Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

A Grave Invitation is the first installment in Ron Lamberson’s Kilimanjaro Club Adventure Series. This thrilling high adventure introduces you to Stuart Mancini, CFO of D’Artagnan Group, wherein he is responsible for ensuring that the firm’s assets are readily available and flourishing. Just as he is about to close an important merger, two Englishmen, Bailey Honeybourne and Parnell Sumner, introduce themselves and bring news of his grandfather’s death, Malcolm Seymour Buckley, Jr. The news doesn’t strike Stuart that much, as he can’t imagine anything of value that his grandfather would want to leave him. Parnell hands Stuart an invitation which Stuart refuses. He barely knew his grandfather, on account of his mother’s toxic father-daughter relationship with Malcolm. Rereading the invitation at home, Stuart realizes that the invitation to The Kilimanjaro Club is time-sensitive, a membership that will launch him into unraveling his grandfather’s secrets.

A Grave Invitation is a fine illustration of many of the potential conflicts that an author can incorporate into a page-turner: man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus himself, which is reminiscent of The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. Almost immediately, you sense a foreboding threat lurking in Stuart’s world. He is initially in his element, a corporate jungle that he is familiar with, and then he plunges into a different jungle filled with intrigue and mystery that puts him in great jeopardy. Ron Lamberson gives a satisfying resolution as Stuart becomes a changed man in the process. What began as his unconcerned attitude to his grandfather evolves into a thrilling appreciation for the life that his grandfather had lived. It is a well-written narrative that provides one exciting event leading to another. As a plot-centered story, it has a powerful twist that makes the story an appealing must-read for lovers of thrillers and suspense.