Review – The Sacred Cipher

Dr. Charles Spurgeon haggled over prices with the cloaked foreigner in a murky doorway of Egypt’s Alexandrian Bazaar. The object, a small metal tube wrapped in exquisite Moroccan silk. Settling on a price that made them both smile, Spurgeon left, quite pleased with his niece’s birthday gift that would board ship with him in the morning for his return to London. His niece would appreciate the expensive Moroccan silk. The tube was irrelevant, or so he thought.

Decades later, Tom Bohannon, executive director of New York City’s Bowery mission, supervises the mission’s latest renovation project. When construction workers find a hidden room behind the chapel’s organ pipes, Bohannon discovers the office of Dr. Louis Klopsch, first president of the Bowery mission. Inside the small room an ornate safe overflowed with books, scrolls, and manuscripts. The most unusual item, a metal tube with a five by twenty-four inch scroll inside.

The ancient scroll, written in an extinct language historians and scientists can’t decipher, holds a secret that would destroy the fragile peace in the Middle East and engage Jews and Muslims in nuclear war. Alongside the tube lay a letter from Charles Spurgeon written to his friend Dr. Klopsch with a dire warning.

Add international travel, dangerous escapades, underground caverns, secret rooms, ancient tunnels and ultra-modern high security measures, and you have something for any fan of mystery and suspense thrillers.

I especially liked the critical, supernatural guidance role God played. I’ve not seen it used like this in fiction before. The author tied God into the story line and made him a natural part of the story with one character’s commitment to prayer, and his audacious faith and trust in God at the most unlikely times.

The inclusion of real life character, Dr. Charles Spurgeon, known as the “Prince of Preachers,” surprised me, but it too worked well. All Brennan’s characters are mature and genuine, the plot credible, exciting, sometimes even humorous, the writing and dialogue fresh and authentic. The story is fast-paced, with all the action of an Indiana Jones style chartbuster.

Award-winning nonfiction writer, Terry Brennan ventures into the field of fiction with a blockbuster debut mystery thriller, filled with action-oriented suspense and intrigue difficult to put down. Readers of The Sacred Cipher will become fans and want a sequel. The book would also make an excellent movie. I have high praise for Brennan’s imaginative writing.

I just learned The Sacred Cipher is a finalist for Book of the Year Award from Foreword Magazine. According to ForeWord, “The finalists, representing 360 publishers, were selected from 1,400 entries in 60 categories. These books are examples of independent publishing at its best.” The winning titles are chosen by a panel of librarians and booksellers among the ForeWord readership. Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor’s Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be presented at a special program at BookExpo America in New York City on May 25, 2010, which is open to all BEA attendees.