Kathleen McGowan: The Expected One

[Dogmatix]

Just started this one. It's pretty light and very TDVC. (which is okay with me) Certainly not great literature but a nice end of summer read so far. Story focuses around Mary Magdalene and various Magdalene legends. There is a modern day heroine, imagine that , who becomes tangled in a secret society and well.......... I'll let you know when I get past page 63 which is where I am right now. Refreshing change from some of the heavier books I've been digesting this summer.

 

[Choc]

Sounds interesting, be sure to keep us posted...

 

[xBasx]

The da vinci code is one of my fav. books.

this book sounds interesting ..

 

[Dogmatix]

Well I'm further in and I can safely say if you liked TDVC you'll like this book. If you hated TDVC you'll REALLY hate this book. I'm about 1/3 of the way in and I'm still turning the pages at a fevered pitch. I'll give a review when I'm finished, hopefully by the weekend.

 

[Dogmatix]

Well this book has lost something for me. I'm still enjoying it but not as much. I'm 3/4+ through. While the modern (present day) events and characters are fine the author is losing my enthusiasm in the reading of Mary Magdalene's diary. (Don't worry I'm not spoiling anything here.) Having just finished The Master and Maragita in which "flasbacks" to Pontius Pilot are well written in an appropriate, or at least believable style and language, I find the past tense events (M. Magdalene's diary) as described in The Expected One as falling short; too modern in their language and ideas portrayed. They're, IMO, bad enough to bring the book down a notch.

Nevertheless I'm not calling the book a complete ruin. I'll post more tomorrow when I finish. I've only got about 80 pages or so to go.

 

[Dogmatix]

Finished up. Ending was abrupt and "not quite believable". All in all I'd say this is a mediocre book. Started strong but peetered out by the end. Probably would recommend only for diehard TDVC fans.

I don't think I would read McGowan again. But you can never say never.

 

[Isabell]

Finished up. Ending was abrupt and "not quite believable". All in all I'd say this is a mediocre book. Started strong but peetered out by the end. Probably would recommend only for diehard TDVC fans.

I don't think I would read McGowan again. But you can never say never.

I read it last month and enjoyed it for what it is....light summer reading. Of course it's not quite believable, it's fiction! If there's anyone else that plans to read it for the enjoyment of it; do it for the simpe fact of enjoying light hearted reading. Going into this book myself, I read a bit about the author beforehand and I thought she was a bit nuts. If you look up her website, she'll tell you that it's NOT a work of fiction. This woman actually believes that she is herself a decendent of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and the book is her own life's story.

I'm not sure if you checked into it, but the reason it ended the way it did, is because it is the first book of her series on the Magdalene line. I believe she is now in the process of writing number two.


Will I read the next installment? Maybe, if the tagline will be of interest to me by then.

 

[Dogmatix]

I
I'm not sure if you checked into it, but the reason it ended the way it did, is because it is the first book of her series on the Magdalene line. I believe she is now in the process of writing number two.

Yeah I did pick up on that, it's actually written on the dust jacket under the title. Again I enjoyed the present tense sections just fine but thought the diary was poorly written and too modern for something written 2000 years ago. Your point about it being fiction is accepted but, at least for me, I expect the author to make it easy to suspend my disbelief.

The story line was creative and interesting but her execution was poor. She just didn't pull it off.

 

[Isabell]

She might have had a difficult time separating herself since she does believe herself to be a decendent. Meaning, it's hard to write "fiction" when the author herself is delusional about the topic at hand. Perhaps? I don't know, I'm just reaching here.