Book Cover of the Month: June

I love this book cover. It was designed by Richard Ljoenes for publisher W. W. Norton. He is a designer and art director primarily focused on print-based design—book covers and illustrated book interiors. His background also includes advertising and corporate identity. His design and art direction has been awarded and recognized by many organizations and he has worked on over fifty New York Times Bestsellers.

Ljoenes started his career as a traditional advertising sketch-artist with D’Arcy (formerly DMB&B/Clarion) in his native Oslo, Norway. Eventually markers were replaced with a Mac and over the next few years he developed into a driven designer working on many of Norway’s biggest brands. Although thriving at the firm his status as the sole soccer-hating male on the European continent eventually forced his emigration stateside. After attending San Francisco’s Academy of Art he moved to New York, and following a brief period at Sullivan & Co Design, got his first start in publishing with HarperCollins Publishers. During his eleven years there he held numerous roles at several imprints, including Senior Art Director at Regan Books (w/stints in NYC and LA offices), V.P. Senior Art Director at both the Collins imprint, and more recent, the Harper Division. In June 2014 he left HarperCollins for the opportunity of starting on the ground floor of Regan Arts (teaming up once more with his former boss), a newly established Phaidon Global Company, where he served as Creative Director and oversaw all cover and interior design for a range of fiction, non-fiction, and illustrated books. Spring 2017 Ljoenes started his own studio. He now operates out of Boulder, Colorado.

It's exciting to see a young person dedicated to book cover design. We readers have alot to look forward to in the future from Ljoenes.

The Strangler Vine

I selected this book because the title of it's sequel fits the requirements of the Color Coded Reading Challenge. I will be reading The Infadel Stain next month for this challenge. This series by M. J. Carter is a historical thriller series. 

The publisher's summary:

India, 1837: William Avery is a young soldier with few prospects except rotting away in campaigns in India; Jeremiah Blake is a secret political agent gone native, a genius at languages and disguises, disenchanted with the whole ethos of British rule, but who cannot resist the challenge of an unresolved mystery. What starts as a wild goose chase for this unlikely pair—trying to track down a missing writer who lifts the lid on Calcutta society—becomes very much more sinister as Blake and Avery get sucked into the mysterious Thuggee cult and its even more ominous suppression.

There are shades of Heart of Darkness, sly references to Conan Doyle, that bring brilliantly to life the India of the 1830s with its urban squalor, glamorous princely courts and bazaars, and the ambiguous presence of the British overlords—the officers of the East India Company—who have their own predatory ambitions beyond London's oversight

There isn't much of a mystery in this novel. I would say it is an atmospheric mystery where the setting is predominant over the action. We mostly read about the customs, sights and sounds of India. While I love India fiction, I also want a story. There is a murder to solve but it takes second place to the setting. 

The novel is described as a historical thriller. It is historical as it takes place in the nineteenth century. However, this is not a thriller. None of this bodes well for my reading and review of The Infadel Stain but since it's already on my Kindle I plan on reading it.

Sea of Greed

I chose Clive Cussler's Sea of Greed for the What's In a Name Challenge. The specific category this was chosen for was one of the deadly sins in the book title. 

The publisher's summary:

After an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico destroys three oil rigs trying to revive a dying field, Kurt Austin and the NUMA Special Projects Team are tapped by the President of the United States to find out what's gone wrong. The trail leads them to a brilliant billionaire in the alternative energy field. Her goal is the end of the oil age; her company has spent billions developing the worlds' most advanced fuel-cell systems. But is she an environmental hero...or a rogue genetic engineer?

The NUMA crew discovers that the oil fields are infected with bacteria that are consuming the oil before it can be pumped out of the earth--a bacteria originally lost decades ago when two submarines vanished in the Mediterranean.

With hired killers on his trail, can Kurt Austin locate a submarine that's remained hidden for more than fifty years? And even if he can, can the biological terror that's been unleashed be stopped?

The story opened with alot of action. Because it has been a long time since I have read a NUMA story, I did not remember who the main characters were. I was further confused in the beginning because the opening chapters were from different points of view. It was hard to follow. Once I understood who was who, the story was fun to read. The pace was extremely fast and more than held my interest.

