Title: The Andean Cross
Author: Lawrence Clayton
Publisher: Westwood Book Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 987-1-64361-770-1
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 249
Reviewed by: Suzanne Gattis
Hollywood Book Reviews
The novel The Andean Cross by Lawrence Clayton has a little bit of everything wrapped into an interesting and page turning package: buried treasure, history, drug cartels, adventure, intrigue, spies, faith and an all-American love story intertwined masterfully. In addition, I found the overall question of the book, whether or not Jesus Christ or his disciples visited the new world, to be a thought-provoking premise. While most Christians sects do not preach that he did, it had me questioning why wouldn’t he have come or sent his sheep to the people of the New World?
There were a number of different stories interwoven into the novel, all happening at once but each clearly defined. Here and there, pieces of information would be revealed about characters or events to show how they were all truly interconnected in the story. However, there were several story lines that I feel were not truly wrapped up or explained and I found myself missing the closure on those. Because my interest was piqued, I wanted everything wrapped up nicely with a bow at the end, and I felt like the ending was a little abrupt. It does make me question if perhaps the author’s intention was to keep us wondering.
I really liked the writing style of this book. It is smart without the author spending all of his time trying to show you just how smart he really is, which is often the downfall of new authors. Imagery was used but words were not wasted. In an almost Baldacci style, the characters were well-developed and well-rounded, the story was well told and entertaining and the pages seemingly seems to turn themselves as I read, often reading into the late hours. The Andean Cross is an enjoyable read, I would recommend this book or other works by Lawrence Clayton to others.