Robert Cornuke

Every once in a while, if the description sounds good enough, I will tackle an "inspirational fiction" title. Since I also love historical fiction, the story line of the Civil War on this title was enough to convince me to take the plunge. I'm glad I did.

Skillfully jumping between 1980's California/Arizona, the Civil War South and early 20th century Egypt, the Bell Messenger tells the story of a bible, passed from the hands of a dying Civil War soldier to the current day American who is show more trying to trace its history.

Other reviews have mentioned the many story lines, and while this is true, to me, it made the book all the more fascinating. Assumptions and foreshadowing in certain parts of the book are forcefully re-evaluated as new story lines develop.

In my opinion, there is more than enough war, adventure, treasure and some surprisingly gruesome descriptions of the battlefields to counter balance the "inspirational" tag attached to the title. Yes, the bible and its implications carry significant weight in the narrative, but the message is mild and non-threatening enough for any reader. show less

It's rare to find adventure books with a Christian worldview. This book goes one step further as the author is actually hunting for Noah's ark so his focus is on the clues that were left for us in the Bible. This was a great and unusual read. I found it hard to put down.

The author documents his lifelong search for the ancient wooden ship that the Bible states landed on the Mountains of Ararat after the worldwide flood. The main question he tries to provide the answer to--where exactly are show more these mountains? He documents his climbing expeditions in Turkey and later Iran. There is sufficient creative detail to journey with the author and experience his trips amongst the nomadic peoples of each place. Somehow, despite the relatively limited subject matter, the author keeps it interesting. Even the duplication of some of his trips kept me reading as he included different details each time.

This book will definitely appeal to anyone who enjoys true adventure type books like Endurance. Also, those with an interest in biblical history and archeology, mission type books and travel writing (he deals with a lot of the cultural aspects and dilemmas that he faced.)

The Christian content is woven in and is the backbone of the story. I loved the last chapter where the author puts his search in perspective. He highlights that true treasure is found not in his search for the ark, whether or not it is successful, but in a relationship with Jesus. He uses the story of his own father's very late conversion to remind us of this and it brought tears to my eyes.

This book is clean. There is no bad language, sexual content or graphic violence. I highly recommend this as something different for those who stick to certain genres. show less

It was a pleasant read and a quick one at that. An interesting story told in a pleasing voice. Normally I don't like books with a religious theme but this one had a nice premise and did not ram it down your throat. I am also not a great fan of books that flash forward and backward in succeeding chapters. However the author does so in a smooth manner and it is not tiresome at all.

I have a feeling that novels by these authors (Robert Cornuke and Alton Gansky) would have some religious thread show more through them but I would try another if I can find one...this was a good relaxing read. show less

I loved the beginning, but as the book rambled on, it was bogged down by too many story lines, flashbacks, etc. It became cumbersome, then...poof...it was as if the authors though so, too, and rushed through the ending. Overall great concept, hurriedly executed.