A riveting adventure, both historically astute and emotionally stirring.
A biblical historian, reeling from personal tragedy, travels to the Middle East to join an archaeological dig and finds the potential for love and theological discovery.
In this debut novel, Cassidy Stevens is an associate professor of theology in New York, an expert on New Testament history. The last five years of her life have been stymied by anguish and ennui—her husband and young daughter were both killed in a horrific car accident. Now she languishes in a listless relationship and throws herself into her work; the “only thing that made her feel alive and authentic was her research.” She decides to volunteer for an archaeological dig in Pella, an ancient city in Jordan, desperate for a change of scenery and hopeful it will advance her research. Cass believes that St. James the apostle, the brother of Jesus, was slyly written out of the Bible because his existence undermines the doctrinal immaculateness of Mary, a prospect enticingly described by Gangi. Cass suspects that St. Peter, though, may be “James in disguise,” and the true heir to Jesus’ ministry. While on the dig, Cass becomes romantically enthralled with Jed McIntyre, the project’s co-director and “archaeology’s ‘bad boy,’ ” as ruggedly handsome as he is academically accomplished. But Cass is torn by her attraction to the man—she’s still enmeshed in that serious, if unfulfilling, relationship—and discovers a past connection between her and Jed both peculiarly implausible and emotionally devastating. Meanwhile, Cass unearths an amulet that could unlock the mystery she’s been trying to crack—it points her in the direction of an ancient scroll that could prove her thesis regarding St. James’ true identity. Unfortunately, there are others just as eager to suppress her findings, even if it means resorting to violence. In this gripping novel, Gangi ambitiously combines two genres: romantic drama and theological thriller. Cass carefully studies the amulet for clues, musing: “If this turned out to be a Christian artifact, it would be an extraordinary find.…she could be holding the oldest Christian symbol ever found!” But while the author’s writing is always lucid, if unliterary, it inclines toward formulaic clichés—before Cass is properly introduced to Jed, she endures an acrimonious encounter with him, only to learn later he’s effectively her boss. Still, the plot is fiercely intelligent, skillfully combining intellectual provocation with fast-paced action.
A riveting adventure, both historically astute and emotionally stirring.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-9772-0078-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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