The Gryphon Heist Paperback – September 3, 2019

This is one of the books of 2019 that I have been most looking forward to. Unfortunately, it arrived in the middle of my move, so I wasn't able to read it as quickly as I wanted. The Gryphon Heist is Hannibal's first foray into Christian fiction. He has written three adult novels for the general market that are squeaky clean, curse-free, and awesome reads. He has also written a few books for kids. To be honest, the beginning of the book didn't grab me as fast as I expected. It isn't boring, it is just slow-paced, but it didn't take me long after that to be pulled into it. I'll break down what I liked:The plot: I like reading spy stuff in addition to suspense and mystery, and this involves a couple of CIA agents, and a former CIA agent. The plot itself was so intricate and full of twists and surprises, that I was even more impressed with the author after I finished the book. Slight spoiler: I assumed that the CIA were trying to stop a heist. I wasn't 100% correct on that. Hannibal spun such a masterful story that I didn't know who was the good and bad guys, and just when I thought I knew what was going on, the story had another twist. I was totally shocked at the one way the story went towards the end, and wondered more than ever who was good and who was bad. The tech part, which was a big part, was interesting and the author did a great job of describing that stuff in terms easy to understand.The characters: I like interesting characters in a book, and characters can make or break a story. This one had a lot of great and likable ones, and some very unpredictable ones. My favorite would be Eddie, or Red Leader as he wanted to be called. The geek CIA agent in control of the gadgets and tech stuff, he came off somewhat goofy...or geeky, but totally likable. Adam Tyler would be next. Former bad guy, or still current bad guy? I went back and forth the whole book trying to decide, and the author seemed to intentionally keep the reader guessing on that. Talia was the newbie CIA agent running an operation against her will with Adam Tyler, and facing some great challenges. I would have preferred a main male character, but can see how one would not have worked for this story for a few reasons. She came off very likable, especially by the end. The criminals recruited for the operation were colorful and a wide variety of personalities and talents. The interactions between them and the rest of the characters was entertaining, and at times downright hilarious. I found myself liking Finn the best, mostly due to his theatrics and daredevil actions.The suspense: Thought slow in building, the book was very suspenseful. The further I got in it, the harder the book was to put down. The message: Forgiveness was the main Christian theme of the book. Talia carried a huge load of unforgiveness, and had to come face to face with that reality. There was also an interesting discussion on the greater good which got me to thinking. All in all, this is an awesome debut into Christian fiction. It has been a while since I read a book that kept me guessing so much. I definitely recommend it, and his books he wrote for the general market.I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.

So the first book of Hannibal's I read began a little slow but I kept on and it got better. This one not so much but that might just be me. I will say it could be easily turned into an action movie which might be good.

Talia Inger is a rookie CIA agent with alot of baggage. Orphaned as a child and in and out of foster homes, she is skeptical of everything and everyone. Not necessarily a character flaw when it comes to undercover work. Having completed CIA training, Talia is assigned to a closet basement office called “Other.” After spending a weekend reading the department’s notebooks, she’s sent off to a remote territory in Europe to secure an executive’s designs.Adam Tyler is Inger’s civilian contact to coordinate meeting with the executive. With Tyler’s money and habits, Talia’s skepticism kicks into high gear.Pavel Ivanov is the executive with innovative designs. But already skeptical of Tyler, Talia wonders if helping Ivanov secure his designs is worth her time.Eddie Gupta--Inger’s best friend and specialized skills officer--does some digging and tells Talia that there is moth than meets the eye regarding Tyler, Ivanov and the designs. A supposedly easy assignment was getting by the stranger by the minute.I loved Talia Inger’s character from page 1. Her skepticism and by-the-book rule adherence give her a hard shell--so different than emotional females that are typically characterized.James R. Hannibal never fails to write an exciting story. The ending of The Gryphon Heist is worthy of a James Bond tale. Clean, exciting--I highly recommend for young adults and up.I bought this book and this is my honest and unbiased review.

