Awakening by Tracy Higley

Synopsis:

Seven years ago Kallie woke up in a New York museum, injured and with no memory of who she was. She had been discovered by Judith, the museum curator, who had named her Kallista, the ancient Greek name for the island of Santorini. She had added the last name of Andreas for the family whose charitable contributions over the decades had funded the museum's Greek projects. Judith had been a mentor to Kallie, seeing to her physical healing, her education, and then her job as assistant curator.

But all is not well with Kallie. She has been experiencing blackouts, leaving her with lost time. She has also been having visions of another time and place. Her psychiatrist asks her to write down her visions and an ancient story begins to unfold.

Kallie is pursuing funding for her project, assembling a collection of pieces from the ancient Minoans. Her position at the museum is threatened when she botches a public relations event. The only good thing from that event was meeting Dimitri Andreas, heir to the vast family fortune. When Kallie is fired, she reluctantly agrees to work for Dimitri and debarks on a journey to find an artifact on the black market that is supposed to be the key to the lost Minoan language.

The journey soon turns very dangerous and Dimitri joins her and the two embark on a global quest, pursuing leads. Danger abounds as someone is determined to see that their quest fails. Kallie still has the visions and they have turned violent. Her reality becomes fuzzy as ancient violence invades her present life.

Review:

This is a very interesting novel. I've not read anything close to this innovative plot line before. It took me a while to get into the book but about half way through, I was hooked. The novel is a unique combination of fantasy and present day. After the initial one third, or so, of the novel, there is exciting action that continues to the end.

The character development is a little different as, through most of the novel, Kallie does not know who she is, so we have no real character development. There were times when Kallie exhibited skills, such as defensive moves, that didn't make sense at the time. In the end, however, it did make sense. One has to read all the way to the end to understand the rest of the book.

I was surprised and pleased to see hints of the gospel in the fantasy part of the novel. There is only one way to find the truth. To find freedom one must follow the scarlet thread, so to speak. There is also the whole idea of a message of salvation from impending doom.

Those who like fantasy will like this book. Those who like contemporary novels set in unusual places and with unusual plots will also like it. The plot has been well crafted but one must read to the end to appreciate its deftly interwoven nature. You'll learn some interesting history of the islands off Greece's mainland too.

You can watch a book trailer here.

Tracy Higley began writing her first novel at age eight and has been writing ever since. She received a BA in English Literature from Rowan University and then spent ten years writing drama presentations for church ministry. A lifelong interest in history and mythology has led her to extensive research into ancient Greece and shaped her desire to shine the light of the gospel into the cultures of the past. Find out more at http://tracyhigley.com/. 

Stonewater Press, 366 pages.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel through The Book Club Network for the purpose of an independent and honest review.