The Moonlit Earth [Paperback]

Following her being fired from her position as head of the Siegel Foundation, a Northern California not for profit firm facing bankruptcy, due to her radical methods, thirty year old Megan Reynolds returns to her mother's home in Cathedral Beach near San Diego. Megan is disappointed as she tried to so hard to reach the homeless kids wandering the mean streets.

In Hong Kong, a terrorist attack leaves sixty dead. The FBI believes Megan's flight attendant brother Cameron in conjunction with apparently his gay lover from the middle East Majed committed the atrocities. Megan vows to prove her naive but kind-hearted sibling would never harm anyone and starts a dangerous journey to prove she is right beginning with finding Cameron who vanished without a trace.

This is an excellent thriller that plays out on two levels: the international terrorism and the personal terror. The key is Megan who has faith in her sibling that he would not do these atrocities; she holds the fast-paced complicated plot together as she searches for her brother and the truth, praying her assertion is the truth. Readers will enjoy this exhilarating tale of a good caring person traveling a part of Asia that middle class American civilians avoid.

Harriet Klausner

For the past decade Christopher Rice has grown as an author, finding his own voice and shedding any shadow of the writing of his famous parents. With The Moonlit Earth, he moves further into the realm of mysteries, this time taking the story international and weaving a story involving contemporary hot topics such as terrorism, Arab culture and the use of manipulation of the media. While on a layover in Hong Kong, flight attendant Cameron Reynolds is considered a prime suspect in a hotel bombing stemming from images conveniently leaked to the press. His sister Megan holds out belief that he is alive and innocent and she travels Hong Kong to find out the truth.

The story is fairly solid, if not a bit confusing at times with layers that don't always lead to a satisfactory resolution. A shadowy character we never meet is behind things, or is he? The sketchy cousin - is he vital to the story or a McGuffin? At heart the story is about family relations, and what makes us do what we do, and yet much of this theme gets confusing and is feels shorted in the narrative. These stories would have benefited from a greater exposition and a greater attention to detail for they are the true center of what he is trying to write about. The international intrigue is merely a means to move this story along. Our biological relationships and those relationships we choose to make is Rice's real story.

Overall the book is a good read, fast paced and enjoyable summer book. Christopher Rice continues his streak of writing interesting and unique books.

Christopher Rice's fifth novel, THE MOONLIT EARTH, is a taut thriller populated with strong characters and offering a well thought-out plot. After their father walked out on their young family, Megan and Cameron Reynolds decided that they would take care of each other. Cameron is now a flight attendant on a cushy airline and spends his free time in the gay world of West Hollywood. Megan worked for a nonprofit outfit until she was fired for doing something her superiors couldn't forgive. She moved back home to live with her mother in Cathedral Beach, where she and her brother grew up.

Their cousin Lucas, a millionaire, supports the family and is very generous to them. They in turn have become very dependent on him and lionize him. When Megan talks to him about her job, he offers her a dream career and is ready to finance it. She is thrilled and wants to share her good fortune with her brother. But, at the moment, he is on a layover in Hong Kong.

Suddenly, and without any warning, Cameron's face is splashed all over international news outlets calling him a terrorist. While in his hotel, he is visited by Mahed, a man associated with a Saudi family, whose job it is to protect the youngest son who is in love with Cameron. Mahed finds a bomb planted in Cameron's hotel room. He throws it down the laundry chute and pulls Cameron out the front door of the hotel just as it's exploding, killing more than 60 people. The media and other witnesses are ready to swear that Cameron is a terrorist.

When Cameron disappears, Megan goes to Hong Kong to find him. She has no doubt that he is not responsible in any way for the attack. Has he gone underground on his own, or are people secretly helping him? Or, worse, are people keeping him against his will? What does the Saudi family have to do with his disappearance? Whose side is Mahed really on?

Despite questioning by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies tasked with taking down terrorists, Megan manages to get a lead on her missing brother. She hops a plane to Asia and begins to follow his footsteps in an attempt to save him. But along the way, she uncovers secrets about her family and a past that turns her perspective of life upside down. She is amazed when Lucas shows up in Hong Kong and is rattled by the tragedies he triggers off. Who can she trust, if anyone? What does Lucas know about her brother's whereabouts? Exactly what does he know about the bomb?

The body count in THE MOONLIT EARTH slowly rises as fear grips players and nations. In this time of random terror and war, Christopher Rice has given readers a timely and tension-filled book. His characters are finely honed, and the dialogue is believable. Fans and new readers are sure to be seduced by the raw emotions rampant here. In an interview, Rice jokes, "This book is as close as I'll ever get to Robert Ludlum."

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