Rob Samborn's "The Prisoner of Paradise: A Gripping Tale of Adventure and Survival"

Certified_Book_Nerd: Nick, and his wife Julia, are vactioning in Venice. While taking in the sites, they make sure to stop and get lost in the beautiful art displayed at the Palazzo. When Nick sees Tintoretto's Paradise, it calls to him. Not because of it's beauty...but because of the voice he hears coming from it...

I am a huge lover of mixed timelines, past lives and secret orders. The Prisoner of Paradise is amazing. You start out with what is supposed to be a relaxing and fun dream vacation which quickly turns into absolute chaos.

You're hit with an unraveling mystery of self, thrills, action-packed scenes, and deceit. The dual timelines are told in past and present, and I LOVE the inclusion of Angelo as Nick's past life persona. The fact that there is also a dual love interest that, of course, results in emotional turmoil, is a plus as well.

If you love historical fiction and stories with past lives this is definitely one to grab. I sincerely appreciate the publisher for providing me with a review copy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.

United States on Aug 07, 2022

Amazon Customer: “For it is fear that will bring loss, if not death.”

Nick and Julia are a young married couple touring Venice, where Julia has a photograph featured in an art exhibit. Nick recently suffered a concussion, leading to Julia’s concern when he begins to hear a woman’s voice coming from the legendary painting, Paradise. Nick believes the voice is that of his soulmate from the 16th century - and she’s been trapped in the painting for hundreds of years. Determined to free her and the other wrongfully imprisoned souls, Nick stumbles into a secret order and finds himself fleeing through the streets of Venice in an effort to outmaneuver them.

I haven’t been to Venice in over a decade, but I could picture it vividly as I read and I adored it. I’m a sucker for soulmates, so the flashbacks to Nick’s previous life as Angelo quickly became my favourite chapters. The pacing was excellent as well. I feel it could’ve been a standalone novel, as I didn’t find the ending as satisfying as I’d hoped. I was also more sold on Angelo and Isabella’s relationship than I was on Nick and Julia’s, though I suspect that is to show the difference between soulmates and a...

Canada on May 03, 2022

Tom Riddell: Filled with magic, art, history, action and a very complicated and intriguing romance- this one has it all.

Tintoretto, a sixteenth century Italian artist painted the world's largest oil painting, named Paradise. Nick and Julia O'Connor have dreamed of going to Venice, and despite a head injury that Nick sustains in a hockey game, the couple makes the trip anyway. Tintoretto's painting becomes central to the couple's time there since Paradise is found by Nick to be haunted by a voice of a woman in the painting, and that voice seems to be directly calling to him. Julia worries that her husband has become delusional as a result of Nick's head injury, but Nick insists that the voice is from a woman from the sixteenth century- a soul mate from a previous life. Nick eventually discovers who he was in his past life, and he also learns of an ancient order that is responsible for extracting people's souls and imprisoning them in Tintoretto's masterpiece. Nick becomes infatuated with his past life soul mate, as she continues to plead with him to free her soul but to do that would mean freeing all of the thousands of souls trapped within the oils of the painting. The ancient order is...

United States on May 02, 2022

Laura Kemp: 16th Century Venice comes to vivid life in this dual-timeline debut novel by Rob Samborn. On one hand we have Nick O'Connor and his lovely wife, Julia- two unsuspecting American tourists on an art tour of Venice- and on the other we have the star-crossed lovers- Angelo and Isabella. The only problem is Nick and Angelo are the same person, give or take a few lifetimes.
I was sucked in by the premise of this book, souls trapped inside a famous Tintoretto painting, while the romantic in me was intrigued by which lover Nick would choose.
There was intrigue galore in the form of a secret Order and an age old relic they would kill to protect. I was never quite sure who the good guys were, or if the hero would be able to pull himself out of his past life in order to save his current one.
I won't give the ending, but I'm excited to learn there will be another book in this series! All in all, a great mash-up of Dan Brown meets Indiana Jones set against a gorgeous backdrop.

United States on Mar 20, 2022

Deb Charity-Patterson: An interesting concept and started off well. However the characters were weak and the plot lacking. Not compelling enough to challenge the Dan Brown books and not endearing enough to compare with Outlander. There is no end it’s almost like the author ran out of ink, however I don’t think there’s enough talent here to carry forward into a sequel. This is the first time I’ve ever felt compelled to write a review and I only gave two stars as initially the concept appealed to me.

United Kingdom on Feb 20, 2022

Mark Schultz: I loved this story! I have read a lot of time travel stories. This is not that. It is a past-life story. Is that a spoiler? I try not to let spoilers leak out in my reviews.
When Nick and Julia land in Venice they have no idea that they are on a collision course with the past! This fast-paced adventure begins to pickup steam when they visit a renowned art museum in Venice. Nick thinks he is losing his mind when he hears a voice calling to him from a famous painting that is several hundred years old. His wife, Julia, doesn't know what to think. Things go from bad to worse as a centuries-old conspiracy is slowly revealed and the married couple do not know who they can trust.
A rollicking ride that veers from the present into the past over and over. You are going to love this book! It is so hard to put down!

United States on Feb 17, 2022

Amazon Customer: This is truly one of the most creative plots I have ever come across. It will definitely keep you guessing all the way through. Rob Samborn has a great talent for visual descriptions of place as well as action which really helps to bring you into the story. It is a fun and exciting journey - highly recommended!

United States on Dec 15, 2021