Title: The Green Vial
Author: Nicholas Orsini
Publisher: LitFire Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1641512183
Pages: 214
Genre: Thriller
Reviewed by: Arnold Carreiro
Hollywood Book Review
The Green Vial is a globetrotting thriller that tells the high-stakes story of Rodger Rodgers, an American scientist who travels to Iran with the hopes of studying the after effects of a devastating earthquake, who is quickly thrown headfirst into the deep end of an international conspiracy with millions of lives on the line. Author Nicholas Orsini does a great job of keeping the core story of The Green Vial moving with its tense situations and excellent descriptions of the environments, people, and cultures of the Middle East; the book hits its most captivating high points during Rodger’s misadventures in Iran and along the Afghan border, but the unnerving sense of the consequences that would befall the United States keeps a firm grip on the reader’s imagination throughout the book.
I particularly appreciated how the structuring of the subchapters is clearly labeled and compartmentalized by their chronological date, “Day 1, Day 2, etc.,” especially since the briskly paced adventure takes place over several continents. Another major highpoint of The Green Vial was the complex character of Rodger himself; he’s a surprisingly cool customer in the face of a the ever-present threat of danger, and I was intrigued that the seismologist managed to narrowly escape a number of threatening situations that would have hardened mercenaries sweating bullets, while expressing far more dread at the thought of having to deal with his ex-wife than a Taliban roadblock.
It’s only natural that readers will latch onto their copy of The Green Vial with white knuckles during the intense gun battles and car chases, but it was Nicholas Orsini’s ability to build up the world around the believable cast of characters that kept my attention gripped like a vice. This attention to detail made locales like the bustling streets of Teheran, clinical nature of the Norwegian National Data Center, and sunny central Florida authentic elements that kept me pouring over each detail.
The Green Vial is a genuinely fun and exciting thriller with brains and heart in equal measure, and while the frequent action will keep you on the edge of your seat and your mind will reel as the conspiracy continues to grow deeper and deeper, it’s hard to top that evil chill that one instinctively feels when you learn of the incredible threat sloshing about inside each jade tube… And while this books absolutely stands up on its own as an enthralling techno-thriller, I wouldn’t be too surprised if The Green Vial served as a springboard for the future adventures of Rodger Rodgers.