Book Review: The Scroll-The Un-Davinci Code

"The Scroll" brings answers from both the Bible and the News to an amazing "what-if" question.  I am not going to spoil it here by telling you "what" that "if" is.  Biblical archaeology provides a framework to a mystery story that spans thousands of years.  "The Scroll" is set in the near future and borders on science fiction.  It informs and invites faith in the same way that Brown's Davinci Code tries to excuse it. 

The key character is David Chamber, a popular but burned out archaeologist.  His specialty is Biblical archeology in and around Israel.  He is an expert in the various tunnels connected to this history.  Chambers, dubbed the Carl Sagan of archeology, has suffered a loss of faith and love.  Soaking himself in alcohol, he is going through the motions of teaching instead of pursuing the field work that brought him notoriety.  His lost love is Amber, another archaeologist.  They broke up at the altar and had not spoken in several years.  Now thrown together by a mysterious billionaire, John Trent, they go to work on an equally mysterious dig.  Set in Israel, the cast takes Landau, the tough security man, David's mentor and friend Abram Ben-Judah, the troublesome Nuri and others, including the Israeli Prime minister and the president of the USA on a journey of apocalyptic proportions.  

The star of the book is a set of copper scrolls with cryptic clues leading to the fabulous treasure of the Temple in Jerusalem which was plundered and destroyed by the Romans.  Our characters team up, with unlimited civil and military resources, to uncover these priceless heirlooms of God.  Political intrigue, terrorist attacks, and betrayal are only a few of the obstacles put in the way.  Perseverance, intelligence, and technology join God's gracious favor to bring this team closer to their ultimate goal.  Restoration for our hero Chambers lies at the end of this long journey.  God is indeed faithful in this tale.  The end goal is an exciting possibility from Biblical prophesy and the world's response to it.  The true treasure recovered is faith and not gold.

"The Scroll" is written by Grant R. Jeffrey, Bible Scholar, teacher and archaeologist, along with the writer and novelist Alton L. Gansky.  The book has a great grasp on archaeological procedure and jargon.  This brings life to the story.  The book is also clearly written, organized well and entertaining.  These two make a great team.  The ending is a pleasant yet terrifying surprise and leaves the door open to a sequel.

I enjoyed "The Scroll" and found it thought provoking as well as entertaining.  It is Christian fiction with a point, is free of bad language and adult themes, yet has enough reasonable romance and violence to drive a good story.  I would recommend this book but also remind the reader that it is a novel. The Scroll is appropriate for youth aged readers through adults.  I look forward to Jeffrey and Gansky's second installment.

Thanks to Multnomah Press for giving me this book in exchange for this review and Thank you for reading the Thoughtful Pastor Blog. Please rate my review!  I need a certain number of points to stay in the program.

Book Review: Serial Thriller: " The Corruptible" by Mark Mynheir (Please rate the review at the bottom)

"Dying on the toilet was not how I envisioned leaving this world." This is our introduction to the crusty, handicapped, ex-cop turned private investigator Ray Quinn. The Corruptible: A Ray Quinn Mystery is the second in a new series of books breathing life into the unlikely family of Ray, Crevis Creighton and Pam Winters at the Night Watchman Detective Agency. Oh, and we can't forget his adopted "son", Jim Beam. The story weaves through gritty underworld, high finance, drugs, alcohol, broken lives and even a biker gang. Set in Orlando, Mynheir brings you into the story with real life characters and amazing details. The writer's knowledge of police tactics and the locale bring you into the story.

This is Christian Fiction and a very good detective story. Ray's alcoholism, chronic pain, and job burnout are real-world. Crevis's disfunctional family is all too familiar, and their faithful angel Pam keeps them alive with prayer but isn't a plastic saint. All of these characters have a life-story that the readers will find resonance with. Christ's gospel is found at the beginning and woven through the overall story yet the writer does not forget that this is entertainment too.

This is a well told tale wrtten in short chapters. You can put it down without getting lost, yet you probably won't want to put it down. There is no bad language or compromising scenes-you can give this to Middle School and older readers with confidence. The book doesn't beat the reader with "religiousity". Rather, Christ is interpreted in the character at their point of need rather than a lecture Reading the first book of this series, "The Night Watchman", would help understand the characters better, however, Mynheir does a great job with the back story and it read well all by itself.

I enjoyed the book, will read his first book and look forward to future installments. I seldom read fiction and have never read a serial like this. Now and then you should just read for the joy of it and "The Corruptible" is a good choice. The book begins with this message and sees it through to the end, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ dies for us. Romans 5:8".

Multnomah press gave me this book free in exchange for this review as a part of the Blogging for Books program. Thanks to them for the opportunity to read a book that I probably would not have chosen and you for reading my blog.