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** The Kind Of Review That All
Authors Dream About Receiving **
The Spectrum
Conspiracy
(Paperback),
8 Literary
Awards, 92% five-star reviews
"Wow, what a
book! It's a wild, white-knuckle ride,
pedal to the metal right from page one, never letting up. I'm very impressed by your book's
ambition and scope, by the intricacies of your plotting, by your relentless pacing, your
handling of action, and by your grasp of the technical and procedural details that bring such
authenticity to the story. Your writing shows real authority and bravura
risk-taking.
Congratulations on this outstanding
thriller, and thanks for so kindly sending me a
copy."
-- Ted
Tally, Academy Award Winning Screenwriter
of
The Silence of the
Lambs.
Ted Tally also won the Writers Guild of America Award, Chicago Film Critics Award and an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. After
declining to write the screenplay for the sequel, Hannibal, Tally returned to the Hannibal Lecter franchise
to write Red
Dragon. His other scripts include White Palace, Before and
After, The Juror and All the Pretty Horses. Tally is also credited as an associate producer for Mission to Mars , as well
as creative consultant for Madagascar and story consultant for Shrek 2.
Tally is originally from North Carolina and educated at Yale College and the Yale
School of Drama, where he has taught at each of
them.
2017 UPDATE:
The Spectrum Conspiracy Wins Two More Literary
Awards
 
Rock Hill, SC author, Craig Faris’ début novel wins its
seventh and eight literary awards.
The Reader's
Favorite International Book Award Contest has recognizedThe
Spectrum Conspiracy as the Gold Metal winner
for Best Suspense Fiction in its 2016 international book competition, and earlier this year, the
4th Annual Beverly Hills International Book Awards chose The Spectrum
Conspiracy as their Best Suspense Novel.
Craig and his wife, Deena, traveled to Miami, Florida in late November to accept the Readers’
Favorite gold metal and certificate.
The 2016
Readers' Favorite featured thousands of contestants from over a dozen countries. They are fully
accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest
companies. In addition to reviewing for some of the biggest names in the literary industry, the
Readers’ Favorite award contest features entries from new authors to NYT best-sellers, as well as
celebrities like Jim Carrey and Henry Winkler.
Read more:http://www.spectrumconspiracy.com/public_
html/index.html/#ixzz4glmRfyo6
Congratulations, you're the
Winner of Best Suspense Novel, in the 2016, 4th Annual Beverly Hills Book
Awards!
It is our great pleasure to inform you that you
are a Winner in the 4th Annual Beverly Hills International Book Awards. Your book truly
embodies the excellence that this award was created to celebrate, and we salute you and your
fine work.
The lists of winners and finalists are
also highlighted on our website. Be sure to go to www.beverlyhillsbookawards.com and see
your name and book cover among those of the other proud winners and finalists.
The entire team at the Beverly Hills Book
Awards sincerely hope your participation in our contest will serve you well in creating the success
your book deserves. You have our warmest congratulations.
Warmly,
Ellen Reid, President
& CEO, Beverly Hills Book Awards
* Best Selling
Author of more than 115 books, Donald Bain, sent this letter about The Spectrum Conspiracy
****
"Hello Craig,
First,
my apologies for taking so long to respond to your email. I've been swamped with deadlines, and
have also been traveling. I'm behind catching up with everyone.
Here's what happened with THE SPECTRUM CONSPIRACY. I read 3/4 of it and loved
what I read. I admit that it's the sort of fast-paced, complex thriller that is at odds
with the sort of novels I write, which tend to be slower-moving. After reading 3/4 of the novel I
got sidetracked with a lot of reading I had to do for research and put the book aside. The end
result? It ended up buried under piles of other books. Your email caused me to remember it and I
finished reading the past two nights. You're a hell of a good writer. But as
I said earlier its unrelenting momentum became for me, to be honest, a little overwhelming.
I admire your ability to write with such force and pacing. I sometimes wish that I could do
it.
