Review: The Book Of Blood And Shadow By Robin Wasserman

The Book of Blood and Shadow
By Robin Wasserman
Amazon † B&N † Author Site
448 pages
Published April 10th 2012
By Random House Children's Books

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead. His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.

      Review:

I am a Roman Catholic, but I am by no means very active in my faith. With that being said, I truly enjoyed reading this book. I avoided reading The Da Vinci Code because I thought it would have a heavy religious presence. I was reading this book and was thinking this is probably similar to The Da Vinci Code and yet I am so hooked on Robin's book that I could barely put it down. The way she told this story kept you guessing and wondering about what exactly is the Lumen Dei and who could possibly be after them and willing to kill to get it.

In the beginning of this story I wanted Chris to be with Nora but alas that was not meant to be. Chris ends up dating Adriane, making the duo a trio, whom become inseparable. That is until Nora meets (Chris' roommate) Max, while they are translating Latin manuscripts, and falls for him. The four friends seem to have it all until the night Chris is murdered.

That night leaves Nora with one dead best friend, one friend who is catatonic, and one boyfriend missing and presumed the murderer. Now Nora is on a race against time to find her boyfriend, to prove his innocents, and find the real murdered of her best friend Chris before they all end up dead. Nora's search starts in Prague where mystery assailants dog Nora and Adriane at ever turn. But the more Nora finds out about the Lumen Dei the more Nora realizes for the sake of all humanity she must continue on her quest no matter what may happen.

There is so much more I want to say but anything further would ruin this nail biting book for everyone. This truly was an amazing book. On a scale from 1-10. I give The Book Of Blood And Shadow a BIG HUGE 10. This book was extremely hard to put down and never disappointed me. I encourage everyone to run out and pick up a copy and help Nora track down Chris' killer and find out what the Lumen Dei really is.

            Raquel @ www.skyla11377.blogspot.com