Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The Constantine Codex by Paul L. Maier ~ review

The Constantine Codex (Skeleton Series)

Product Details

Review book provided by Glass Roads Blog Tours

About the book from Amazon.com:

Harvard Professor Jonathan Weber is finally enjoying a season of peace when a shocking discovery thrusts him into the national spotlight once again. While touring monasteries in Greece, Jon and his wife Shannon—a seasoned archaeologist—uncover an ancient biblical manuscript containing the lost ending of Mark and an additional book of the Bible. If proven authentic, the codex could forever change the way the world views the holy Word of God. As Jon and Shannon work to validate their find, it soon becomes clear that there are powerful forces who don’t want the codex to go public. When it’s stolen en route to America, Jon and Shannon are swept into a deadly race to find the manuscript and confirm its authenticity before it’s lost forever.

My take on this book:
Imagine someone uncovering an additional book of the Bible, and not only that but a lost ending to the book of mark as well. Well that's just what happens in the "Constantine Codex." Shannon Weber is on a dig in Pella, and her fascination with old books draws her to the Greek Orthodox Church of St. James. While examining their archives she notices one is using some very old parchment pages as a bookmark, the text is so faded though that she can't really make anything out. Thinking that perhaps those pages might shed some light on the early history of the church she asks to borrow them so that her husband Jon can examine them. What they uncover will certainly change the way people view the Bible, but they soon realize someone wants to keep what they have discovered hidden!
The premise of this book drew me in, someone discovering a lost book of the Bible, intriguing. For me though this book had to grow on me, I had a difficult time connecting with the story in the beginning, but once the story took off I found myself hooked.
After I started reading this story I realized that there were two previous books that revolved around the characters of Shannon and Jon Weber, but this book is written so that it easily stands alone.
The mystery and suspense are but a small portion of what held my attention, I also loved the fact that I was getting a bit of a history lesson while reading the story. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction, that also weaves mystery and suspense into the mix will probably enjoy this one. I for one enjoyed it so much that I plan on reading the other books in the series.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review.

 

5 comments:

  1. thanks for stopping by my blog and becoming a follower. i just joined yours and am looking forward to more of your posts! happy wednesday! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for stopping by! I'm following you back. Looking forward to reading some of your reviews too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Read and reviewed this one too. But I didn't like it much. I am going to link your post as a positive review. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey, I don't often come across people named Brenda too!!
    Thanks for visiting, I'm follow you.
    Brenda
    http://www.piggygiggles.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excellent review. I also loved the story's pace. And history it right up my alley, so I ate up all the info Maier packed into the novel. I'm glad you enjoyed it too!

    ReplyDelete

Your wonderful comments make my day, thanks for dropping by!