The plot concerns drilling for oil. I thought it was creative to have a bacteria infect the oil wells. I don't know whether this is something that can actually happen or not but it was interesting to read about. I would imagine it's a real problem since Cussler writes about current issues. 

Aside from my confusion in the beginning, Sea of Greed is a fantastic novel. I am rating it 4 out of 5 stars.

Camilla From Outcast to Queen Consort

Camilla From Outcast to Queen Consort was written by one of my favorite UK news reporters, Angela Levin. It paints a much different portrait of Camilla than that in Tom Bower’s recently updated book Rebel King. Let's see what Levin tells us about her.

The publisher's summary:

For many years, Camilla was portrayed in a poor light, blamed by the public for the break-up of the marriage between Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Initially, Queen Elizabeth refused to see or speak to her, but, since the death of Prince Philip, Camilla had become one of the Queen's closest companions. Her confidence in Camilla and the transformation she had seen in Prince Charles since their wedding resulted in her choosing the first day of her Platinum Jubilee year to tell the world that she wanted Camilla to be Queen Consort, not the demeaning Princess Consort suggested in 2005.

Angela Levin uncovers Camilla’s rocky journey to be accepted by the royal family and how she coped with her brutal portrayal in Netflix's The Crown. The public have witnessed her tremendous contribution to help those in need, especially during COVID. Levin has talked to many of Camilla’s long-term friends, her staff and executives from the numerous charities of which Camilla is patron. She reveals why Camilla concentrates on previously taboo subjects, such as domestic violence and rape. Most of all, Levin tells the story of how Camilla has changed from a fun-loving young woman to one of the senior royals’ hardest workers. She has retained her mischievous sense of humor, becoming a role model for older women and an inspiration for younger ones.

Camilla is both an extraordinary love story and a fascinating portrait of an increasingly confident Queen Consort in waiting. It is an essential read for anyone wanting a greater insight into the royal family.

Tom Bower gave us a picture of Camilla as lazy. Angela Levin tells us she is hard working and nice to everyone she meets. However, Levin admits that Camilla did not begin to work hard until she married Charles. Both of them had a big lifestyle adjustment to make after the marriage. As I approached the halfway point in the book I wondered whether it was just a puff piece. Camilla can do no wrong in the author's eyes. Yet Levin has a reputation in the UK as a fabulous journalist. It doesn't really matter much to me because I began to get bored while reading. Levin accounted for every outing her subject had, the clothes and jewels she wore and that people were surprised that Camilla was nice. It was too much repetition. Factor in that I only read the book as a compliment to the one I recently read on the life of Charles and that I don't like Camilla much. 

I was surprised that Camilla has a huge fear of being jeered in public. It shouldn't have been that surprising given the public abuse she endured for many years from Diana fans. She is still on edge when she is out in public. While I watched the coronation I thought to myself that she looked afraid when she was crowned and wondered if she thought about usurping the throne from Diana. We all know karma is the baddest bitch we know. With the information we get from the book it is likely that Camilla actually had those thoughts.

While I love seeing the author on UK news stations, her book was not very enlightening. I am rating it 3 out of 5 stars.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh Sadness Will Last Forever is a graphic biography written by Francesco Barilli and illustrated by Sakka. It was published in Italy in 2019. In March 2023 Comixology Originals published it in English. The comic was written as an intense and uninterrupted dialogue between Vincent Van Gogh and his madness. From his relationship with his brother Theo to his famous quarrel with Gauguin, resulting in the partial self-mutilation of his ear, to the extreme act of self-harm that led to his death.

I didn't know much about Van Gogh's life story before reading this comic. The writing was crisp and the illustrations were very French with an attractive French script font. With just 129 pages, it is an easy and fast read. There was a 70/30 split between dialogue and narration. A few times I needed the narration in order to figure out what was happening. All in all this was a fantastic biography of Van Gogh. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

The Way of the Wicked

The Way of the Wicked is the second book in the Hope Street Church Mysteries by Ellery Adams. I loved the first book The Path of the Crooked. The amateur sleuth in the series is Cooper Lee who has an interesting job. She repairs copy machines. I love that the sleuth is a woman doing what is typically a man's job.

