Author: Regis Schilken Publisher:

ISBN: 978-0-9764981-3-1

The following review was contributed by: Jennifer Murray Somerset:   Click Here To Read Jennifer's  Reviews: 

In the vein of The Davinci Code and genera of religious thrillers it seemed to
have spawned, Regis Schilken’s book, The Oculi Incident, fits very nicely into it.

The story starts out with a mysterious murder and disappearance at a
monastery to which we jump forward seven years to a seemly unrelated miracle at
the town’s church. It seems that the crucifix that hangs from the gothic
church’s ceiling has inexplicitly begun to weep during services. During the
course of the investigation of this miracle, curiosity seekers start pouring
into this previously financially strapped church. Along with this newfound
wealth a number of unexplained deaths not to mention a blackmailing occur as
well.

I liked how Schilken includes the date and time as a side note to his
grouping of events so that you as the reader have an understanding of when
everything happened without it being such a blatant part of the overall
storytelling. I found as I was reading I would not pay any mind to this element
until I wanted clarification as to when something occurred within the timeline
of events.

Schilken has great flair for writing suspenseful scenes and I found
the overall story to flow seamlessly from one event to the other, except when
the scenes of intimacy between two of the main characters occurred as well as
some of the levity moments between these same characters and a third one. I
found them to be almost jarring to the flow of the story. The almost graphic
scenes of intimacy seemed to be there because it was something you would expect
in this sort of story rather than a key point to help the story along.

The interactions of humor between these three characters, while they were there to
show the type of relationship they had with one another, in some ways seem
almost like a skit that dragged on just a tad too long and beat the joke to
death in the process. Overall I find Regis Schilken to be a very meticulous and
engrossing author and those points of contention that I have with this work
something that will flow better story wise with each sequential work he
produces.

This story clearly shows that Schilken does meticulous research and
puts great though into what he writes. His way with storytelling is very
enjoyable and I look forward to seeing further work from this author in the
future.