Rare Earth

By: Davis Bunn

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Marc Royce stares down from the helicopter on the Rift Valley slashing across Africa like a scar. Tribal feuds, drought, and dislocation have left their devastation. And he sees a new wound – a once-dormant volcano oozing molten lava across the dry landscape – and clouds of ash obscure his vision. His undercover assignment is similarly obscured.

Supposedly, dispatched to audit a relief organization’s accounts, Marc finds himself amid the squalor and chaos of Kenyan refugee camps caught in a stranglehold of corruption and ruthlessness. But his true task relates to the area’s reserves of once-obscure metals now indispensible to high-tech industry. The value of this rare earth inflames tensions on the world’s stage as well as among warring tribes. When an Israeli medical administrator, Kitra, seeks Marc’s help with her humanitarian efforts, they forge an unexpected link between impoverished African villages and another Silicon Valley rising in the Israeli desert. Precious metals and inventive minds promise new opportunities for prosperity, secure futures, and protection of valuable commodities from terrorists. As Marc prepares to report back to Washington, he seizes a chance to restore justice to this troubled land. This time, he may have gone too far.

©2012 Davis Bunn (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Great 2nd book in Marc Royce Series

Davis Bunn's second book in Marc Royce series is another hit. Published by Brilliance Audio and Bethany House in book and digital format.

New narrator, Phil Gigante, doesn't miss a step as this time we find Marc in Africa where volcano caused drought has deveststed this once rich farm land.

As an accountant Marc is auditing a relief agencies books, while undercover he is looking for a missing aid worker. The relief agency is just one arm of a private security company and they don't want Marc asking any questions. 

As Marc quickly gets relief supplies from the tents to the needy he is given more responsibility by a local leader who gives him a blank check to get food and medical supplies into the refuge camps. 

Marc once again finds kinship with African leaders through Jesus Christ. One elder has visions of a man who will save the land and believes Marc is the man of his visions. Pressure rises fast as the truth comes to light as too why the aid worker has disappeared, and no one wants Marc to solve the problem.

Marc Royce risks everything once again to find the truth and save the African village. This is a great humanitarian story with action and redemption.

Outstanding!

I was intrigued from start to finish! Loved the unspoken clues and the depth of relationships explored here. Looking forward to Mark Royce's next steps!

Spectacular

Glorious writing! Very entertaining ! A must read! I loved the first book and can't wait to start the next one

Great Listening

Narrator did a great job will all of the voices. I was able to keep track of the characters simply because of the different voices.

Rare Earth

This is now one of my all time favorite books. The story was beautiful and amazing. Such a rich, vibrant story. The characters were remarkable and quite memorable. The narrator gave an excellent performance.

The ending ... what happened?

Any additional comments?

I liked the book, its pace, the story line. However, the last 30 minutes of the audio book were strange, seemingly rushed. It seemed unclear why Mark Royce made his decision. Perhaps it was a single line buried in the narrative. If so, I missed it, which was a shame. The whole wrap-up of the end was so anticlimactic that it diminished the overall work. Rather like running into a brick wall that drops onto a road just as the destination becomes visible.

Despite this, there were hours of pleasurable listening. I am a fan of Phil Gigante as the narrator of the story. He makes it very easy to keep track of the different characters by using distinctive voices for each. His reading brings the work to life. Thanks Phil.

Entertaining solid read

I thought this the author did a good job in his writing for this book. He took a unique topic, added intrigue and mystery along with a international relationship between two main characters and came up with a good, solid book. In spite of all the rave reviews, I didn't feel like this book was all it could have been. But it was definitely worth the time it takes to read it.