BOOK REVIEW BY @COLLEENCHESEBRO OF “IN THE BEGINNING” @AUTHORABBYVANDIVER

In the Beginning

Title:  In the Beginning, (Mars Origin I – Series Book 1)

Author:  Abby L. Vandiver

Blog: Abby L. Vandiver.com

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ISBN: 0989546306

ISBN13: 9780989546300

ASIN:  B00DPOF6IE

Published:  December 16, 2013

Pages:  332

Genre:  Science Fiction, Religious and Inspirational Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

A Biblical Archaeologist named Justin Dickerson decides that she needs a change to her dull academic lifestyle. She accepts an invitation to attend the 50th Jubilee of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and participates in the last of the translation process regarding the ancient writings. While working on the interpretations of these writings, she stumbles upon a journal that one of the original translators compiled. This amazing artifact propels her to search for humankind’s true beginnings in our world.

The original translator, Dr. Amos Sabir was assigned to translate four manuscripts found in Cave #4 at Qumran in the Judean Desert in 1949. A total of seven scrolls were unearthed and translated. What this group of original translators discover, is evidence so earth-shattering that they hide the findings from the world; burying the secret in plain sight hoping it will not be detected. Until 1997, when Justin finds the notebooks and realizes the hidden translations clarify the true beginnings of our species and our existence on earth.

I love science fiction, history, and mystery novels, so when I stumbled upon this book as a “free” Kindle download I was excited. After the first few pages I knew I had scored an excellent read. I did a bit of my own research and found a great site called Bibleplaces.com which helped to fill in some of the questions I had about the Dead Sea Scrolls, the location of the caves, and the actual condition of the authentic manuscripts. The more I read, the more excited I got. I felt like a researcher too!

However, be prepared. This is not a Dan Brown novel that introduces you to religious conspiracy theories. Instead, Abby Vandriver takes a more realistic course. She tells the tale through the eyes of a woman who has deep religious convictions rooted in the traditions of her tight knit family. The whole concept of the hidden translation is thought provoking and will leave you thinking about the origins of man for a long time to come.

Abby L. Vandiver

 

Author, Abby L. Vandiver

The writing was so well done, that I had a hard time separating fact from fiction. This story was so believable that many times I had to remind myself that this was creative writing at its best, and it was not true. Although, I still cannot help wondering if it could it be true…

If you love books that deal with history, biblical history, The Gnostic Texts, aliens, and the unknown, you will love this rendition on the theme of man’s origins. There are two additional books available in the trilogy: “Irrefutable Proof – Book II” and “Incarnate – Book III.” You can bet that I have both of them on my summer must read list!

RATINGS
Realistic Characterization: 5/5
Made Me Think: 5/5
Overall enjoyment: 5/5
Readability: 4/5
Recommended: 5/5
Overall Rating: 5.0

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Buy it at: Amazon
Format & Pricing
Paperback: $12.95 US
Kindle: $2.99 US

Colleen 10.21.14

 

 

 

 

 

@ColleenChesebro

www.SilverThreading.com

 

 

Author: Colleen Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro grew up in a large city in the Midwest. Keen on making her own way in the world, she joined the United States Air Force after graduation to tour the world and find herself. To this day, that search continues. An avid reader, Colleen rekindled her love of writing poetry and cozy fantasy mysteries after years spent working in the accounting industry. These days, she loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction. Besides poetry books, Chesebro’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of her writing community on tankatuesday.com by organizing and sponsoring a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, where participants experiment with traditional and current forms of Japanese and American syllabic poetry. She offers book publishing services through Unicorn Cats Publishing Services, designed to help authors & poets create ePubs & ebooks for publication on Amazon. Chesebro lives in the house of her dreams in mid-Michigan, surrounded by the Great Lakes with her husband and two (unicorn) cats, Chloe & Sophie.

20 thoughts on “BOOK REVIEW BY @COLLEENCHESEBRO OF “IN THE BEGINNING” @AUTHORABBYVANDIVER”

    1. Yes, I love this deep introspective stuff. The history involved was amazing. I can’t wait to read the next two books now. 😀 ❤

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  8. Hi Michelle, Not a thriller at all. More a philosophical discussion of what if??? This is more a science fiction/historical type book. It was really interesting to me and I did not mind the lack of “Dan Brown-like happenings. There is great family interaction in this novel. Not what I expected at all. 😀

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    1. Pat you are so welcome. I love the way she writes, too. I have not read any of her cozy mysteries yet so, that will be a fun read. This particular series is really interesting (In the Beginning). I love the unknown. ❤ 😀

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  11. Beautifully written, Colleen. It really looks like a promising read. I like the way you categorize the different points for which you give stars, makes it easier to get an impression.

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