The publisher's summary:

Cooper Lee and her friends in the Hope Street Bible study group have just volunteered for a local charity, delivering much-needed food and cheer to shut-ins in their community. It seems like the perfect way for the group to do good, and to Cooper it offers the welcome opportunity to get out of the house and spend more time with her new boyfriend, Nathan. But when one of the charity’s recipients is murdered, the police have no choice but to single out the church group and their fellow volunteers as the prime suspects.

Determined to make sure no evil deed goes unpunished, Cooper and her friends decide to discreetly interrogate each volunteer in their search for the killer, even if it means putting themselves at risk in the process. And as serving the needy becomes more treacherous than any of them could have imagined, they just might discover that the road to murder is paved with good intentions.

The beginning of the book was slow because it took a long time for the murder to occur. The reader was introduced to several new characters and the Bible study group members became involved in delivering food to the elderly. The first fourth of the story was basically dialogue among them and not much happened. The action picked up and by the midpoint in the story the pace became fast.

The romance between Cooper and fellow Bible study group member Nathan heated up in this installment of the series. They are not yet a couple but both realize that they have feelings for each other. Also, there was religious material in the book as the study group met several times to study the life of the Biblical Joseph from Genesis. They saw a connection between the way Joseph's brothers treated him to the way the seniors were treated by volunteers of the charity that delivered meals on wheels. By the end of the story three seniors died in similar circumstances.

This was a charming story and I enjoyed it. I would have liked to see the murders occur in the first or second chapter so that the rest of the story could be about solving the crime. 3 out of 5 stars.

The Middle Ages

Eleanor Janega is the author of this graphic history of the medieval era. She has done a fantastic job of portraying this 1,000 year era with all its complexities. 

The publisher's summary: 

The Middle Ages: A Graphic History busts the myth of the ‘Dark Ages’, shedding light on the medieval period’s present-day relevance in a unique illustrated style. This history takes us through the rise and fall of empires, papacies, caliphates and kingdoms; through the violence and death of the Crusades, Viking raids, the Hundred Years War and the Plague; to the curious practices of monks, martyrs and iconoclasts. We’ll see how the foundations of the modern West were established, influencing our art, cultures, religious practices and ways of thinking. And we’ll explore the lives of those seen as ‘Other’ – women, Jews, homosexuals, lepers, sex workers and heretics. Join historian Eleanor Janega and illustrator Neil Max Emmanuel on a romp across continents and kingdoms as we discover the Middle Ages to be a time of huge change, inquiry and development – not unlike our own.

This month I have read 3 books on the Middle Ages. This graphic novel is the best of them. It gives the reader an accurate and comprehensive overview of the era in an easy to understand way. The comedy from this format helps the reader remember details. I love it!  The book is not a graphic novel in the usual sense but rather a book with funny memes on most pages that match the writing. While it is Eurocentric the author has included the contributions of other regions on the globe to Europe. It has the feel of a young adult book which I don't think it is. The illustrator Neil Emmanuel, though, is a well known children's book illustrator. While the book cover is colorful, all of the drawings are in black and white. The writing is casual. The author surprisingly refers to one pope as a dude. 

I loved this mini history of the Middle Ages. I would recommend it to both adults and young adults. 5 out of 5 stars.

Rebel King

Rebel King: The Making of a Monarch was originally published under the title Rebel Prince in 2018. Tom Bower updated his biography of King Charles III and I found it to be quite revealing about why his son Harry behaves the way he does. It's a matter of like father like son. Please note that my review contains spoilers. 

The publisher's summary: 

King Charles III faces many challenges as he succeeds his mother to the throne. Despite his hard work and genuine concern for the disadvantaged, King Charles III has struggled in the past to overcome his unpopularity. After Diana’s death, his approval rating crashed to four per cent and has been only rescued by his marriage to Camilla.

In unearthing many secrets and dramas surrounding King Charles, Bower’s book, relies on the testimony from over 120 people employed or welcomed into the inner sanctum. The result is a book which uniquely probes the character and court of Charles that no one, until now, has seen. It offers an unrivalled and intimate look at King Charles, his many years as heir and how a monarch was made.

