Mark Andrew Olsen Reviews

Added May 12

The Watchers

Author: Mark Andrew Olsen
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: March 2007
Genre: Fiction: Christian/Suspense/Thriller
Format: Hardback
Price: $19.99
ISBN-10: 0764228188
ISBN-13: 978-0-7642-2818-6
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

After devouring Mark Andrew Olsen's The Assignment, Rescued and the Hadassah books, I could hardly wait to get my hands on The Watchers. I've come to expect a certain level of mystery and intrigue from Olsen's writing. The Watchers not only does not disappoint, it delivers!

Abby Sherman may think she's exactly like millions of other young women. She has a mycorner.com profile (very similar to the infamous myspace.com of our time), and posts regular blogs. Her latest blog is a detailed description of a recent dream she has had.

An evil enemy, The Scythians, know about Abby's dream, and the significance behind what will happen if she is allowed to post the dream on her blog. Hiring a trained and heartless assassin, they hope not only prevent Abby from posting her dream-they plan to stop her from having another dream ever again.

Managing to post her dream, despite the horrific circumstances surrounding her, Abby has no idea that her email account will be inundated with over 30,000 responsive replies.

Clearly, the meaning behind the dream is spiritual. More than that, she knows that, despite a rare and irreversible terminal illness, she must leave the refuge of the hospital and journey to opposite ends of the earth in search of answers, on a mission sanctioned by God to “heal the breach.”

An unlikely trio, Sister Okoye, an Assassin named Dylan, and Abby search for meaning behind the word Iya Agba, The Watchers, and to ascertain if Abby is truly part of this ancient bloodline leading back to Anna the Prophet from the New Testament, who held the baby Jesus and proclaimed him to be the Messiah.

The final battle is to take place in Jerusalem. The Scythian army is swarming, closing in on Abby, determined to end her life. Despite the power of God, all looks hopeless. Time is of the essence. Some how, some way, Abby, her friends, and her family need a miracle to save, not only themselves, but all of mankind for a dark and evil enemy.

Tightly crafted chapters loaded down with action, crisp dialogue and surrounded by well-drawn characters made The Watchers a powerful novel, and is a story that would easily translate onto the big silver screen. Though a hard book to put down, when I did have to set it aside (because life gets in the way of my reading), I could not stop thinking about the characters or the eminent danger awaiting them. A genuine page-turner, for lack of a better phrase. If you like mysteries, suspense, spiritually up-lifting tales, you will not want to miss The Watchers.

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Added January 19, 2006

Hadassah: One Night with the King

Author: Mark Andrew Olsen with Tommy Tenney
Publisher: Bethany House
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: January 2005
Genre: Fiction: Historical/Contemporary/Christian
Format: Trade Paperbac
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 0-7642-2943-5
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

Tommy Tenney's debut fiction novel, Hadassah: One Night with the King, is compelling from the opening chapter to the last. It sounds cliché I know, but there is simply no other way to explain the powerful storytelling other than compelling.

If you do not know who Hadassah is, then you might want to flip to the 17th book of the Old Testament. It is the book entitled, Esther. In those ten chapters, Hadassah evolves into Queen Esther. Though this is a novel of fiction, Tenney, known for his in-depth research, has created a historically accurate rendition of the life of Hadassah, sharing with readers the customs and traditions not fully explained in the Bible's text.

The books starts with a woman named Hadassah, from the present, who actually reads the below account of the Biblical Hadassah, prior to her marriage to Israel's prime minister.

When Hadassah's family is brutally slaughtered by foreign people displaying a symbol strikingly similar to the German swastika, Uncle Mordecai takes her in. Together they live as Persians-keeping the fact that they are Jewish a secret from all. This secret will protect them from an untold number of dangers.

When King Xerexes' wife is banished, he must find a new bride. The young, beautiful virgins in the area are, in essence, captured and brought to live at the royal palace. For the next year Eunuchs will be teach them how to prepare for one special night with the king. The king will choose, from the hundred or so gathered, one to become his wife. The rest will continue to live within the palace as concubines, but more than likely will never have contact with the king again.

Thanks to her uncle, Hadassah was raised as a devout Jew and is plagued with fear over the number of immoral objectives laid out before her. The bottom line, however, is to win the love and affection of the king, and to become queen. Through endless hours of prayer, Hadassah realizes what she must do in order to make the most of her one night with the king.

Amid evil plots to poison the women candidates, to over throw King Xerexes, and to kill all the Jews in the land, Hadassah knows she must continually stay focused and in constant contact with the one who truly matters --- God.

Exciting and insightful, Hadassah: One Night with the King, is more than the retelling of a Bible story. It is a genuine romance novel. Taut chapters keep the pages turning and well developed characters force the reader to care about what will happen next...and if you're like me, and rip through this novel, you'll be excited to hear that sequel is now out and available. The Hadassah Covenant: A Queen's Legacy. This picks up with the story of the present-time Hadassah and her exciting life with Israel's prime minister.

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