A skillful, exciting blend of history, action, and drama set in the ancient world.
In ancient Rome, a playwright accused of plotting against the emperor finds refuge with a secret group of Christians in this adventure novel.
Domitian, emperor of Rome, was born under a bad sign: his death is foretold in the stars, down to the day and hour. Cruel and paranoid, Domitian names himself Lord and God, feeling especially threatened by Christians, who refuse to worship him. Now, six months before the emperor’s predicted death, a secret Christian organization called the Dominium Dei (Rule of God) has been working to bring about the prophecy, harassing Domitian with espionage, kidnapping, and assassination of his officials, such as his chief astrologer. The playwright Athanasius of Athens, meanwhile, just wants to earn acclaim for his work and the love of beautiful Helena, a model for sculptors. But his life overturns when he’s falsely accused of being Chiron, “the most dangerous man in the world,” mastermind of the Dei. Athanasius is condemned to die in the arena—but, with help from unexpected benefactors, he barely escapes. He’s given a mission that takes him from Rome to John of Patmos—the last apostle—and to Asia Minor and a hidden underground Christian refuge. Who are the Dei and who is Chiron? Can Athanasius stop a war between Rome and the Church? Greanias (The War Cloud, 2016, etc.) writes an intelligent, fast-moving historical novel with nonstop action, narrow escapes, and violent encounters, as well as much food for thought. The ancient world comes alive in well-chosen details, from the mundane to the arcana of spycraft, codes, and disguises. Greasias’ characterization is vivid even for minor figures and especially so for Athanasius. As a playwright, for example, he dislikes the Book of Revelations for its “deus ex machina return of Jesus at the end of history”; he goes through a believable personal struggle and transformation over the tale’s course. The author also smartly illuminates the religious, philosophical, historical, and even economic issues that underpin the story, while never letting the pace lag.
A skillful, exciting blend of history, action, and drama set in the ancient world.Pub Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9960040-4-6
Page Count: 386
Publisher: Atlantis Ink
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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