What struck me the most was how similar Prince Harry's behavior is to Charles' behavior. The public seems to believe that Harry is an aberration in the royal family. He's not. Charles has behaved the same way his entire life. Charles has never had to pay for his mistakes whether they be personal or professional. Charles has also had his fair share of sex scandals although they have been mostly covered up. Charles is no different than his brother Andrew in that he associated with a pedophile and met women through that association. However, Charles knew to keep his mouth shut and let the coutiers handle it. Andrew didn't. 

Tom Bower wrote that Charles suffers from depression and that his grandmother, the Queen Mother, helped him deal with it. The depression began in early childhood when his parents were away on royal tours. I presume there is an abandonment issue here. How could there not be? I was also surprised to learn that Charles had a plan to make Camilla his wife from the day of his divorce from Princess Diana. Many of his coutiers actions in this vain were nullified by continual newspaper accounts of Charles' misbehavior. 

This book is an eye opening account of Charles' life with names, dates and details of every significant event in his life. My expectations for the book were low but I found it to be enlightening. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Bright Ages

The Bright Ages is a 1,000 year history of medieval Europe beginning in the 400s. I selected it for the Nonfiction Reader Challenge because I am fascinated with this era. 

The publisher's summary:

The word “medieval” conjures images of the “Dark Ages”—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. 

The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante—inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy—writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today.  

The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world “lit only by fire” but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics.  

 

My expectation for the book was that each European country would be delved into. It does that but it is still Rome-centric. There are chapters on Rome, Jerusalem, Britain, France, Russia, Spain and Mongolia. People from other areas are covered briefly with a sentence or two. I was disappointed with this focus of the book. Alot of history was left out but note that the author covered 1,000 years of history in 250 pages. There is a 60 page bibliography at the end. 

The book opened with a fascinating profile of Galla Placidia, sister and mother of Roman emporers. In addition, she was the queen of the Visigoths and led many successful battles for them. Placidia lived in the 400s. A devout Christian, she built or restored churches in Jerusalem, Rome, and in Ravenna where the book begins. This lady captivated me and I must find material to read about her. Maybe someone has written a historical novel about her?  I was disappointed that other historical figures were not discussed later in the book because a fun way to learn history is through the lives of people.

I was struck by the description of the book as a new history of medieval Europe. I was expecting information new to me but halfway through I realized that I knew more about medieval history than the author. From this point I began critiquing the information he included as well as what he excluded. Too much was left out and much of what was included was not explained.

Two sentences in the last chapter refers to the Dark Ages of our present time and the author blames the U. S. for it. He states that the U. S. was founded on white supremacy.  Obviously, he did not study U. S. history but as I contemplated this remark I realized The Bright Ages could be considered a history of just white people. While he centered the book on Europe, which is primarily white, he excluded the contributions of Muslims to our "white" art and literature. All the credit is given to well known Europeans. Also, I was frustrated when he mentioned the Paris physicians who were consulted on the origins of the plague. All of the medical knowledge that we have originated from the Muslims. Jewish scholars learned medicine from them and brought it to Europe. In addition, there was no mention of the contributions from North Africa to our culture. Thus, if the author wants to put blame somewhere for white supremacy let's lay it at his feet. Yes, I was offended by his remark over the founding of the U. S. as you most likely can tell. The remark came abruptly with no references so why include it? 

Having taken many courses on medieval history, I feel that I can write my own history book of this era. My book would be over 1,000 pages and no one would read that! However, it would be a complete history of the era that included every area of the map and explain how each culture intermingled with each other. As such, it is hard to give The Bright Ages a rating. It delivers a Eurocentric history which is what we were promised. I will go with 3 out of 5 stars. There are probably few people as interested in this era to be as dogmatic as I am. I know we are probably a little crazy.

Where Waters Meet

Where Waters Meet is Zhang Ling's second novel to be translated into English. It follows A Single Swallow. It is a heartwrenching story about a daughter and her journey to discovering the truth about her mother's life after her death.  

The publisher's summary:

There was rarely a time when Phoenix Yuan-Whyller’s mother, Rain, didn’t live with her. Even when Phoenix got married, Rain, who followed her from China to Toronto, came to share Phoenix’s life. Now at the age of eighty-three, Rain’s unexpected death ushers in a heartrending separation.

