Author: Gidon Rothstein. 

ISBN: 1-4196-0756-1

Messiah has come, the Temple has been rebuilt and the Law has been reestablished.  Rachel Tucker’s husband has vanished off the face of the earth and her best friend is dead.  Life in post-Messianic Israel is far from utopian.

Rachel is a correspondent for a major news station in the United States, a new mother with a colicky baby and probably a widow.  She despairs of finding out what happened to her husband, but she assumes he is dead.  She knows her best friend’s husband, a powerful Temple priest, murdered his own wife.  Calling upon her experience as an investigative reporter and fueled by a desire to escape grief and colic for a few hours a day, Rachel determines to get to the bottom of her friend’s death.

During the course of her investigation, Rachel makes friends and enemies, trips over the Law, and begins to learn the rules of living in Israel.  She nearly commits murder in an almost-comical misinterpretation of a Law she doesn’t know well, and is “sentenced” to either be exiled from Israel or to learn and accept her new way of life.

As she untangles the web of intrigue, she also begins to bond with her son and her Jewish heritage. 

This is a well-written, fast-paced book.  The plot twists, turns and dives below the surface of society, culture and personality.  Friend and foe both reveal deep secrets, some dark and some painful.  The same dark, painful secrets are also revealed in the priesthood and in Israeli society.  Post-Messianic Israel is not perfection; it is a movement toward Godliness and righteousness.  It will take time for society to reach that goal.

I was a little disappointed that the coming of Messiah was a thoroughly background event; something that changed Israel and provided the setting for this novel.  I would have liked to see how this all played out on the world stage, and in Christianity and Islam.

Other than that, this is an excellent mystery.  The fact that religion and culture are in the background makes the book accessible to non-Jewish readers.  You don’t have to have prior knowledge of Judaism to enjoy the book.  Rothstein gently nudges you into the world of post-Messianic Israel, a world immersed in ancient Jewish tradition, and tells a wonderful story while doing it.

The above review was contributed by: Penny Watkins:  CLICK HERE  to read more of Penny's Reviews.To read Penny's Interview With Gidon Rothstein CLICK HERE