Anyway, Craig, my apologies again. THE SPECTRUM
COMSPIRACY is a damn good techo-thriller (Tom Clancy and Craig Thomas would
admire it were they still around.)
Best,
Don"
Donald
Bain is the author or ghost/author of
more than 115 books, many of them bestsellers. Among his books, the airline
comedy, Coffee Tea or
Me?, published more than 40 years
ago, together with its sequels sold more than 5-million copies worldwide and was the basis of a television movie-of-the-week. He, along with
his wife, Renée Paley-Bain, and the purely fictitious mystery writer, Jessica Fletcher,
currently write a series of 43 original novels (hard and softcover) based on the TV series.
It's called, "Murder, She
Wrote."
*** News From The 2014 Killer Nashville Conference
***
The Spectrum Cosnpiracy was one of 7 finalist in the 2014
attendee catagory of Killer Nashville Sliver Falchion Awards.
The 2014 Silver Falchion Award competition attracted 1000 entries in mutiple
categorys from noted authors such as Dean Koontz, Jeffery Deaver, David Baldacci, and Stephen
King.
**Feedback from the judges 2012 Killer Nashville Claymore
Awards **
I received this email Jan 8th containing feedback from the
Claymore Award judges.
The comments below are unedited.
Title: The Spectrum Conspiracy
Author: Craig Faris
Strong
Beginning:
The Spectrum Conspiracy had a very strong
opening. Using the word "loomed" immediately added to the anticipation for the unsettling phone
call. This story reads like a thriller. It was a bit of a cliché to begin with a telephone call in
the night waking up the character. One judge said, “I'd rather the senator be on the senate floor
or in some other situation and be approached by a human being.”
Another said, “Although the opening is a phone call, which many claim is overused,
the suspense was well crafted and immediately grabbed me as a reader.”
Character:
Special Agent Devrin Crosby has backstory and flaws and is
sympathetic. We want to root for him to succeed. You introduced a lot of characters in these 50
pages, but there was no confusion. Each character was distinct. One judge mentioned that Crosby
would've had an (inward) moment of concern and wonder at the White House press secretary looking
for a mailbox.
One judge found Kathryn a bit unrealistic
and
not especially likable, but this seemed to be a matter of personal preference, since others had no
problems with her.
Setting:
Your setting was realistic. There was just the right amount of
detail to create realism without bogging down the pacing. The level of detail for each scene rang
with authenticity. Washington is a well covered backdrop in many stories, so there doesn't need to
be volumes written about the locale. The descriptions here are just enough to put the reader into
the action, and you do a good job with this. One judge said, “There have been a million thrillers
set in Washington DC, so the author has a tough row to hoe here. I think he (or she) can get it
done.”
Dialogue:
This was good. It moved the story along and sounded like “real
talk.” The characters have definite changes in their speech patterns, making it easy to identify
who is speaking without having to use tags. Judges loved the line; "they think a hot date is a
five-mile run to a firing range."
Plot:
The Spectrum Conspiracy had action and high stakes. Even more,
the stakes mattered. To protect their patriotism, the Spectrum group assassinates the President of
the U.S., framing and killing an innocent man. Special agent Crosby is just the underdog to ferret
out all the details of the case.
One judge said, “I'm not sure what the plot is at this point,
but this is a long thriller, so that's okay.”
Another said, “I may have needed to read more to discover what will be different
about this plot, wherein the president is assassinated.” Since this idea has been used so often,
maybe introduce a few ideas earlier that show what makes this story
different?
Suspense/Tension:
Suspense and tension are used to good effect in Spectrum
Conspiracy. The suspense is created right from the beginning and keeps building. The scene in which
the poor camera man is duped into becoming the assassin and sacrificial lamb was harrowing. One
judge said, “With such high stakes, I had to keep turning the pages to find out what happened
next.”
The tire changing incident (for example) is one that shows that every scene in the
manuscript shows menace and foreboding.
