yet and may not exist, but something like that would have been sweet to read about instead of this amateurish 'unknown metal'.

The story itself made no sense. The idea is that medical volunteers in the Sudan find a metallic cylinder, which was evidently embedded in rocks a quarter billion years old. Instead of asking permission from the powers-that-be in the country, they simply assert white man's privilege and steal the thing, transporting it to the west like the Sudanese have no business with it at all, and no say in the matter. They're black and African so why would any white scientists care at all? That can and has happened, but the fact that there isn't one single voice of dissension recording how utterly wrong that is bothered me intensely, and spoiled this right from the beginning.

The next absurdity is that the three major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) cease all disputes and come together as one, Israel sending the Mossad after this object. why? There is no reason whatsoever given for this intense religious interest, and for why it is only those three, like there are no other important religions on the planet! Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, Falun Gong, and Sikhism are all larger than Judaism, so this seemed like an utterly arbitrary choice.

Anyway, all of the scientists contact their families and tell them not to try to contact them (!), and then they disappear. They're accompanied by and protected by a guy named Yoshi, who has a really interesting and overly intimate (but not sexual) relationship with his sister. Those two intrigued me more than anything else in this story, though they 'skeeved out' at least one reviewer I read, but they were switched-out with other characters almost interchangeably, so we never even got to learn why those two were like they were, although this may have been revealed in the second half of this first volume which I did not read. Life is too short!

So overall, based on the half of the volume I read, I cannot recommend this. It's too dissipated: all over the place and completely unrealistic, and it offered nothing to hold my interest.

I found this book too detailed with facts in the first part of the book. So much so that it was a chore to read.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a thrilling adventure, with input from all of the spy agencies----CIA, Mossad, Scotland Yard, and some badass independent ninjas. Oh yeah, and don't forget the religious entities---the Vatican and the Jewish and Islamic leaders. It was in the genre of a Dan Brown, Steve Berry, or James Rollins. If you like any of those readers, you will really enjoy this book.

This is the first book in a Trilogy and I will be buying the next two books!

Quantum
Dean De Servient

Outstanding. This novel has it all. Starting with a 250-million year old artifact of unknown origin. Then the six scientists studying it suddenly vanish. The CIA thinks the artifact is a weapon. Mossad wants the artifact and the scientists dead. The Vatican wants to be kept in the loop.

The main characters are very interesting and well developed. Each has an important part in the story. All together they combine to make an intense plot that keeps the tension high with each new revelation. Extremely good with unexpected turns. There are a few parts that will make you smile or laugh at how the scientists come up with ways to get past the surveillance teams of CIA agents.

Really liked the book cover. The it is a preview. Look at it closely and you will see.

This is the first book in a trilogy. I hope the others will be out soon.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So glad I did

This starts out like a Dan Brown thriller with an alien, rather than cultural, artifact. But rather than puzzles to solve, this is one long pursuit with tiny snippets of science and a far too pat ending. This also requires an extreme suspension of disbelief, not for the SF elements which are adequate, but rather for the attempt at "international intrigue." A thriller must at least be vaguely plausible, and this one did not meet the mark.
The alien artifact might affect world religions, so only Israel, Rome and Riyadh are notified, and all terrorism stops until the artifact can be recovered. Stop laughing - the author is quite serious. This time around, the CIA is the bull in the china shop, and runs blatently rampant within the U.S., which is not only illegal, the DOJ and FBI would have major hissy fits. At least pretend to be Homeland Security....
In addition, there are two ninjas with hearts of gold who stand in for James Bond. Very little character development all around. Very disappointing.

If it hadn't said "translated by" I would never have known this book hadn't been written directly in excellent, native-U.S. English. A sci-fi thriller, the story revolves around an ancient artifact found buried in multi-million year old rock; however upon examination the technology is apparently beyond known human capabilities. An interesting juxtaposition of protagonists and their characters and creeds as the action skips across continents, coming to a startling conclusion. While I raised an eyebrow at one "deus ex machina" toward the end, overall this is a logical and compelling tale offering potential explanations for the human condition. However, I still don't understand quantum physics.

DISCLAIMER: I saw this title being offered on NetGalley and, intrigued by the concept, I read and am voluntarily reviewing it.

This novel is full of science, adventure, and intrigue. I found it very entertaining as well as informative.

The adventure begins when a scientist working for an NGO uncovers an ancient artifact. The surrounding rock is millions of years old yet this object is a finely machined metallic cylinder. She enlists a co-scientist and they search out four scientists in other fields, hoping to run a variety of tests to understand what they have found.

