Kenneth Atchity

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This was a great thrill ride. The monsignor dies leaving a cryptic message. It’s up to archeologist Emily, and Jesuit Priest, Ryan to find the connection between his death and a Roman coin.

Although the book starts off a little slow, it does pick up quite the pace later on. Dr. Atchity weaves a fascinating tale, with a great adventure and lots of action. The story was so well written that it actually has plausibility if it wasn’t a work of fiction or if someone was faltering in their faith. I loved the plot and the characters were great, you could connect with them. If you like archeological adventures like Indiana Jones and you don’t mind the slow start before the action starts, this is a great book for you.
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It took me a while to figure out what to say about this book. It is a hodgepodge that tries to cover the art of selling a story from A to Z, focusing mostly, however, on television and movies rather than novels. The authors seem to know what they are talking about, and their biographies back it up with some significant successes. Parts of the book are to the point and helpful in understanding what elements make a story work--at least in the rather cut-and-dried formulaic way of TV and movies. At the end of the book, however, they provide an excerpt from a treatment, and it is frankly awful. I guess if this is the type of ridiculous stuff that sells, I'm in big trouble. Other parts of the book skim over some very important topics, such as what point of view to tell a story from. This subject merits a book in itself or at least the more thoughtful treatment James Hynes gives it in his Teaching Company course on writing. And then, there is the most annoying part of the book, which is the constant self-promotion and referrals to other books written by the authors. Perhaps this is a good starting point, since it seems to reference everything else they have done. I still give the book three stars. It is a quick read and there are lots of good lessons here. It includes some good anecdotal stories of writers who achieved success. But it is still a hodgepodge.… (mehr)

History is a funny thing; it is basically a tale passed down from one generation to the next. This means it is anyone’s guess as to how much of the story is fact, and how much of the story is just an embellishment to make it sound more interesting. This book is about this very thing. Could Augustus Caesar really be in fact the one and only Jesus? In this, both Father Ryan and Emily Scelba, Ph.D., an expert in ancient iconography, set out to prove this unique theory. The question is, can they control their undeniable passion and stay alive until they fulfill their destines? You will just have to read this book to find out.

My thoughts on this book are mixed. As a general rule, I tend to be apprehensive about the facts behind history. Historical fiction makes it even harder to discern the true facts of the story. Who really was Jesus? God only knows. The real question is, does it matter who the man was? Or is it more important to focus on the message he represents? Once again, the underlying story in this book is good. It is a well-thought-out combination of romance and suspense, which makes the unusual concept of Jesus and Augustus being the same person a little easier to swallow. Would I recommend this book? If you are a hardcore Bible-thumping Jesus freak then I would stay away from this book at all cost. If on the other hand you like history, romance, suspense, and are open-minded enough to take this book at its face value—that this is a work of fiction based on some historical information where Jesus and Augustus have a lot in common—then I would recommend you take a look.
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