Conflicts:
With such
strong characterization, even the minor characters had story arcs and inner conflicts. The layered
conflicts worked well together.
One judge said, “Conflicts are all over the place. We don't know exactly who is doing
what or what side who is on!” As handled, this is a positive, since the reader is kept in suspense,
but never confused.
Another said, “There are numerous conflicts emerging among the characters, and
internal conflict concerning alcohol addiction presents early in the
protagonist.”
Pacing:
Well done. You
effectively sped the story up and down so that an average reader would be unaware of that story
dynamic. Readers are pushed and pulled through the story. One judge said, “Excellent. I'd buy this
book.”
Voice/Writing
style:
Your style and voice were distinctive and engaging. You made
great use of 3rd person POV. One judge said, “It's rather Ludlum-like. That's a compliment. But it
also means that this has got to be more than the ordinary, stereotypical political
thriller.”
Grammar &
Mechanics:
Exceptionally well done. Few errors in grammar, punctuation,
spelling, or mechanics were detected. Two minor examples: "...where it will lay in state..." should
be “lie in state.” Also, one judge mentioned that it's a lectern, not a podium. Since most people
would call it a podium, this may not be an issue.
Additional
Notes:
One judge said, “A compelling read. I don't read many thrillers,
but this one held my interest.”
Another said, “This book would sell. It needs editing. There are a few grammar and
vocabulary slip ups. The formatting is off in places. The beginning could be strengthened. Having
the black President be a conservative (my take) is an excellent ploy. I don't know what the rest of
the book is like, but I would be disappointed if it is a KKK killer of a black president. I'd love
to see a really nasty and complex conspiracy of some kind. I'm a sucker for these kinds of
books.”
Another said, “The writing is crisp, and the plot moves without a lot of unnecessary
words. My only concern at just fifty pages is that I didn't get to read enough to see how this
story, although well written will be different than another Ludlum type of suspense thriller about
a presidential assassination.”
This was a strong
contender.
Note: The
Killer Nashville Claymore Award is a contest for unpublished mystery and thriller manuscripts. At
the time I entered this contest in May of 2012, my novel, The Spectrum Conspiracy was not yet
published or under contract.
Ten finalists were announced in July 2012, chosen from 223
entries through a blind judging process. Each MS was read by two author/readers to move out of the
first round. Then by a third and, in case of a tie, a fourth to move into the final
ten.
The
finalists were read by Killer Nashville's 2012 publishing partner, Five Star Press/Tekno Books. The
publisher then chose the winner and two runners up and the winners were offered publishing
contracts.
The
Spectrum Conspiracy was NOT chosen as a winner or a finalist in this competition, however I was
notified that is fell just outside the final ten and some of the agents requested my contact
information. But by that time it was already under contract with Bella Rosa
Books.
Fantastic
book by
a SC
author.
This
action-packed
novel
is
packed
with
history,
science,
and
government
inter-workings.
Keeps
you on
the
edge of
your
seat.
Lots of
moving
parts
and
secret
plans
and
agendas.
The end
unfolds
with
twists
and
turns I
never
expected!
Covert
secret
government
agency
plans -
yes
please!
I was
pleasant
surprised
with
this
author’s
ability
to
weave
so many
stories
and
agendas
together.
And the
details
in the
scientific
fields
was
impressive.
There
were a
lot of
people
and
names
to keep
up
with! I
actually
made
myself
a cheat
sheet
of
names
and
code
names
so I
wouldn’t
get
confused.
Highly
recommend
this
book!
Page
turner
for
sure!
Action
starts
almost
immediately
Terrific
Storyline,
Great Plot,
Super
Entertaining
May 8, 2019
As a
retired
FBI
Special
Agent,
I found Mr.
Faris' book to
be fast paced,
exciting and
captivating.
The storyline
moves quickly,
always keeping
the reader
involved
delving into
the quick
twists and
turns of a
great plot. It
is a book that
you won't want
to put down.