Struggling with the loss, Phoenix comes across her mother’s suitcase—a memory box Rain had brought from home. Inside, Phoenix finds two old photographs and a decorative bottle holding a crystallized powder. Her auntie Mei tells her these missing pieces of her mother’s early life can only be explained when they meet, and so, clutching her mother’s ashes, Phoenix boards a plane for China. What at first seems like a daughter’s quest to uncover a mother’s secrets becomes a startling journey of self-discovery.

Told across decades and continents, Zhang Ling’s exquisite novel is a tale of extraordinary courage and survival. It illuminates the resilience of humanity, the brutalities of life, the secrets we keep and those we share, and the driving forces it takes to survive.

I loved this story enough to immediately reread it after finishing it. There is alot of nuance to the story and I wasn't sure whether I picked them all up during the first read. It's such a lovely story which also made me want to read it again. It reminded me of last year's Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu.

Women are the main characters in the book. Phoenix Yuan-Whyller is the narrator. She took care of her mother Rain, born Chunyu, during her entire life including during her marriage to George Whyller. Rain’s sister Mei is another strong character. Rain and Mei's mother is also featured in a few chapters and the reader gets the sense that strength runs in the women of the family. They overcome everything. It was interesting that they chose weak men as husbands. For Rain and Phoenix it was a matter of wanting to take care of someone. Mei is still a mystery to me as she was to both her sister and her niece. 

The family originated in China. Rain and Mei lived through three wars there: WWII, the Japanese War and the Civil War between the nationalists and the communists. They suffered severe hunger and bombing raids, as did everyone else in China. Rain and Mei's parents died in a bombing of their village East End. The sisters were captured by Japanese soldiers and forced to be prostitutes. Rain handled it better than Mei who was unable to eat or even get up off her mattress. With her sister's help Mei escaped and joined the communists and fought alongside Mao's warriors. Rain eventually made her way to Hong Kong and then Toronto where she and her daughter lived with Phoenix’s husband George. I see George as weak compared to his wife. He was American and refused to fight in the Vietnam War. He fled to Canada. Rain’s husband was a war hero who was disabled from war wounds and needed a wife to provide for his needs.

While the book begins in Toronto most of the action takes place in China. This family saga is definitely the exquisite tale that it is advertised to be and it has captured my heart. I am rating it way, way over 5 out of 5 stars.

A Beautiful Blue Death

A Beautiful Blue Death is the first Charles Lenox Mystery.  Last year I read his The September Society and loved it. I decided to go back to the beginning of the series and read all of the books in order. 

The publisher's summary:

Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist the chance to unravel a mystery.

Prudence Smith, one of Jane's former servants, is dead of an apparent suicide. But Lenox suspects something far more sinister: murder, by a rare and deadly poison. The grand house where the girl worked is full of suspects, and though Prue had dabbled with the hearts of more than a few men, Lenox is baffled by the motive for the girl's death.

When another body turns up during the London season's most fashionable ball, Lenox must untangle a web of loyalties and animosities. Was it jealousy that killed Prudence Smith? Or was it something else entirely? And can Lenox find the answer?

What can I say? This book was just as good as I expected. Poison was the method of murder. It was quickly identified as bella indigo, known as "the beautiful blue," but during the time period of the story, the Victorian Era, there wasn't much known about it. Another twist was that there was arsenic on the bottom of the bottle of bella indigo. Part of the mystery that was being unraveled was who had access to it, how was it used and what it really did to people exposed to it. The middle of the story was taken up with this howdunnit. The latter third concerned the whodunnit.  

I learned from the novel how the British police became known as bobbies. Robert Peel founded the police department on 1829. New officers used a variant of his first name when describing themselves.  Alot had changed regarding policing during the time period of the story. I enjoyed learning how procedures came into being. This was another fascinating part of the story. 

I think I enjoyed the howdunnit more than  the whodunit. It cannot be beat. I am rating this magnificent novel 5 out of 5 stars.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

This book is a re-read for me. Several decades ago I read every one of these Mrs. Pollifax cozy mysteries. There were fantastic. As I was looking for a book for the Calendar of Crime Challenge, I realized that author Dorothy Gilman was born in June. Books whose authors were born in June are eligible for the challenge. A match!

