Professional Book Reviews

The Gladiator Series: The Gladiator and Jesus is a gripping story of a Gladiator’s journey of faith. This book pulls you in from the first word. Author Tony Carangi has a very definite finesse with words. Written in third person the story allows you to sympathize with its main character without forcing you into feeling as though you are calling the shots. Action packed and entertaining The Gladiator and Jesus has a much oomph as a film with all the sophistication of a classic.

Pacific Book Review

The author was a little unconventional in his narration, which made his style of writing different from other books in this genre. What makes The Gladiator: The Gladiator and Jesus an easy read is a fact that the author did not add any foreign character or twist any tale in the book. Everything he wrote is familiar to Christians and anyone who has ever read the bible. The lessons shared in the stories are vital too, as they are as wonderful as the stories. Tony Carangi is a brilliant author who knows how to get to his readers. I could feel the author’s words even when I had finished reading the book, as his book is that impactful. –

Hollywood Book Review

"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God."

Carangi successfully blends scripture, divine metaphysics, and historical fiction in his tale of Sanji, a seeker of wisdom and truth, who leaves his wife to follow Jesus, his Apostles, and his wife, Mary Magdalene. This disparate, edgy amalgam of a book is rooted in A Course in Miracles, a self-study

Carangi’s book is for thinkers, most especially spiritually-inclined ones. Many may disagree with his ideas as they contradict humankind’s most widely accepted worldviews. Even so, in the guise of fiction, the author offers alternative answers to life’s most daunting mysteries. Similar beliefs are the heart and soul of quantum physics. -RECOMMENDED by the US Review

The US Review of Books

The Gladiator

Chapter I : Gladiator and Jesus

The job of a great writer can be difficult, as it takes a skilled storyteller to be able to build a narrative which draws the reader in, while conveying an important message, all at once. As Kurt Vonnegut once said, "When a man becomes a writer, I think he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed.” In author Tony Carangi’s book The Gladiator: Book II Lost, the reader is transported to a brutal scenario in which readers are taken to a post-Vietnam War world, where a soldier hardened by his time at war is tasked by his government for a top secret assassination attempt, but things turn sideways as the soldier finds himself forced to look back on his own life and the life that he was leading, and soon finds himself viewing the world through his enemy’s eyes. This was a brilliant and thought-provoking read in just a short amount of time. The author did a marvelous job of building a narrative and theme that really packed a punch early on in the story, giving readers a fast introduction into the world and providing a wonderful deep dive into a theory and a thought system that tapped into the belief that the entire Universe itself is simply an illusion. The author does a marvelous job of blending this thought system into the narrative and giving readers the ability to see the world from two very different perspectives, despite never changing protagonists. The book is written for those who enjoy military fiction, war fiction and genre fiction as a whole. As a fan of the genre it was fascinating to see such a unique perspective packed into a short story such as this, giving the reader a lot to absorb and think about in a small period of time. This is a must-read short story that does a marvelous job of creating a meaningful and insightful narrative set against a turbulent time that saw many soldiers facing psychological effects from the war on their minds, and led to some intense and meaningful retrospective looks at one’s purpose in life. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy of The Gladiator: Book II Lost by Tony Carangi today!

Reviewed by: Anthony Avina ( Hollywood Book Review )

"We are all connected, sure, but he was as much the dreamer of my dream as me."

Based on the principles of A Course in Miracles, a spiritual guide written by Helen Schucman in 1976, this is the story of Captain Jack Ballard, who finds himself undertaking a secret mission at the end of the Vietnam War. Ballard is aware that the mission is one from which he will probably not return, yet in light of the fact he will face a court-martial should he refuse, he readily agrees to become an assassin for the government. He is trapped, but he is also adept at all the skills necessary to accomplish the mission. Surviving a devastatingly brutal childhood, Ballard has long mastered the art of mind over matter, making him the perfect candidate for braving the jungle alone. What Ballard doesn’t expect is the path down which the mission will lead him—or the psychological impact it will have.

Weighing in at only 63 pages, this book is none-the-less a heavy read. The author delves into the life of the mind through Ballard, a journey which is, at times, extremely disturbing. Not for the squeamish, the book is filled with episodes of graphic violence. It is a fascinating psychological look at a man who has survived the torments of an abusive childhood and war. Carangi explores the connectedness of all humans through his story, one of the principles of A Course in Miracles. Yet, in this book, the spiritual connection is as disturbing as it is miraculous. This story grabs readers from the beginning and carries them to unusual and sometimes uncomfortable places. It is a gripping read that engages and intrigues.

-Kat Kennedy ( The US Review of Books )