Deception's Legacy (Paperback)

In addition to action-packed adventure, "Deception's Legacy", brings us significant historical information and a major surprise in the life of one of our main characters, Skye, who, even in her 70s is actively involved in her family and in her former career as a DEA agent.

Set in two primary time periods-1966 and 2030-the story also takes readers back to the time of the Spanish Inquisition. And there is where I would like to begin in sharing the story.

Evil people use whatever they can to justify hatred and prejudice. During the Spanish Inquisition, which was instigated by Queen Isabella and sanctioned by Pope Sixtus IV, in 1483, theft, torture, and murder were routinely committed against all those in Spain whose only crime was that their faith and belief was not sanctioned by the Catholic Church!

In Palomares, Spain, these outrages were planned and executed by "Don Cristobal," which represented both a family as well as the nobility who held the title at any given time. These men were thrilled to use religion to cover their lusts and they were quite willing to choose Marranos Jews and Muslims especially as their victims. Each generation excitedly considered how to "improve" and "surpass" the atrocities of the previous Don Cristobal.

Using this background, Randolph moves between 1966 and 2030, presenting two exciting storylines, separately but ultimately connected in an explosive confrontation that is truly unforgettable!

Jim ... a training instructor was commanded to fill a last-minute staffing problem and fly as standby pilot on a nuclear airlift mission-Chrome Dome. Palomares, Spain, 1966, was one of the last times nuclear bombs were carried for there, over Palomares, Chrome Dome tried to refuel mid-air only to have problems which led to one of the most horrific accidents which ever occurred. But there in the midst of tragedy, a wondrous love story began.

Rosita had found Jim after he had parachuted/crashed; using that parachute, she was able to finally pull him into the cave in which she had been hiding. When Jim finally awoke, dazed, he saw her-she was bruised and bleeding, almost as badly hurt as he was. His first thought was that one of the nuclear bombs had exploded and it was already too late-she was evidence of what had happened.

Rosita cradled the Black man in her arms. She did not know that Jim M was one of the few African-American pilots, all she knew was that he was hurt and she tried to comfort him. As time passed, a young boy, Rosita's friend came to bring food to her. Finding the stranger, he stayed and when the man awoke, he used what little English he knew to try to communicate.

The nuclear bombs had not exploded; Don Cristobal, to whom she belonged, had hurt Rosita. She was pregnant, her third, for Rosita was a Marrano, and Don Cristobal could not allow another Marrano to be born, so he would beat her until each baby died! He was looking forward to killing her third child, still joyously following the commands established so long ago. Rosita had escaped to protect her baby.

Jim knew, however, that neither he nor Rosita would live if they didn't get help. Finally, he was able to make Rosita understand that she must go for help; he sent her with evidence of his existence and she looked until she finally found the one other Black man who was stationed in Spain, thinking that would be who would help them. Knowing that Rosita would be killed if he didn't further help her, Jim claimed that Rosita was his wife and that she was carrying his child. What appeared to them to be a miracle resulted in Rosita later being on the plane that was carrying Jim back to the States. Decades passed before how they escaped was revealed-what a story!

Although Skye had tried to dissuade him, her son Tristan had followed in her footsteps and joined the DEA. In 2030, Tristan was assigned to Spain and was quickly immersed in a major effort to trace drug smuggling activities. The assignment required Tristan's search of the ruling Don Cristobal's castle. There he found the hideous evidence of what these men had done, and were still doing, in the name of the Catholic Church. Unbelievable perversions had been documented each generation trying to be more heinous than the one before! Now they were using drugs as one of the latest methods by which Marranos were murdered. Now they were not really too careful whether it was just Marranos that were affected!

Tristan encounters include fun impersonations, exciting near-death experiences (when his parents come to his rescue) and finally in his finding his own soulmate. Surprise after surprise keeps the reader turning pages, striving to keep up with what is being revealed! There is NO way I'm going to even hint at what happens at the end!

Needless to say, Randolph gets better and better! Her third novel in the Deception series is excitingly new and historically significant. Randolph continues as one of my favorite and MUST-READ authors. If this book sounds interesting, trust me...get the first two books and start at the beginning of this unique family saga!

