Kids, let’s talk James Rollins.
This guy never quits. His books just keep coming, but never become formulaic. I have no idea how he keeps things fresh, and why I haven’t become bored 8 books into his Sigma Series.
On a new and exciting Rollins’ front, he’s just started up on a new series called The Sanguines Trilogy.
Book One: Blood Gospel.
I tried to verbally review this book as I was reading it. Instead of reviewing, I spoiled. This is going to be a short review, and a good one. If you are a fan of thrilling pop fiction, you have yourself a goldmine here. If you love historical fiction, you have yourself a goldmine here. If you love surprise endings, you have yourself a goldmine here.
Rollins technique of weaving history, current affairs and mystery together in Blood Gospel remind me of Kathy Reichs’ in Cross Bones. It even works in the history of Masada and mysteries that have been left unsolved since early Christianity. Let’s give a bit of an overview of ancient events, which hopefully, will not blow the book.
Masada is an ancient fort located in Southern Israel, containing ruins of buildings erected by Herod the Great (who many recall as the baby killer behind the Slaughter of Innocents in the New Testament). During the First Jewish-Roman War or ‘The Great Revolt’, The Second Jewish Temple was ransacked, thousands of Jews were massacred in Jerusalem, and Romans Vespasian and Titus invaded Galilee. Long story short, Vespasian gets recalled to Rome, crowned Emperor and leaves his son Titus to crush the rebellion. Titus took back Jerusalem, and left the Tenth Legion to defeat any remaining pockets of resistance. The Tenth, plus ancillary troops and captured prisoners, totalling 10,000-15,000 (depending on your historical source) surrounded Masada, looking to break the last stronghold of the Jews. The inhabitants refused to surrender, and after a lengthy siege, the Romans entered the fortress to find that nearly 1000 Jews had committed suicide instead of surrendering to Roman rule, and they had set nearly all the buildings on fire, instead of leaving them for the enemy.
In spite of the fact that Romans were meticulous record keepers, and that the actual siege was recorded by the classical historian Josephus…of the 960 Jews that died at Masada, only 28 bodies have been found.
So what really happened during the siege?
Rollins premise for Blood Gospel is to solve this mystery using an archaeologist, an American soldier, and a priest from the Vatican. Keep an eye out for miracles and famous historical figures as you read!
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