READ IN DUTCH

This is the sequel to The Sacred Bones, which I quite liked, so I had been looking forward to read this book.



The story sets off right after the first book ended. If you think you don't recall anything from the first book, it might just be a good idea to reread the first novel. Or else, just try and see if any things will come back to you after you start reading (this is what I usually do). It was still enjoyable, but I didn't like it as much as I liked the first one. It also felt like a bit too much repetition. The end was also quite predictable, unfortunately. Still a nice and quick read, but not a good as the first one. ( )

As part of my goal to finish all my physical books I finally picked up the sequel to [b:The Sacred Bones|449207|The Sacred Bones|Michael Byrnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174870753s/449207.jpg|1176262]. Picking up where the last book left off geneticist Charlotte Hennesey is once again drawn into the middle of a conflict between major religions, though this time the focus is on Jerusalem not Rome and between the Jews and Muslims.

I preferred the other main character, Amit, more than Charlotte. I wish there had been more about him and I hope he gets his own book. Overall though this book just felt more of the same. The ending was rather predictable. Just once I'd like to see them take it in a completely different direction.

A quick read I wouldn't recommend it without reading the first book. ( )

This is a retelling of the story of the death of Jesus, what happened to his bones, the Ark of The Covenant and 2000 year old prophecies which brings it all together in modern Jerusalem. Remembering that this is fiction of course this is not a bad read right up to the end. The ending was very disappointing and took the conventional path that big events don't actually happen and evil doers are always thwarted at the end, especially when it comes to world changing events. But in this case the evil doers weren't really all that evil, just misguided and side tracked. And then days later it was as if nothing had happened.

Apart from the ending I enjoyed this. ( )

So my second favourite genre to read would be religious conspiracies/thriller books and The Sacred Blood is just that. I've read several types like Dan Brown and Michael Byrnes and each time that I do I get pulled right in, until just about the end. Each novel is about 'exposing' the religious truths that the church (or in this case synagogue) are hiding from the world. The ideas behind the stories are interesting and believable, almost. Where the author will lose me is with too much mystical mumbo jumbo. I have a low tolerance for the supernatural or a sparkly magic box, this to me is not believable. Yes, I am a heathen and I'm sure some might call blaspheme, but I accept that. Byrnes had me until the box was a sparkly lightening bolt. ( )

These books are great fun, preposterous, but great fun. ( )