Much more
exciting than
most of the
cases the FBI
really
investigates,
Mr. Faris
demands much of
his writing and
it is evident
as the book
does a
wonderful job
of character
development and
the movement of
the story to a
climactic and
exciting
ending. I would
recommend this
one as a "must
read." Well
done.
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Debra J. McCahan
Very suspenseful!April
23, 2019
I enjoyed reading this book and
could hardly put it down. The end
was a surprise that I did not
expect!
Matt Roberts
Five Stars October 20, 2017
Great read, could not sleep all night
up reading
Steve Spears
5 Stars
New FanSeptember 12, 2017
Just finished the book, I was literally
on the edge of my seat for the last few
chapters. I hated to put it down and
couldn't wait to get back to it.The
book was very well written. A wonderful
mix of detail, suspense and excitement.
Bravo Mr. Faris, Bravo!!!!!!!!!
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5 Stars
A
thriller!July 6, 2017
I really enjoyed the book. The twists and turns had me
wondering who was a good guy and who was a bad guy. It had
me on the edge of my seat the entire read.
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5 stars
This was a very good
book - about midway into it I was hooked ...June 12, 2017
This was a very good book - about midway into it I was hooked and could not put
it down. Everything about the story-line seemed realistic and plausible. This
was a very thought provoking book!!
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5 Stars "I
thoroughly enjoyed this book. Fast paced,
interesting characters. One of those books that you find hard to put down. A real page
turner!" Posted by FeFe
1/11/13
5
Stars"This is not the type of book I usually readbut it does drive you to keep reading. It is
up to the minute with the technology and plot line. If thrillers are your thing I don't think
you will be disappointed with this book. The tension builds and as a reader you want to ask some
of these characters how they missed this or that clue. Fans of this genre should not be
disappointed. I'd be a big fan of a book where all the bullets in this country were replaced
with gummy bears....we could call it the gummy bear conspiracy, but that's just me :-)
Henry Vere Posted on Amazon January
11, 2013
5
Stars"Just finished this book and I am giving it 2 thumbs
up! I couldn't put it down once I started. I found it very
suspenseful with very engaging characters and a great storyline. I look forward to more books by
this author."jwhitecarolinaguy Posted on B&N January 10, 2013
Emailed"I just finished your book yesterday - wow, full of action and intrigue and
fast-paced. I enjoyed it. Good job."
Heiko B. Pastor, Neely's Creek
Church, Received via email
1/9/2013
5
Stars"This is a great read! Keeps your
attention right from the start! If you likewell
written suspense novels this book is for you.I think it would make a great movie
script. I can't wait to see it on the big screen! Once I started reading I could not put it down
until I was finished. What makes it scarey is that it could possibly happen."HoldenBchBoyPosted on Amz
1/4/2013
5
Stars"As a writer, I tend to read critically,
andThe Spectrum Conspiracybears scrutiny
extremely well.I'm amazed by the intricate
plot, believable and memorable characters, and authentic dialogue.If there are
inaccuracies in the scientific material or government workings, I didn't pick up on them. A
great read start to finish."Betty Beamguard Posted on Amz
1/4/2013
5
Stars"Just got through reading this book and it was
excellent.Itkept me in it until the end. Well written
and a good read. I could see this book becoming a movie."
Devrin Avant Posted on BAM
1/3/2013
5
Stars"With engaging characters, plenty of suspense,
a plausible intricate plot, andmore twists
and turns than an Appalachian highway, this novel sucks you in and doesn't let go.Never boring, it takes "what if" to a whole new
level."Anonymous Posted on B&N January 4, 2013
5
Stars"This book really got my attention right off
the mark. Really hard to put it down once you get into it and I would recommended to anyone
that likes to be on the edge of their seat while reading.Really phenomenal!"
