Book Review: Spear of Destiny by J.F. Penn

Reviewed by Shelby Zwintscher

An exhilarating international scavenger hunt for a powerful ancient relic

The Arcane Religious Knowledge and Numinous Experience Institute, ARKANE, is an international organization dedicated to solving supernatural and religious mysteries. Morgan Sierra, an ARKANE agent surrounded by loss, was recently cursed on a mission. But while paying respects to a friend who died during that same, fateful mission, Morgan receives a call about a new assignment from her partner, Jake Timber.

It turns out that an archivist at the national library archives in Vienna has found a Nazi Enigma machine containing a long-forgotten, encoded letter depicting a drawing of The Spear of Destiny. Also known as the Holy Lance, the Spear is a relic said to have been stabbed into the side of Jesus Christ during his crucifixion. It is believed to contain unimaginable power which can wield great good or tremendous evil.

While many have claimed their relics are the real Spear, Morgan and Jake are inclined to believe the Spear in Vienna could be the true, power-wielding lance due to this newly uncovered note. Written by a Nazi officer who transported this Spear fragment to the museum, the note confirms that the Spear has been “split into four pieces, as directed.”

As the Spear’s WWII historical connections are uncovered, Morgan and Jake suddenly find the museum under attack. Jericho Command, a military group under the rightwing US Presidential candidate Ezekial Stronghold, will do whatever it takes to gain the Spear fragment.

In the fight to flee, Morgan has an encounter with a tattooed man who is part of this mysterious group. In their brief interaction, both can sense darkness around the other. Is this man cursed too?

The quest to find and reunite the Spear fragments begins with the personal. Morgan learns the true weight of her blood curse when her niece is hospitalized with a potential cancer of the blood. This emotional gut punch sets up a story that’s as satisfying on the human level as it is on the high-stakes plot level.

Spear of Destiny takes Morgan and Jake to archives filled with WWII artifacts, across borders and oceans, into crypts as dark as their history as they race to find the Spear before it can be used for evil.

It’s a heart-pumping supernatural thriller that takes the reader to real locations all around the world. From Historischer Kunstbunker in Nuremberg to Potala Palace in Tibet, every historical location Morgan and Jake visit is described in vivid detail and adds immense value for the historical fiction fan. The settings jump off the page and make the supernatural elements all the more frighteningly believable.

The settings are specific but so is the historical detail. Penn aims to satisfy in multiple arenas—from real history to real thrills to the real possibility of the occult—and does. There’s even a bibliography and details of the research at the end of the novel for those getting lost in the fascinating history.

As the 13th installment of a series, you’d think it’d be difficult to jump into as a first-time reader. But Penn takes care to sprinkle in the relevant histories of Morgan and Jake in ways that we can understand quickly and get moving.

Fast-paced, surprising, and dark, Spear of Destiny is a can’t miss thriller for fans of Dan Brown and action-packed historical fiction.

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