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When Ben Wolf goes for his yearly physical prior to Cross-Country season, he gets some rather unexpected news. the worst sort of unexpected news really. But Ben has always felt that he wasn’t meant for a nice, long life on this earth, and takes the news about as in stride as anyone can. His doctor is none to pleased, dragging him to a specialist, and swearing him to twice weekly therapy for his silence and pass on the physical. Ben, being 18, knows the decision is his, and threatens legal action should his family find out.
Instead of returning to Cross-Country, where he’s a shoe-in for the State Title, Ben turns out for football, much to the amusement of the other players, and bemusement of the Coach. For a pint-sized guy, he’s quite the surprise as it turns out. And for a large part of the season, he’s their best-kept secret. The Horseshoe Bend game, which will surely go down in Trout History gives him one of the best moments of his life.
Meanwhile, outside school, he’s somehow landed the girl of his dreams. A thing he’d never conceived as a possibility. But dying made him bold. And is now tearing him to pieces. Not only does she like him, she forsees a future with him. One he won’t be there for. She tells him so secrets so huge he knows he should reciprocate, and yet by that time it seems too late.
The more the year progresses, the more Ben finds that attempting normalcy when the reality is anything but really wasn’t a good idea. And they tried to tell him. The doctor, the therapist, the next therapist, Hey-Soos. heck, even town drunk Rudy McCoy has confided an earth-shattering secret in him, and he still can’t get the guts to come clean.
He does though. Starting with Rudy, as it happens. And then Coach. And Cody.
Sometimes it goes much better than he could hoped. Sometimes it’s about the worst thing ever. Dying aside. Worse than that, even.
While it would seem that this would be a sad tale and a depressing read, it was uplifting throughout and largely funny, with its supremely serious interludes thrown in at just the right junctures. Definitely a recommended read for all.
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When Maureen Paschal begins researching for her book on Historic Females badly portrayed, she thinks she’s just following a lifelong passion and dream. Little does she know she’s embarking on a path that will change her self and world irrevocably.
It begins with a mysterious encounter in a shop in Jerusalem, which leads into a vision of Mary Magdalene the day of the Crucifixion. From there, Maureen returns home, writes her book, and continues on with her life as normal. Except for the recurring dreams.
Eventually, the dreams become more insistent. At a loss, Maureen turns to her cousin Peter, a Jesuit Priest, who has always been there for her and helped her through. In this instance, however, Peter is feeling well over his head.
Events continue to unfold mysteriously, with Maureen following along. When a chance finally presents itself for her to find some answers, she takes it, even though it leads to more questions and further mystery along the way.
Her trip to the Languedoc region of France will be life-changing–for Maureen, and everyone else involved.
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I loved this book, and am very interested to see where McGowan will go from here. Fans of The DaVinci Code will more than likely enjoy it, and any fan of mysteries/puzzles or folklore will also find a lot to like. The story centers around Mary Magdalene and her place in the life of Christ. It paints a very intriguing picture of her, and Him, and many other names from Religious History as well (which is where the series part comes in, as mentioned in the Afterword.)
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If you like a good puzzle, mystery, or loved The Da Vinci Code, you’ll probably enjoy this book. Ottavia Salina is a nun who enjoys a celebrated career working in the Vatican Archives. Her life is a simple and quiet one, until one day she is asked to help decode symbols tattooed on the body of a dead Ethiopian. No one will tell her who he is or what he’s done, only that she needs to figure out what the markings on his body mean. It is to be her main priority, and a Swiss Guard Captain, Kaspar Glauser-Rvist will be assisting her.
The mystery and unanswered questions are too much for her, and on a visit home, she has a nephew assist her with searching the internet, in the hopes of finding information on her dead man, which she does. Almost more than she wanted to know. She then confronts the captain with her knew knowledge, and finds herself dismissed from her job, and exiled to Ireland. Disheartened, she arrives in Ireland only to find important men waiting to take her to a plane to send her back to Rome.
After this dizzying turn of events, she finds that the Captain had gone to bat for her, insisted she be a part of his time, receieve an apology, and get her job back, before he would go forward with the project set to him by the Vatican. At long last, Dr. Salina gets her answers. Their dead ethiopian stole a piece of the True Cross. It was not the only theft of its kind. The Vatican wants to get to the bottom of these thefts, and to find the people responsible for them. This is the task set to Dr. Salina, the Captain, and eventually, their partner Farag Boswell.
Using Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy as their guide, the three puzzle their way through a series of tests set forth for aspirants wishing to gain membership in the oldest religious order in existence: the Staurfilakes, protectors of the True Cross. Their lives, needless to say, will be changed forever.
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