K Noelle Gilmer

EXTREME disappointment!! While I respect and appreciate the attempts at biblical teaching, it falls short because the lessons are not proved within the story. "I don't know", is too often the response. For goodness sake, there must be some answers given, some situation that DOES, 'work for the good ...' NOT ONE non-believer was actually converted, and the heroine is fed to the lions at the very end (literally the last chapter). After 20+ hours of investment and trust given by the reader, betrayal in the form of an unhappy, unsatisfying, nonredemptive, incomplete ending is all that is left. As a point of writing style, everyone can't have a sardonic smile (please get a thesaurus). The ultimate sin of this book, however is that the prophecy told in Chapter 2, is not honored. 29 Chapters later and we are denied its fulfillment - no love, no triumph, no fall of Rome, and Atretes has not lead his people to freedom, nor in fact, anywhere. As far as we know, he lives out his days in a cave, because the epilogue is ill-used. No loss if skipped; 21 hours, 11 minutes of life you will never get back if you listen.