Author: Marilyn Jax
ISBN: 9781592983292
Publisher: Beaver Pond Press

A plastics factory is torched and totally decimated. Why? A young man killed in the blaze? Business owners threatened and strong-armed by on man who appears to be immune to prosecution. A 62-year-old woman who seeks help, but never lives to get it. An elderly man who wants to avenge his son’s death. What is the common denominator? One man who is so evil, full of hate and malice that many will seek him out to bring him to justice or to mete out their own. This brings me to my review of The Road to Omalos by author Marilyn Jax.

Four men formed this their vigilante squad. Each a pillar of society in his own right, but harboring a need to rid the world of poison and leaving no venom behind. Their goal: To take care of the man who was terrorizing these storeowners and who burned the plastics factory leaving its owner Chadwick Otto without anything: his business, the money stored in his safe, the insurance money and his son. Added to this mix are Claire Caswell and Guy Lombard two investigators hired by Mr. Otto to bring this one man to justice. Who will get to him first and what method will be used to bring him to justice? Wait and see!

Marilyn Jax in her novel The Road to Omalos brings to light the issue of whether ordinary citizens have the right to take the law into their own hands when the guilty party seems above the law and gets away unscathed. Four men, one a judge, a Reverend, a pilot and a man into restate, four men bound by a blood oath, and an irrevocable pact, to mete out justice their way no matter the cost. Thomas Lastner, Jack Manning, Kyle Teddy and Scott Harriman bound together with no way out, and will turn every corner and pursue every path, to find George Zenonakis and rid the world of his corruption, deceit and ultimately his demise.

All roads lead to Greece or Crete in this novel in order to apprehend the culprit George Zenonakis. Fleeing Miami and returning to Crete, George looks for solace in his grandfather’s home, but will soon learn a lesson he will never forget. Paranoid, predicting and seeing his own death and replaying many scenes in his head, George takes refuge in his grandfather’s home but never really feels safe. Causing the explosion at the plastics factory was not difficult and stealing the four million dollars and figuring out how to get it out of the country was not hard, but the murder of a William Otto was another thing and would be replayed in his mind many times over time.

Every step forward takes them five steps back when they befriend the storekeepers and people they meet when asking where they might find this dangerous man. Closed mouth, fearing for their lives, Claire, Guy and the vigilantes must find other means to locate their target and bring him to their kind of justice. Who will get there first? Who will win? Remains to be seen. But the answer is right in the title of our novel: The Road to Omalos is as dangerous and deadly to travel as our fugitive as Claire learns as she drives to the top to rescue Guy. But, will she get there before it is too late? Who is this woman called the bird lady that she searches for and finds? What is her importance and role?

Replete with history, vivid descriptions of the countryside, the many villages, foods, customs, and scenery, the author takes the reader on a tour of Crete and many other places in Greece making the reviewer want to get on a plane and see the sights for herself. Added to this we have an illusive shadow that is following our investigators undetected. Just who he is and why he is following them remains to be seen. The road to Omalos is treacherous one must have great skill and stamina to drive up the narrow and winding road. But, when all the players come together and the final scene is over you will not believe what happens. An ending that has twist, turns, surprises and cast of characters that plays out the last scene as if it were in a Shakespearean play, Marilyn Jax has given the reader a novel that is a potent, strong and exhilarating as the RAKI the investigators are served by their hosts in Greece. What will Claire and Guy face next? Will these vigilantes continue on? We will have to wait until Marilyn Jax hopefully brings them back in her next book. The author definitely has a new fan: Me!