The Secret of Heaven

An Explosive Mystery Regarding the Divinity of Christ Vs. the Humanity of Christ

By: Felix Alexander

Narrated by: Seth Regis

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

When investment banker Lazzaro de Medici is found dead, Professor of Biblical Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago Aiden Leonardo is the prime suspect. In possession of an encrypted letter given to him by Lazzaro, Aiden utilizes his extensive knowledge of Scripture to piece together clues that lead to a Lost Bible dating back to the time of Christ.

Hidden within the text is an ancient truth about the most controversial message Jesus left to his disciples. But as Aiden embarks on his quest to unravel the mystery of redemption and faith, a secret organization known only as The Group hunts him down to destroy the Lost Bible and tie up loose ends.

With the help of his fiancé, Dr. Miriam Levin - a cultural anthropologist and a professor of historical archaeology in her own right, their friend, Nagi, a philologist, religious historian, and an eccentric cryptographer, Aiden soon realizes the Lost Bible was written by the only disciple who walked with Jesus and had his gospel omitted from Scripture.

Things are further complicated when a mysterious stranger warns Aiden that possessing the secret of heaven could cost him his life. Pursued by the FBI for the ancient black-market relic, and the Chicago PD in connection to the murder of Lazzaro de Medici, Aiden races against the clock to prove his innocence and fulfill his mentor’s dying wish.

Expose the secret of heaven....

©2016 Felix Alexander (P)2019 Felix Alexander

Baskerville Book Reviews

First off, two things that annoyed the holy hell out of me about this book is the author referring to the 1930s and 1940s as “The 30s and 40s.” Those decades weren’t even in the same century as us, let alone the same Millenium. 1949 was 70 years before this novel is set. People talk about the 1900s as if they were last week and it’s far past time people update their vernacular.

I’m knocking points off of this book for annoying writing. Green eyes in fiction have just becum just lazy writing for “pay attention to me”. Somebody wrote a blog post in 2012 pointing out this issue in fiction, meaning this has been an issue for over a decade. It’s lazy and uninspired. I highly doubt most people give random strangers eye colors a second thought in public, let alone bring it up constantly. Green-eyed people are rare, but that doesn’t make us a goddamn circus exhibit. That being said, at the very least, other characters’ eye colors were mentioned.

As for what I like about the book, literally everything else. It’s a thriller that’s actually thrilling. It’s rare, at least for me, where I’m actually listening to a thriller and hanging onto every word. It’s intense and exciting. I like how it weaves in actual historical fact with what appears to be a well-researched historical and religious myth. I think the world-building and secret society are very well done.

There was a bit of mystery involved, though I wasn’t trying to figure it out. I was just along for the ride. I was pleased with the reveals at the end and I’m excited for book 2.

The narration was a big ‘ol mixed bag. Everybody sounds (mostly) the same, I often had trouble telling who the hell was supposed to be speaking. The overall emoting was well done enough, but I got sick of the narrator constantly mispronouncing basic words. He doesn’t know the difference between O and 0. He kept saying things such as “5:O2”, hache, sawr, Fas-aide, Pry-us, Conquistators, etc. It was often that I had to guess what the hell word he was trying to say. There was a single instance I noted of repeated dialogue as well.

Overall, this is an easy “Read it!” from me, just get the physical or kindle version. The narration isn’t worth it.

NOTE: This copy was provided to me free of charge as a digital review copy. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone, I was not paid or requested to give this book a certain rating, suggestion, or approval.

Unfulfilled

This audiobook was action-packed and fast paced but far too lengthy with à disappointing ending. I felt like so much information was spewed at me trying to keep track of all the elements only to have no answers at the end. The narrator did a good job.

To Many Descriptions

The story line was interesting. However, I did not care for the very detailed descriptions of every little thing. Almost gave up listening to it because it became boring due to the lack of adventure and to much police description that could have been kept down to minimum. Also, the narration was lacking in making it interesting. This book is not on my favorite list.

Looking forward to the next book in the series

A good read with a gripping storyline and quite a few twists.
The cast of characters from various organisations is complex and have depth.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and happily leave my honest review.