An entertaining and thoughtful race to find a historical gem and a potentially world-changing truth.
A debut archaeological thriller examines the possible existence of ancient scrolls that could change the face of Christianity.
Ellen Shea is a star graduate student in the Fordham University Antiquities Department in New York City. Her command of foreign languages is prodigious: she can (and does) boast of a masterful grasp of Spanish, French, Greek, Latin, Arabic, and other languages. She’s recruited by an unscrupulous classicist—professor Paul P. Parkinson—to inspect two manuscripts written in Koine Greek and Aramaic he has come into possession of. Parkinson believes there are considerably more documents and that the entire bunch amounts to the elusive “Quelle,” thought by many to be entirely apocryphal. Legend has it that St. Papias exhaustively compiled a historical record of Jesus based on eyewitness accounts, including his Apostles, constituting source material older and potentially more reliable than the New Testament. The professor sends Ellen to Granada to track down these scrolls and compensates her generously for her labor and expertise. She travels with Mateo Barefoot, a mysterious and resourceful guide. Problematically, there are two other teams also hunting for the scrolls, both considerably less scrupulous about the means they adopt to achieve their ends. In a parallel narrative, the historical background of the Quelle itself is developed, which sheds light on the doctrinal unfurling of the Christian faith. In his book, Keats certainly shoots for formulaic genre fiction with all the signature elements: a dangerous archaeological quest, amoral competitors in search of a theologically significant prize, and the back story of a corrupt and conspiratorial Roman Catholic Church. Thankfully, Keats works within those stale parameters with considerable verve and charm, and his writing crackles with wry wit. Ellen’s academic mentor, Monsignor Brahaney, acerbically describes the professor: “Well, Parkinson was beyond ruthless, damn close to sociopathic, less interested in the research than what it brought him. Think Cromwell, Ellen, in tweed.” The author’s research is also extraordinarily deep and raises provocative questions about the meaning of Christianity independent of its institutional incarnation. Finally, Ellen turns out to be a companionable guide through the tale, both razor sharp and full of spunk. Anyone drawn to the genre can only hope a sequel adventure reprises the character.
An entertaining and thoughtful race to find a historical gem and a potentially world-changing truth.Pub Date: June 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9904489-0-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Nonester Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 5, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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