The publisher's summary:

Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown, married children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent.

She takes on a “job” in Mexico City. The assignment doesn’t sound dangerous at first, but then, as often happens, something goes wrong. Now our dear Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroiled in quite a hot Cold War—and her country’s enemies find themselves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.

Although the book was written in 1966, the writing is still current with today's language. While the premise for the stories may seem far-fetched, nothing about the plot is unusual. It unfolds just like any other spy novel. The knowledge that Mrs. Pollifax gained throughout her years as a wife and mother helped her to see situations clearer than professional spies. She is simply adorable.

The first three chapters reminded me how Mrs. Pollifax got into the spy business to begin with. While discussing with her doctor that she was bored with her life as a volunteer, she remembered that when she was young she wanted to be a spy. Feeling encouraged by him, Mrs. Pollifax traveled to Washington DC and applied for a job with the CIA. She did not know that you need to be asked to join but was hired for a courier job in Mexico City after being mistaken for another lady. Her age, including her white hair, would make her unexpected by the CIA's moles. From this auspicious beginning, readers were lucky to have 13 subsequent novels to enjoy.

5 out of 5 stars.

The Jerusalem Scrolls

The Jerusalem Scrolls is the latest installment of Gary McAvoy's Vatican Secret Archives series. It is fantastic as are all of the books in the series and the initial Magdalene Chronicles series. McAvoy recommends reading the books in order but I have not followed this advise and I don't think I suffered from skipping between the novels. The only real change in the stories is how the friendship between main characters Father Michael Donovan and Hana Sinclair has grown.

The publisher's summary:

Two young Israeli boys discover an ancient red clay jar in a hidden cave tucked away in the Judean Desert near Qumran. Inside the jar are several scrolls written by the Essenes two thousand years earlier, before the Great Jewish Revolt, including one legendary scroll engraved on silver that speaks of what may be the great Lost Treasures of Solomon buried around Jerusalem—consistent with the predictions of the fabled Copper Scroll discovered in 1947 near the Dead Sea. But one of the overlooked parchments turns out to be far more pivotal to Christianity than anything ever before discovered—a startling manuscript written by St. Paul himself that could rewrite religious history.

Father Michael Dominic and his friends are called to Jerusalem to inspect the silver scroll, but others are trying to get to the precious manuscripts first—members of a little known sect called the Mithraists, the chief rival to Christianity up to the fourth century...a wealthy Texas televangelist...an Egyptian antiquities broker...Israeli Mossad agents...and a cast of rogues each out for themselves.

The fiction here is inspired by the question of what if more scrolls were found? What if the scrolls disputed everything Christians believe today about the Resurrection? The plot weaves together archeology, history and religion which I find fascinating. There many twists and turns in the plot with the Vatican, Mossad, and illegal antiquities dealers all vying to obtain the silver scrolls as well as the parchments supposedly written by St. Paul. After a brief beginning, the story quickly becomes a murder mystery, an archeological hunt, a race through the Middle East and America to find the missing scrolls. Along the way we read about the ancient cult of Mithraism. I had never heard about this cult before so the information about it was a fun learning experience for me.

I thought it was odd that Father Michael Donovan and Hana Sinclair did not work as closely together as they have in previous novels. They are the main characters in the series. Father Donovan was prominent in the search for the scrolls though. The story had quite a few bad men searching for the scrolls and initially it was difficult figuring out who they were. I stopped my reading and returned to the beginning two chapters to set them straight in my mind. There were no problems afterward deciphering the characters.   

I  have always loved these treasure hunt mysteries ever since Dan Brown wrote the DaVinci Code. Brown created a new mystery sub-genre with his books and I have been reading five new authors who began writing these stories. McAvoy's stories always have a fantastical element to them as the treasure his characters are seeking dispute the main beliefs of Christianity. I use the word "fantastical" because I am a Christian. Those who are not Christians won't have this impression toward McAvoy's books.

The next book in the series, The Galileo Gambit, will be published in a few days on June 12, 2023. I am looking forward to its release.