The Awakening by Angella Graff

★★★★★Ben Stanford is a cop.  A good detective who takes his job very seriously.  His job is a headache, literally.  Ben begins to have headaches that won’t go away and he feels dizzy.  He has a heavy case load and he doesn’t give the medical issues a second thought, shaking them off and continuing to work.  Until they get worse.  Ben finally seeks out his doctor’s advice and what he finds isn’t good.  The doctor suspects a brain tumor and schedules Ben for immediate surgery.   The detective clears his calendar and makes plans for a hospital stay.

Ben finds himself close to a call he hears on dispatch and decides to check it out, even though he’s not a beat cop.  It seems there is a man in a catholic church who is bleeding profusely from his wrists and is babbling incoherently.  Ben hurries to the scene.  When he arrives the man grabs him and it takes more of Ben’s fellow officers to stop the seemingly manic man.  Before the madman is taken to the hospital something strange happens.  He quits bleeding from the wounds on his wrists and they miraculously heal.  Ben continues to his appointment and goes in for the surgery.  Only something is very strange.  The tumor that previously showed up in his brain is gone.

Ben’s sister Abby is angry that her brother didn’t let her know he was ill.  She shows up at the hospital after being called by medical staff as next of kin.  Abby is a teacher.  She is very interested in a new professor named Mark.  Mark is blind but that doesn’t keep Abby from trying to get his attention.  Mark would rather Abby left him alone, but she perseveres.

Once you’ve met these key players the book takes the reader on a thrill ride.  Who is Mark?  Is he as old as he says he is?  Who is the man in the church?  Could he possibly be Judas Iscariot?  What happened in the case of Ben’s brain tumor?  Ben is a non-believer – but he has questions.

Something very strange is going on and someone must get to the bottom of it, no matter what the danger.  People are dying – why?  Who are they?  A doctor named Greg has more information than he should have.  He and Ben meet to discuss the case.  Abby and Ben leave on a whirlwind trip to find out the truth.  Who is Mark?  Is he mentally ill?  Or is it possible he’s telling the truth?  And what do they do with the truth when they find it out?

This book is a real page-turner.  Ms. Graff has done extensive research into the theological aspect of the book and has woven it with characters that make the mystery captivating.   Not since Dan Brown have I read anything comparable in excitement and history.  The author is able to keep a Robert Ludlum pace to her writing and the reader is included on a wild ride right to the end.

I loved this book.  I’m so glad it’s a series because I can look forward to the next one!

If you’d like to find out more about author Angella Graff read my interview with her here.