Wayward Son is one of those unique novels you stumble across ever so often that is both interesting and thought provoking. The captivating plot draws the reader into an adventure of a life-time that crosses ages and centers around a person of historical and biblical magnitude.

What would happen if the one cursed by God somehow 'cheats' death and lives throughout the ages influencing many people in many different time periods? Find out in this exciting novel that encompasses world history and biblical history. A theme that seems to be explored is the danger of greed, and self-sufficiency.

Amanda, a beautiful (overly stated in the novel) and intelligent young lady is called upon to use her amazing (again over stated) Linguistic skills to translate a door that is found after an earthquake. Apparently our lead character is a master of multiple modern and ancient languages and so brilliant that she is highly sought after for this and her unbelievable beauty.

In the course of going to this archeological site Amanda is faced with a great offer to become a television host and make more money in one year than she could make in a life time at the Getty working ancient artifacts and translating ancient texts. This temptation is a lure to keep her from what lays in wait for her at the archeological site.

Could it be that the modern world is still plagued by a god who is faceless, and just as ruthless as ever? A deceiver in the purest form - the ancient enemy of the one true God?

See this epic adventure unfold as you are invited into a modern world that collides with the ancient and see the battle of the adversary and God.

This is truly an interesting book.

Thanks to the Publisher for this free review copy. ( )

Amanda James is an archeologist that finds herself as a silent observer of Cain life and death when she picks up one artifact in a chamber of wonders. This good versus evil novel offers new insight on Cain relationship that defined his role in Christianity. There are two interesting plot lines, one ancient and one modern, that could have been the basis for two distinctly different books. ( )

Wonderful! If I could give this 4.5 stars, I would. The story took me completely by surprise and I was hooked. I spent several hours today finishing it up.

The end, especially, surprised me. As I read it, I kept thinking to myself, "Oh I know where this is going, the reveal is just around the corner." And I kept thinking that right up until the book proved me so very and happily wrong.

Apparently, it's the start of a series, but it also stands perfectly and satisfyingly on it's own.




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I really enjoyed Wayward Son, and have read it twice now. It's a bit of Indiana Jones combined with Christian Fiction, which was a surprise. I hadn't expected the religious aspect of the book, and appreciated it. I especially appreciated the way Pollack wove Christ's meetings with Cain into the book in a way that didn't contradict the Christ of the Bible. I am giving it four stars only because I felt that characters other than Cain were not very fully developed, and their story lines were a bit weak. Cain is the central figure in the book, but I was left wanting to know more about the other characters.
The book description mentions that this is the first book of a planned series, and I am looking forward to the next book.

I received this book from Libray Thing's Early Reviewer program. ( )

Everything changes early one morning when Dr. Amanda James gets a call from an old college flame and fellow archaeologist, beseeching her to travel to Italy to help solve the puzzle of a mysterious set of bronze doors at a new dig site. Much to her surprise and bemusement, Amanda also receives an offer of stardom and celebrity from billionaire Luc Renard on the same day. The only catch? The job is in Tokyo, requiring Amanda to leave everything of her life behind including her current work at the Getty Museum. Unable to turn her back on archaeology and all the research that she loves, she turns down the offer, but Renard is not someone used to taking no for an answer...

At the dig site in Italy, Amanda takes up the challenge solving the secret of the bronze doors. Sealed by a code inscribed in ancient languages including Chinese and Egyptian, the researchers believe the doors should open up to an underground vault buried beneath a hundred feet of ash from the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius. Once inside, Amanda discovers a room full of relics, including two unknown figures eternally locked in what appears to have been a struggle, killed and frozen in time by the volcanic effusion.

It is then Amanda suddenly experiences a shocking vision -- the life and times of the notorious Biblical figure Cain. Through her visions, she learns the truth -- that Cain actually walked the earth for thousands of years, cursed for the murder of his brother. Trapped in his immortal life, this is a story of Cain's road to redemption and fight to resist the devil's temptations.

At first, I thought I would love Wayward Son, based on my love for archaeology and the description of the book on various websites like Amazon and Goodreads. However, the book was nothing like I expected. Don't get me wrong, this was a well written book with a rather creative story. My problem with it isn't so much what the book was about, but with the way it was marketed.

From the synopsis, it sounded like a tale of suspense and adventure, something I would really love. As it turned out, this was not the case. I think I was initially drawn to these particular lines of the description: "Amanda is shocked to discover evidence left behind by a notorioius Biblical killer, who long ago wandered off the pages of history. When a strange relic unveils the miraculous truth about this villain, Amanda must battle sinister forces intent on suppressing her stunning revelation, before it alters the destiny of millions."

While the beginning of the novel started off promising, I have to say that description did not actually reflect the content of the book at all. The bulk of the story itself is actually much more low-key and subdued, and not as heart-pumpingly exciting as the synopsis made it sound. The life of "Biblical killer" who turned out to be Cain played out more like a historical drama, and he wasn't really portrayed like the "villain" as stated. While Wayward Son did have a touch of mystery and suspense, the description is unreliable. I would say this book would be more at home on a Christian fiction shelf.

I'm still glad I picked it up for the synopsis, misleading or not, because I don't know if I would have read this book otherwise. It's an intriguing read, though my only caveat to other potential readers, of course, is to be wary of the novel's descriptions. ( )