Two spiritual travelers set out to uncover one of the greatest mysteries of all time and discover as much about the meaning of life as they do about themselves.
Trying to uncover a deeper meaning in religious texts such as “The Ten Commandments” has led many scholars on an adventure of the soul and mind; after meeting at Paris’ Sorbonne University more than 30 years ago, authors Seraya and Haldane (Angel Signs, 2002) undertook such a quest. In their new book, they use their vast collective expertise to craft a story tracing a linear thread from “The Ten Commandments” across all belief systems, science and metaphysics. The authors are the main characters in the book, along with their guide, a seraph angel named Yeliyael, and a friend of theirs. By sojourning through history and to other galaxies via space-time travel, their adventure leads them to a plateau of greater understanding of humankind. As real-life experts in fields such as philosophy, religion, metaphysics, linguistics and many historical and ancient texts, the authors have a vast reservoir of knowledge from which to create this story. The tale begins as the authors summon the angel to help traverse history, time and space to visit historical sages to guide them on the path of discovery. Meeting up with great philosophical minds such as Moses, Lao Tzu, Buddha, Benjamin Franklin and many others, they receive guidance to decipher the true nature and meaning of “The Ten Commandments,” uncovering a complex series of coded messages in the text that could change the meaning of life as we understand it. In spite of the complex, heady nature of this tome, it makes for a smooth read. Although the basis of the authors’ overarching theories is scholarly in nature, the writing is accessible. Great care is taken to explain certain motifs and topics early on in the story so the reader may follow along easily later. Using their philosophies to uncover plot points is an ingenious method of storytelling, and the tone of the story is always at an even keel. Even when several major revelations are uncovered, the writers' reverence for the subject matter and their historical characters is always managed with great care. Equal parts Dan Brown and Quantum Leap; an arresting, fun read, even for those with no deeper interest in religion.
Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2011
ISBN: 978-0983710202
Page Count: 456
Publisher: Manakael MasterWorks
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Thoroughbreds and Virginia blue-bloods cavort, commit murder, and fall in love in Roberts's (Hidden Riches, 1994, etc.) latest romantic thriller — this one set in the world of championship horse racing. Rich, sheltered Kelsey Byden is recovering from a recent divorce when she receives a letter from her mother, Naomi, a woman she has believed dead for over 20 years. When Kelsey confronts her genteel English professor father, though, he sheepishly confesses that, no, her mother isn't dead; throughout Kelsey's childhood, she was doing time for the murder of her lover. Kelsey meets with Naomi and not only finds her quite charming, but the owner of Three Willows, one of the most splendid horse farms in Virginia. Kelsey is further intrigued when she meets Gabe Slater, a blue-eyed gambling man who owns a neighboring horse farm; when one of Gabe's horses is mated with Naomi's, nostrils flare, flanks quiver, and the romance is on. Since both Naomi and Gabe have horses entered in the Kentucky Derby, Kelsey is soon swept into the whirlwind of the Triple Crown, in spite of her family's objections to her reconciliation with the notorious Naomi. The rivalry between the two horse farms remains friendly, but other competitors — one of them is Gabe's father, a vicious alcoholic who resents his son's success — prove less scrupulous. Bodies, horse and human, start piling up, just as Kelsey decides to investigate the murky details of her mother's crime. Is it possible she was framed? The ground is thick with no-goods, including haughty patricians, disgruntled grooms, and jockeys with tragic pasts, but despite all the distractions, the identity of the true culprit behind the mayhem — past and present — remains fairly obvious. The plot lopes rather than races to the finish. Gambling metaphors abound, and sexual doings have a distinctly equine tone. But Roberts's style has a fresh, contemporary snap that gets the story past its own worst excesses.
Pub Date: June 13, 1995
ISBN: 0-399-14059-X
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s...
The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.
The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can't forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-57720-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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