The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau

by:  Nancy Bilyeau
published by:  Touchstone
publish date:  January 10, 2012

When Joanna Stafford, a young novice, learns her cousin is about to be burned at the stake for rebelling against Henry VIII, she makes a decision that will change not only her life, but quite possibly the fate of a nation.

Joanna breaks the sacred rule of enclosure and runs away from Dartford Priory. But when Joanna and her father are arrested and sent to the Tower of London, she finds herself a pawn in a deadly power struggle. Those closest to the throne are locked in a fierce fight against those desperate to save England's monasteries from destruction.

Charged with a mission to find a hidden relic believed to possess a mystical power that has slain three Englishmen of royal blood in the last 300 years, Joanna and a troubled young friar, Brother Edmund, must seek answers across England. Once she learns the true secret of her quest, Joanna must finally determine who to trust, and how far she’s willing to go to protect her life, her family and everything she holds dear.

The Crown was one of those books that when I first heard about it I was like WHOOO It sounds Awesome!!  Then when I got it I was less than enthusiastic.  Historical Fiction, Nuns, Friars, sounded like something that would send me to sleep in a hurry.  I was definitely wrong.  My first impression was spot on.  I really liked it a lot.

Joanna is a young novice on her way to becoming a full nun when a series of events happen that led to her being sent to the Tower of London then sent back to her Priory with a mission to find a hidden relic.  She is sent back with two friars who know little of her mission, but must help her with it.  I've seen several reviews critical of the characters in this book particularly Joanna and Edmund and how willing they were to break their sacred vows.  I didn't see them as willing to break their vows, but as having no other options. 

I thought The Crown was exciting and interesting.  It seemed to be well researched.  I think fans of Dan Brown and Robert Browne will enjoy this one.  Great debut novel!

Review and GIVEAWAY: The Paradise Prophecy

by:  Robert Browne

published by:  Dutton Publishing

publish date:  July 21, 2011

The Myth:  When God cast the archangel Satan into Hell, ending the War in Heaven, peace prevailed on Earth. Until the fallen angels took revenge in the Garden of Eden. Ever since, mankind has been in a struggle between good and evil, paradise and apocalypse: the fall of Rome, The Crusades, World Wars, nuclear proliferation, the Middle East Crisis... The War in Heaven never really ended-it just changed venues. For millennia, God's angels have been fighting Satan's demons on Earth, all in hopes of bringing about Satan's greatest ambition, the Apocalypse.

The Reality:  Satan has never been closer to his goal than right now.

Agent Bernadette Callahan is a talented investigator at a shadowy government organization known only as Section, on the trail of a serial killer with nearly supernatural abilities. Sebastian "Batty" LaLaurie is a religious historian who knows far too much about the other side- and that hard-earned knowledge is exactly what Callahan needs. This unlikely duo pair up for a race across the globe, decoding clues left in ancient texts from the Bible to Paradise Lost and beyond. In the process they stumble upon a vast conspiracy-one beyond the scope of mankind's darkest imagination.

If you're a fan of Dan Brown, James Rollins, or even Clive Cussler, I think you'd like this book.  It's a action/adventure/thriller with historical and religious elements.  Normally, I fly through books, but this one I couldn't.  I found that it was somewhat "heavy reading".  I had to go back and reread some sections to figure out what was going on.  That was a little frustrating for me, but it was worth it because it was a really excellent story.
 
I really liked all this historical references throughout the book.  I haven't read Paradise Lost by John Milton so I don't know if everything in the book was true or not, but if it was it was pretty interesting.  I had never heard of the Codex Gigas before, but I looked it up and it's fascinating.  I'm going to have to learn more about it. 

As a reader from south Louisiana I was pleased to see that Sebastian LaLaurie was from Louisiana.  I also couldn't help but notice his last name.  If you're familiar with New Orleans history, or haunted houses you might have heard of the LaLaurie Mansion.  If you aren't, Marie LaLaurie was a horrible woman and there's all kinds of stories about her mistreatment of slaves.  I wondered if that historical nugget played in to this book about Satan.

I have ONE book to give away. It's open to the US and Canada. Please leave a comment on this post with a valid email address. This giveaway will be open until August 7th.