Soon the mystery begins. The six scientists disappear and various countries assume the scientists are hiding a bomb or some other deadly device. Mossad and the CIA aim to find the scientists and recover the dangerous object, no matter the cost.

This novel has everything to captivate the reader. There is the mysterious object that may hold the secret to the origin of humans on earth. There are scientists that help readers understand lots of science. There are deadly assassins. There are clever maneuvers by the scientists to evade capture. There is even a little romance.

The characters are well done. The plot is great. I really liked how the intelligence agencies misconstrued what the scientists were trying to do. It gave me pause to think about how an agency like the CIA might assume something and go way off track.

There was a little too much filthy language for my liking and a few odd (nearly) sexual scenes. Other than that, this is an entertaining novel for those who enjoy the Indiana Jones variety. There is a twist at the end so I'll be waiting for the sequel.

This novel represents De Servienti's theory of the origin of life on earth. Readers must remember that this book is fiction.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

The premise of this book is not a new one; something earth shattering is found and an effort ensues to protect it from the powers that be that would use it to gain control of the world. What is unique about this book is the way the author used scientific fact and unusual twists to take the story in new directions. I'm looking forward to the next installment. (Just my opinion.)

Fast paced, interesting concept reread. Held my interest throughout.

A thriller with an unassuming, unexpected cast of characters --
and the totally titillating action worthy of a Bourne movie.

Very interesting read! Would have liked deeper character development for the scientists, but the premise was unique and entertaining. I found myself wanting the 'machine' to open up more, to learn more where it came from and what it had to say. The reactions of the various organizations/countries of the world did not surprise me. How it was handled in the book was predictable and somewhat simplified. Nothing can be that easy. However, the love interest was nice, the ending was a surprise and piqued my interest as well. I would be quite interested in reading the next book. One star removed for the many typos. Whoever proofread did a poor job.

Quantum by Dean De Servienti... An amazing, fast paced Sci-Fi thriller. Anticipating the next book in the series.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

None since I did not read much of the book (see my comments)

The author describes his characters with a bunch of adverbs instead of showing us how they behave.

The plot is far-fetched (but hypothetically possible) and the writing occasionally takes on a lecture-hall tone to explain some technical topics. I lost interest after a couple chapters-- too many other books out there that I'd rather be reading instead of a Dan Brown Da Vinci Code genre.

Ugh! I thought this might be interesting, with a mysterious archeological find discovered to be advanced technology, but alas I didn't like the writing or the style of the intense plot and the relationship between two of the characters skeeved me out. I felt like I was being given lessons and I wanted out of class. I sped read it but the payoff wasn't worth it to me in the end.

While the notion of an ancient Ark of the Covenant like object is interesting the narrative gets weighed down by the thin characters and a cat and mouse plot that feels utterly familiar. Couldn't get onboard with this one...

Indiana Jones taught us to love archeology and that it can be full of action, excitement and intrigue - De Servienti carries those lessons into his book. He has given us a riveting plot with outstanding characters that make you look forward to going on this thrilling new adventure.

The author takes you on a wild ride all the way to the end and leaving you wanting more which is good because this is the first in a planned trilogy. It’s the kind of story you could see becoming a feature film one day when they run out of reasons to do remakes. (Not a fan of that in case you can’t tell, try for originality Hollywood!)

The intricate and well thought out details read as if the author put in some serious research time to provide a plausible story that will captivate the imagination. It’s fast pace will help hold your attention to the point hours will go by deep into the night before you remember to come up for air.

All I hope is if this does hit the big screen De Servienti is involved with the screenplay so the magic of what makes this story good is translated verbatim.

Quantum is the first of a trilogy series by Dean De Servienti. Quantum is the type of Sci-Fi story I really enjoy. You know it isn't true but there is always that "what if" in the back of your mind as you are reading the book. Confusing at first with so many characters and places, soon they all fall into place. I'm looking forward to the next installment of this story. I was given a copy to review.

Quantum: The Trilogy Begins (Quantum Trilogy Book 1) by Dean de Servienti is a book I was allowed to read from NetGalley and book publishers but as I read it, I decided I had to buy it, so I did. I have a no re-read policy, but I will break this policy for only the best books and I decided this is one of those books. This is why I bought the book, I will be re-reading this again down the road, probably before this is a movie because it really should be. I cannot see this NOT be a movie! It has so much intrigue, action, this is not about just an archeological find, but one like no other! This book was outstanding and riveting to the end! The plot, characters, and action were tremendous. The whole premise is a thrilling adventure and suspense made for a wild ride of a book, totally awesome! Can't wait for the next book!