キャミー・タング著「戌年」連載小説 プロのドッグトレーナーであるマリ・ムトウは、厄年を迎えている。 犬小屋と訓練所の改築をしながら、いつも不服そうにしている家族と同居することになった。母と姉に言わせれば、犬の毛とよだれかけにまみれる仕事は、家族にとって恥ずべきものだという。彼女は元カレを説得し、数ヶ月間犬を預かってもらうことにした。しかし、彼の兄は、数週間前に彼女が誤って車に追突した、怒り狂ったセキュリティ専門家であることが判明する。 アシュウィン・ケイトウは十分な問題を抱えている。叔母が玄関先に現れ、同居を希望している。彼は彼女にすべてを借りているので、断ることができません。母親が家を出て行った後、ネルおばさんはアシュウィンと弟を引き取り、愛のあるキリスト教の家庭で育てた。しかも、弟のダスティもアパートを追い出され、居場所を求めている。しかし、彼は犬を飼っている。そして、その犬の飼い主は誰だと思いますか? しかし、旧友でオアフ島のノースショアでデイスパを経営する私立探偵のエディサ・ゲレロから依頼を受ける。マリの施設で奇妙な破壊行為があり、3年前に失踪したエディサの妹の財布を発見する。エディサはマリが危険な目に遭っているのではと心配する。警備の専門家であるアシュウィンがすでにマリを知っていることを知ったエディサは、忙しい若い女性を密かに監視することを彼に依頼する。 アシュウィンは、活発でのんびりとしたドッグトレーナーに不本意ながら惹かれていく。彼女は、幸せそうな母親を思い出させる。その母親の裏切りによって、彼は人と距離を置くようになったのだ。マリは、アシュウィンの冷たい外見を見抜き、彼が家族に忠実な男であることを認める。彼は、彼女のキャリア選択を批判するだけの母親や姉とは違う。 マリのバラバラな家庭とアシュウィンのバラバラな家庭の中で、過去を隠そうとする人たちから、彼らの周りに危険が迫ってくるようになる。彼らは、影で動く秘密に光を当てることができるのか? 過去に発表されたパートへのリンクはこちら。 *** 第8章 - 恐ろしくも真っ白な不動産書類 『みんな仲良くできないのかな?』 マリは無用に力を込めて箱に本を投げ入れた。最近、なぜ彼女は人生の中で全員と言い争いをしているのだろう?もしかすると、これは本当に悪いアイデア
9/3/04
I just finished RETRIBUTION by Randy Ingermanson. Absolutely riveting. His action races along and his prose is so engaging that I couldn't put it down. I felt as if I, too, were sucked into the world of first century Jerusalem.
From the back cover:
Jerusalem, A.D. 66
The City of God seethes with rage against imperial Rome...and, in an act of unspeakable brutality, Rome takes deadly retribution. War looms on the horizon--but one woman already knows the outcome...
Transported from the far future, Rivka Meyers has made her home in Jerusalem with her husband and fellow time traveler, Ari Kazan. But in a turbulent age, Rivka's foreknowledge of history is a heavy responsibility. She knows Jerusalem will be destroyed--and that a prophet will warn the fledgling church to flee the city. Is Rivka herself that prophet? And if so, will the people heed her warning?
Rivka's fears deepen when Jewish zealots demand Ari's help to design weapons of war. Ari faces the impossible choice: join the "men of violence" in their doomed cause, or leave the people defenseless against Nero's legions.
Desperate to know God's will, Ari and Rivka are about to face the cost of forgiveness...gain an unexpected ally...and learn the extraordinary power of sacrifice.
Camy again:
I don't read many historical novels, but this is a mix of both history and science fiction because the main characters are from our near future, stuck in the ancient past through the actions of a theoretical physicist. I've heard that time-travel is actually theorized in physics, although I would never understand the complex mathematics, so the characters' plight isn't through a magical talisman or something that *Bibbity-bobbity-boo* zaps them back in time. This dabbles in the realm of possibility, which is rather neat. The author has a short, amusing article on time travel on his website:
http://www.rsingermanson.com/html/time-travel.html
I've heard about the historical account of Josephus but never read his work. However, I thoroughly enjoyed how the author revealed and compared events transpiring with the slightly exaggerated writings of Josephus and other historians. The way the plot unfolds is intriguing and surprising. Things never fall into a predicted pattern or lose their richness, even though all the events are taken from actual historical writings.
Each character, whether good or evil, is very complex. No one is a cardboard cutout, not from the most devout Rabbi to the most evil Roman. It adds incredible emotional depth to the story.
Slight warning here: the author describes a true Roman crucifixion, which is a horrific thing, not the white-washed images of the Renaissance painters. The violence might offend some readers used to the typical fare of most CBA publishers.
This is third in the author's City of God series. Before reading RETRIBUTION, I had not read TRANSGRESSION (book 1) but I did read PREMONITION (book 2). This book stands alone, but I do believe that reading PREMONITION (book 2) made this novel much more enjoyable, because I had already come to care for the main characters, had seen their struggles and conflicts in PREMONITION (book 2). Many of those conflicts are slightly related to the struggles in RETRIBUTION (book 3).
Note: Randy now offers a PDF version of TRANSGRESSION as an ebook FREE on his website.
Kathy Tyers, author of SHIVERING WORLD and her FIREBIRD trilogy, endorses this novel and mentions that she "devoured the book and wished it were longer." I was exactly the same. Randy Ingermanson's writing style is incredibly engaging, and the characters so 3-dimensional you can almost touch and talk to them. The ending comes as a bit of a shock because you want there to be more.
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