Kathleen McGowan, The Book Of Love

The Book Of Love

Kathleen McGowan

Touchstone, Mar 2009, $25.95

ISBN: 9780743299978

Maureen Paschal has become a bestselling novelist after writing a so called fictional account of her recent quest in search of and uncovering the secrets of Mary Magdalene (see THE EXPECTED ONE). However, instead of basking in her glory, she receives a strange package with a symbol and a medieval letter from a Countess Matilda; she also suffers from dreams that interfere with her sleep; Jesus directs her to find the Book of Love.

Knowing not to ignore messages, Maureen travels to France to discuss this with her lover Berenger Sinclair. He explains the supposed manuscript has never been proven to exist, but allegedly is the gospel as written by Jesus. They both receive enigmatic clues that send them to search for the eleventh century true believer in the existence of the gospel, Countess Matilda of Tuscany. As they follow Matilda's wandering in Western Europe with the help of Maureen's Jesuit scholar cousin Father Peter Healy, some Vatican officials want the truth to remain buried; if that includes burying Maureen and Berenger so be it.

This second "Magdalene Line" thriller is action-packed from the moment the heroine travels to France and never slows down as the race for the Jesus Gospel takes off even with its obvious Brownian connection. The story line intermingles the present subplot with Matilda's adventures, but each feels a bit overloaded with in fairness insightful Christian cryptic canon that adds to the readers understanding of religious dogma a millennium ago vs. today but also slows down the pace. THE BOOK OF LOVE is a deep exhilarating novel.

Harriet Klausner