Anonymous Posted on B&N January 2, 2013
5
Stars"Finished readingTHE SPECTRUM CONSPIRACYby Rock Hill's own Craig Faris. Add this
book to your"must
read"list. Those of you who know me, know that this is not my regular genre. I
read Christian fiction, historical fiction, and some mystery. This book is in the action,
drama, thriller category. ITHOROUGHLY ENJOYED THE BOOK!Congratulations, Craig!
Great job!"
Carolyn
Lesslieposted
12/30/2012
5
Stars"When I first started reading "The Spectrum
Conspiracy" I didn't think the book would hold my attention. However, I have read all of
Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series and several of James Patterson's books about Alex Cross and
the Spectrum Conspiracy novel was just as exciting and entertaining. I could not put the
Spectrum Conspiracy book down once I started reading it. I would rate the book as good as the
Flynn/Patterson books. I hope the book becomes a movie. It would be a block buster. I highly
recommend this novel to anyone who likes the Flynn/Patterson novel.You won't be
disappointed."
Thomas Fergusonposted
12/31/2012
5
Stars"Wow! What a great read.I could not put it
down- literally. Past paced and scary real. I could see this being played out in our country.
. Hope it becomes a movie."Lona Gilmoreposted
12/28/2012
5 Stars - Fantastic
One of the most engaging books I have had the pleasure of reading
in the past year. I read the whole thing in about two days because I could just NOT set it
down. The way it comes in and just hooks you from the first chapter is brilliant. 10/10
thriller!Posted by
Emergentconch Dec, 25,
2012
Five
Stars October 20, 2016
***** 5 Stars
Loved this book - would highly recommend. Couldn't put it down
Review by Shirley
***** 5 Star An Intriguing Political
Thriller July 7,
2016
The Spectrum Conspiracy by Craig Faris
is a novel about your worst nightmares: weapons of mass destruction, terrorists, and political
conspiracy. It opens with the assassination of the President of
theUnited States during a speech, and progresses on a wild ride that
involves the FBI, Homeland Security, Cabinet Level officials, scientists, conspirators, and even
ordinary, everyday people with an ugly ax to grind with the government. The most interesting of
these characters are Special Agent Dervin Crosby, who is struggling to salvage his career after
a devastating error several years prior, and his friend Gerald McMullin, a reporter who thinks
he's chasing a woman he met on a chance encounter, but is actually on the verge of something
much bigger.
The Spectrum Conspiracy is by far one of the most intriguing political thrillers I've read over the
past few years. While the cast of characters is expansive, they're tied together in ways that
aren't too obvious or too complicated. Likewise, the plot weaves through these characters in an
intriguing and interesting way. Directly or indirectly, it all works together perfectly in a story
that's fast paced, thrilling, and keeps you guessing until the very end. Craig Faris did an
excellent job not only with the research, but with keeping the book and the cast of characters
moving together without making the end too obvious. There are plenty of surprises to keep you
reading. I'm happy to give this thrilling, fast paced adventure a five star review, and I highly
recommend it to anybody that enjoys adventure, suspense, or political thrillers.
Review by Sherri M.
***** 5 Star Action
galore! July 19,
2015
Great, fast-paced action in the vein of
Clancy, Ludlum--only better. Faris crafts an edge-of-your-seat thriller AND unlike those
well-known authors who've long relied on ghost-writers and apprentices to craft their worn-out,
boilerplated stories, Faris gives unanticipated twists and turns that kept me turning the pages
as fast as I could.
Review by Abby
***** Five StarsA Great
Action Adventure June 19, 2015
FBI special agent Devrin Crosby
is struggling to put the pieces back together of a blemished career when he gets a call that the
president has been assassinated. FBI Section Chief Robert Lynch assigns the case to agent Crosby
and FBI forensics specialist Dr. Marti Matthews. During the assassination investigation a
terrorist(s) unleashes a weapon of mass destruction in Colorado and the race is on to find those
responsible and prevent additional attacks. Together Crosby and Matthews partner with an alphabet
soup of federal agencies to stop the madness.
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