FBI Special Agent Willow Lockhart is investigating a series of murders when she collides into a secret government project. A project connected to human mutilations.
A government conspiracy is covering up the discovery of a flying saucer under New York City.
Nothing has prepared Willow for this case. Almost nothing. Willow is in crisis. She was chasing a serial child killer and she could have stopped him. But she hesitated. The FBI caught him, but not before he murdered again.
The crime scenes have something in common besides violent death and mutilation. They have strange animal footprints. Footprints from no known animal.
CIA operatives found violently murdered and then disappear. What? Strange things are happening. Violent things. Things involving the government.
“What's going on?” Willow asked.
Then she learns.
Now she wonders if anyone will survive.
The truth still means something to Willow. It’s not a play toy of an elite few. Willow pursues the truth with a rare tenacity. She will risk the job she dearly loves. Before it’s over, Willow will risk her very life.
Get this book now and join Willow in a fantastic adventure as she fights to stay alive and save the Earth.
FBI Special Agent Willow Lockhart is investigating a series of murders when she collides into a secret government project. A project connected to human mutilations.
A government conspiracy is covering up the discovery of a flying saucer under New York City.
Nothing has prepared Willow for this case. Almost nothing. Willow is in crisis. She was chasing a serial child killer and she could have stopped him. But she hesitated. The FBI caught him, but not before he murdered again.
The crime scenes have something in common besides violent death and mutilation. They have strange animal footprints. Footprints from no known animal.
CIA operatives found violently murdered and then disappear. What? Strange things are happening. Violent things. Things involving the government.
“What's going on?” Willow asked.
Then she learns.
Now she wonders if anyone will survive.
The truth still means something to Willow. It’s not a play toy of an elite few. Willow pursues the truth with a rare tenacity. She will risk the job she dearly loves. Before it’s over, Willow will risk her very life.
Get this book now and join Willow in a fantastic adventure as she fights to stay alive and save the Earth.
Starbright
“Is this Dr. Julia Mayes?” the voice said.
“Yes, this is Dr. Mayes, and to whom am I speaking?” Why didn’t I just let the phone ring? That’s what voice mail is for. Now I’m trapped.
“This is Dr. Mika Wilkins of the Starbright Project. How are you doing today?”
“Dr. who? The Starbright what?” Julia squinted her eyes as she searched her memory. “I’m sorry, but do I know you?”
There was laughter. “It’s been a long time. We met once when you first signed up with us over fifteen years ago. You and your university receive a Starbright Grant every year.”
Ding! Now she started to remember. “Oh! Let me say that you can be very proud of the work your generous donations help fund. We’re involved in groundbreaking research. Understanding the diversity of life on—”
“Dr. Mayes, we have a code-blue event. Let me remind you that this event and all communications concerning it are classified.”
“I’m sorry. I have no idea what you are talking about,” Julia said.
“Code blue is our highest code. Everyone uses code red. I don’t like code red. It’s such a violent color. Red sounds like danger. I chose code blue as our highest alert because blue is such a soothing, comfortable color. You’ll understand more in a few minutes. You may have forgotten that you and the university are under contract with us on this matter.”
“Uh… yes, well… Maybe we can talk later. I’m sorry. I have to leave to teach my class.”
“A national security officer should be at your door any moment. He’ll escort you to a helicopter.” The laughter was gone. In its place was a firm, polite voice.
“Excuse me? I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yes, you are. The security officer will escort you either to the helicopter or to prison. Personally, I recommend the helicopter.”
There was a knock on her office door, which was already open. The dean of her college, James Sanford, was standing in the doorway with two gentlemen wearing dark gray suits. The closest man reached into his coat pocket. His suit coat drew back, revealing a gun holstered under his left arm. He withdrew his hand and flashed his law-enforcement credentials.
“The Starbright Project? Wait a minute.” Julia’s memory was coming back now. She had forgotten all about it. It was so long ago. “The Starbright Project. That’s a federal government project. Isn’t that about—”
“Yes, that’s what it’s about,” Mika said.
Dean Sanford and the two security officers stepped farther into her office. “Julia, you need to go. I’ll take care of everything for you.”
Julia stood at her desk with her mouth agape, holding the phone loosely to her right ear. The phone line went dead.
The two officers escorted her down the busy sidewalk toward the west parking lot, dodging students racing to their classes. Above her, a helicopter zipped by at tree level. It was dark gray with no distinctive markings. She could almost reach up and touch it. Students stopped and stared in awe.
They came to a parking lot where the helicopter had landed. Its blades were still spinning. As Julia approached, the door slid open and the two officers helped Julia climb inside.
The door clicked shut and locked. Julia was thrown back into the seat as the chopper lifted off the ground.
James was waving goodbye. She waved back. Inside the helicopter with her was a woman dressed in a dark blue suit. She had dirty-blond, shoulder-length hair with bangs touching her eyebrows. Her hair had just a touch of gray.
Outside the dark-tinted window, the parking lot grew smaller. Julia watched the traffic flow coming into and exiting the university. The cars became too small to even look like toys. She leaned away from the window and sat back in the plush leather seat.
The woman sitting with her extended her right hand. “Welcome aboard. I’m Dr. Mika Wilkins, director of the Starbright Project. I’m very pleased that we get to meet again after all these years.”
“Hello,” Julia said. She was in a daze. Some would say in shock.
Mika smiled a broad, energetic smile, the kind a kid makes when he steps out of the car in the parking lot of Disneyland. “Isn’t this exciting!” Her eyes flashed.
Julia smiled back; she couldn’t help it.
The air force pilot banked the helicopter to the right sharply and accelerated to maximum speed as the bird continued to climb to its authorized cruising altitude.
“We should be in New York City in a few hours. We hope you enjoy the flight, Dr. Wilkins. If there’s anything we can do, please let us know,” the pilot said over the comm.
“Thanks. Just get us to New York City safely; that’s all I ask,” Mika said. “And no bumps,” she added quickly.
“Roger that. We’ll do our best.”
Imagine being on vacation in New York City where you are supposed to spend time with your sister and relax but instead you find yourself slowly getting wrapped up in some very big secrets and cover up operations. This is a reality for FBI Agent Willow Lockhart. After a particularly tough case, she goes to New York City to spend time with her family, but ends up slowly becoming involved with a big investigation into a crashed flying saucer under the city and mutilated bodies. At first it is rats and then small dogs being mutilated but quickly escalates to human bodies, all emptied of their organs and with small animal prints nearby. It is quickly solved what kind of creatures are doing the killing, but that is only just the beginning of the mystery. From there, Willow must find out who is behind the cover up of the UFO and why, before it goes too far.
Artifact by John Parrish is a book that I found nearly impossible to put down once I had started reading it. It isn't often that a book can so totally hold my attention without there being much mystery as to what is going on. The first few chapters gave away much of what was happening with the creatures, but I just had to know how it was going to end and who was really behind everything. I had to know if the creatures were going to take over or if humanity could overcome. It was excellently written and edited. I even enjoyed the descriptions of characters like Willow, because the author didn't focus on their sex appeal but rather important details to really bring each character to life.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a good thriller or even a good sci-fi as this book could certainly qualify with the alien creatures on Earth thanks to the crashed flying saucer. With the descriptions of gore and death, I would certainly rank this as a book geared for adults.
This book certainly deserves a five-star rating after how it held my attention to the very end. I couldn't wait to get to the bottom of the mystery, but at the same time I was so interested that I didn't want it to end. The characters seemed like real people and I needed to know that my favorites were going to be okay at the end.