FTC Disclosure: Revell Reads gave me complimentary copies of this book. A positive review was not required. These are my honest thoughts.Well, that was interesting. Allow me to recap.THE CHARACTERS:Sadly, I felt the characterization was lacking. Talia and her co workers all felt like well-worn repeats of standardized (and not very good) stereotypes. Eddie was really the only one that was mildly cute, but there were a few developments with him at the end that I didn't like. The main character, Talia, your typical tough-talking, yet secretly anxiety ridden professional woman and the only thing that made her different was her extreme naivete—which, unfortunately, was hard to except. Didn’t she watch TV or read novels? Even I know the real moral code (or lack thereof) of the CIA—Talia’s foolish belief that she’s going to carry out her career in the agency like a lady Boy Scout feels unbelievably foolish.Overall, I liked Talia’s back story and character arc (unfortunately, I saw some spoilers for the big reveal a the end, so it kind of ruined the surprise for me) and I thought her personal theme was a unique one, given the usually more plot-oriented genre, however –THE THEMES:Most of the Christian elements themselves felt stilted and rushed as characters leap into faith and accepting God with very little foreshadowing. Most of the stories Christian elements were tied to the main plot-lines so you couldn’t remove them entirely (which ALMOST would have been my first preference, since it felt out of place)—but I wish they had been portrayed with a little more authenticity.THE DIALOGUE:There are a few scenes and lines that are generally amusing but, for the most part, most of the dialogue is very unnatural and stilted as it makes self-conscious attempts to be witty or deep by turn.MISCELLANY:I did appreciate that the author shied away from any romance with Talia, but I was aggravated that<spoiler>he slated her geeky best friend as “non-boyfriend material” – when I honestly felt that this could have been a cute relationship if he had dared to break the friend-zoned trope.</spoiler>I felt like there were too many token characters in this book. The international cast felt like a weak salute to Star Trek and each nationality represented feels like a bad parody.THE PLOT (and the tech):I gave this novel an extra star for plot originality. <spoiler>Having to perform a heist in the mesosphere was truly an intriguing concept and made for a decently exciting finale.</spoiler>The author really pushed the envelope of his niche and genre and, in exchange, we got an interesting and unique blind of adventure novel, heist story, spy thriller, and Christian fiction. The author’s true strengths are definitely coming up with unique concepts and writing technical jargon (ala Tom Clancy). In my opinion, this book would have been far better if it had been ghostwritten and some of the plethora of stereotypes had been removed.SUMMARY:While there was nothing stellar about the writing or the characters, this was still a mildly entertaining read with some interesting twists. (It was even educational at times: I learned what an ekranoplan is!).<spoiler>I’ll probably check out the sequel to see how the author can possibly top a heist sequence that takes place in our mesosphere.</spoiler>

A fantastic book! Kept me entirely enraptured from cover to cover! I highly recommend this book and will be reading more from this author!

The Gryphon Heist is an exciting espionage/heist novel. The story is filled with action and adventure, taking in multiple destinations around Europe. I don’t want to say too much about the plot because it is full of twists and turns. I was left guessing who were the good guys and who were the criminals.This book reminded me of James Bond or Ocean’s Eleven but without the sex or swearing.Despite the high action and the ongoing mystery, the main character, Talia Inger, does develop throughout the book. She has to confront issues from her past as well as where she stands on matters of faith.I enjoyed meeting all the different characters involved in the heist and I’m looking forward to reading more about some of them in the sequel.This book kept me guessing who to trust. It was an entertaining read.

Ocean’s Eleven-meets-Mission: Impossible is right! In fact, the Ocean’s Eleven ensemble-like cast was one of the things I most enjoyed about this novel—plenty of room for interplay and banter between the characters! Of all the characters in this story, I grew most fond of Eddie the tech geek (and his fidget spinner). He was a good counterbalance for Talia, who was a little harder to warm to as a character—deliberately so, I think, as it seemed to be her personality to close herself off somewhat. Adam Tyler caught my attention from the get-go, and although I worked out some of the twists relating to his character before they were revealed, he brought a really interesting dynamic to the story. And then there were the international members—among them a French woman, a Scotsman, and even an Australian who managed to avoid being overly clichéd, much to the relief of this Australian.There’s plenty of action going on throughout the story, and even some high tech gadgetry, although I found myself having to suspend my disbelief at times (in a similar way to having to suspend my disbelief in Mission: Impossible or James Bond). Hannibal has a crisp writing style that was well suited to the story, even if I did sometimes wish for a little more detail or insight, and there was some VERY dry humour in this story—so dry some readers may miss it altogether—that I really enjoyed.The one thing I’m really torn about, though, is the spiritual aspect to this story. On the one hand, it was thought-provoking and organic to the story, and yet it still felt somehow top-heavy. I’m not sure I can explain it better than that, especially without giving anything away. Perhaps if faith had been a more pervasive element to the story generally it would have better supported this particular aspect? I also felt as though Talia’s about face on that subject was rather sudden and dramatic—somewhat out of character for her. But overall, this was an exciting read, and I look forward to the next in the series.