Book Review: The Breath of God by Jeffrey Small

About the Book:

A murder at the Taj Mahal. A kidnapping in a sacred city. A desperate chase through a cliffside monastery. All in the pursuit of a legend that could link together the great religious faiths of the world. 

In 1887, a Russian journalist made an explosive discovery in a remote Himalayan monastery only to be condemned and silenced for the heresy he proposed. His discovery vanished shortly thereafter. 

Now, graduate student Grant Matthews journeys to the Himalayas in search of this ancient mystery. But Matthews couldn’t have anticipated the conspiracy of zealots who would go to any lengths to prevent him from bringing this secret public. Soon he is in a race to expose a truth that will change the world’s understanding of religion. A truth that his university colleagues believe is mere myth. A truth that will change his life forever—if he survives.

About the Author:

Author Jeffrey Small graduated summa cum laude from Yale University and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. He holds a master’s degree in the study of religions from Oxford University. 

Jeffrey is active in the Episcopal Church serving on the Board of Trustees of General Theological Seminary, but he has also studied yoga in India, practiced Buddhist meditation in Bhutan, explored the ancient temples of Egypt, and journeyed throughout the Holy Land

.

My Opinion:


This was a page turner! From the very first sentence to very last word this book kept me captivated. It's a combination of religious/mystery/historical/modern day thriller and I found it to be just about unputdownable. The premise of the tale, that Jesus traveled to India and Tibet during the 18 years unaccounted for in the Bible, was first postulated by Nicolas Notovitch. Known there as St. Issa His teachings are remarkably similar to what He taught in Jerusalem.


I had read previously and in passing just recently about this time in Jesus' life so it was very interesting to have a second book with this information as a topic. In this tale the revelation of the  existence of the Issa journals would, of course, cause a crisis of faith and its publication must be stopped at all costs.


Grant Matthews, our hero, is searching for the manuscripts to complete his dissertation. No one believes in him or the journals. But he has absolute faith. He finds himself pitched against an unknown enemy determined to discredit him and keep him from revealing the truth he has found.
At any cost. The secondary force behind that enemy comes as shock to both Grant and the reader.


The descriptions of place are so well written I almost felt like I was actually there. The thriller aspect had me racing through the pages to find out what was going to happen next.  Overall this was a fascinating tale of what can lurk behind blind faith and what is possible if you open your mind.


The Breath of God is available at Amazon.com













Disclosure:  I received a gratis copy of The Breath of God from FSB Media. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.