Talon of God

by Wesley Snipes and Ray Norman

[Quirky Cat]

I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of a novel written by an actor (though it seems to be becoming a more common trend), but I still found myself both surprised and unsurprised by what I received. I would be curious to know who wrote what in this case (as you can see, in a much smaller font under Wesley Snipes name, is a second name, Ray Norman), but again that’s mostly for curiosity’s sake.
If you’re looking for a new series that’ll be simultaneously fairly religious while also reminiscent of the Blade movies, then look no further! Talon of God is the book for you. Written by Wesley Snipes and Ray Norman, the similarities (in the beginning in particular) to Blade are inescapable.



As mentioned above, Talon of God reminded me pretty heavily of Blade; a brilliant woman is rescued by a strong and competent guy from the hands of the supernatural, only for it to be her specific skills and background are needed to help truly solve the problem. Sound familiar? Honestly though, I don’t mind that plot, so I was willing to overlook the similarities (plus, I like Blade and I like Wesley Snipes, so I was totally willing to give him a chance here).
Talon of God focuses on a caring doctor named Lauryn Jefferson. She’s the epitome of giving and kind hearted – after working her butt off through med school she is actively choosing to work in one of the lowest budget hospitals around, simply because it’s the right thing to do. Despite the fact that she claims she’s an unbeliever (relevant because her father is a preacher), Lauryn does an awful lot of good that religion preaches for.
It’s thanks to those very attributes that Lauryn gets dragged into the event of the century; druggies coming down with side effects unheard of for their poison of choice. What’s worse? Whatever it is they’re taking appears to be contagious. From there things spiral pretty rapidly for Lauryn, as she gets pulled further and further into the world she says she doesn’t believe in.
You’ll notice the name – Talon of God, is actually pretty literal as far as titles go. One of the other main characters is called Talon, and he is literally a warrior for god. So yeah, the title didn’t really take a leap or anything.
The name should have been a dead giveaway for me, but the novel takes a pretty serious turn towards religious very suddenly (more so towards the end when Lauryn finds herself believing). I’ll admit that this sort of heavy handedness is a bit of a turn off for me, but some people may still enjoy those particular parts. They’re still well written, it’s just they beat you over the head a bit with it.
The ending doesn’t really indicate one way or the other if it’ll become a series – I think it has the potential to either be standalone or the first in a series, depending on the reception of the book. As far as my input is concerned, I enjoyed it but I didn’t love it. I don’t regret reading it, but I also don’t think I’ll read any more books for this series, should they come out.


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