Norm Goldman, Bookpleasures.com
Two principle historical settings, the Spanish Inquisition and a nuclear accident that occurred in Spain in 1966 provide the impetus for a compelling novel in Jacqueline G. Randolph's third book in her Deception Series.ÿ

Deception's Legacy begins when we learn about an actual incident in 1966 concerning an American B-52 bomber carrying four bombs that packed more than a megaton of power or one hundred times more powerful than Hiroshima and that collided with a supply plane above the village of Palomare in south-eastern Spain. As a result, a crew made up of over 1, 600 American and Spanish soldiers were assigned the task of cleaning up the mess.

Within hours the crew was successful in locating three of the bombs that landed on the shore however it was eighty days before they located the fourth one.

Unfortunately, high explosives in two of the bombs detonated on impact spreading plutonium dust over several hundred acres. It was determined that four of the seven crew members parachuted to safety. However, another crew member, an African-American, Capt. James E. Matthews, was never logged on the mission manifest and was not reported to be missing in action. Matthews was eventually found by a girl, Rosita who was not more than fourteen and who couldn't speak English and a boy, Jut, who was not more than ten. As we later discover all of these characters will play pivotal roles in the novel's conclusion.

Both of these youngsters help Matthews survive his wounds. However, what amazes Matthews was that the young children, who together didn't weigh much over a hundred pounds, were able to drag him to safety into a cave. Moreover, Matthews was stunned when he noticed that the girl, who was pregnant, also had several cuts, bruises and wounds all over her body. When he demanded that they seek help for Rosita, Jut indicated to Matthews that she is for Don Cristobal and he is not a gentleman that you would want to cross. As we later learn, Cristobal is a notorious criminal and drug lord whose ancestry dates back to the hideous days of the Spanish Inquisition.

Fast forward to the year 2030 where we meet Tristan, a young undercover agent for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), who is on his first mission to Spain, and who has been assigned to participate on a special joint Spanish-American Interpol investigation pertaining to drug trafficking in Spain. As part of the mission, Tristan is required to check out a three-story castle-like mansion located in the village of Palomares that is owned by the Cristobal family. It is here where he discovers eerie underground catacombs containing centuries-old torture contraptions used during the era of the Spanish Inquisition. Dominating the main chamber he finds a shrine dedicated to one of the most evil historical figures, Tomas de Torquemada, the head of the Spanish Inquisition in 1483. Randolph fills us in on some of the gruesome background history of the Inquisition where Jews and Moslems were slaughtered even long after the death of Torquemada.

We also are apprised of the fact that the prime suspect in Tristan's investigation is Siloe who he refers to as Cristobal junior and who is a nasty piece of work. What is very worthy of note is that Tristan, in order to further his investigation, disguises himself as a debonair Spaniard, Rodrigo Alejandro Tenorio, who is dating Siloe's niece and ward, Carmen Isabella- something that very much displeases Siloe.

A facet of the novel that plays a key role is the fact that Tristan is the son of a former DEA agent, Skye, who together with her husband Rhys, manages to secretly keep an eye on her son's activities while he is stationed in Spain. In addition, after Tristan winds up as a nameless person in a Spanish hospital, he undergoes DNA testing which ultimately induces Skye to search out her own ancestral roots leading to a shocking discovery-something she hadn't anticipated.

Shifting back to 1966, our American pilot Matthews is shipped back to the USA along with Rosita, who is disguised and dressed in a green fatigue Army uniform sporting the name tag Diaz, and who turns out now to be married to Matthews. As we later find out, all of these events come out in the wash and fit into Randolph's jig saw puzzle that fittingly suits the book's title- "Deception's Legacy".

The historical background side of "Deception's Legacy" is quite interesting and doesn't slow down the pace and development of the story. However, at times I felt that Randolph was a trifle clumsy and seemed to be struggling in trying to coherently interweave her themes.

When I interviewed Randolph and asked her if her work was improvisational or did she have a set plan, her reply was an emphatic improvisational! Perhaps, if "Deception's Legacy" was planned out, this clumsiness would have been avoided. But despite this shortcoming, "Deception's Legacy" does manage to come out a winner and proves to be quite a read with a great deal of suspense. Once again Randolph has shown herself to be quite adept at writing entertaining, fast-paced thrillers in under 200 pages that linger long after the reading is over.

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