Christine Sherborne

Imogene’s Past Lives picks right up where Imogene’s Message leaves off. At the end of Imogene’s Message, eight year-old Imogene had died three weeks earlier and was brought back to life. Eight Guardians at Avebury Circle summon Light Beings for her healing. After she was brought back to life, Imogene levitated and spoke in a woman’s voice to a large group of people. The voice was of Rahmiel, an angel of the Council of the Elders, warning the world to return to love, peace, and caring for one another. If unheeded, the world would receive punishment in the form of plagues.

The primary story is how Dr. Ernst Schneider places Imogene under hypnosis to understand more about her life; her past lives; and what happens in between lives. Testing her DNA has proved an abnormality. An extra component in her DNA tends to indicate she has now become immortal. While under hypnosis, she is contacted spiritually by Osahar with the Council of Elders. He is also immortal. When he holds Imogene’s hands, the plagues are released. The plagues correlate directly to Imogene’s past lives. For instance, she was a soldier in 1918 who became sick and died of the flu pandemic of that year. The plague reenacted the pandemic killing all of the young men who would have been the age of the soldier in her past life. There are multiple side stories as Imogene’s mind is being probed by Dr. Schneider. Detective McCullage, very instrumental in the first book, is seeking healing for his wife who is dying of cancer. Unbeknownst to him, the media films her healing. Now multitudes of people descend upon Avebury Circle seeking healing for themselves and their loved ones.

As a fast paced thriller, the story moves forth by dialogue and actions. It’s clear to the reader which characters are good and which are evil, but their personalities are not as clearly defined. Imogene’s Past Lives is not as graphic in nature as Imogene’s Message, but I feel that reading the series in order is necessary to fully understand the titles, terms, and concepts. There’s no summary at the beginning to help readers ‘catch up’. Imogene is characterized as an adorable and happy child. Like most children, she expects that the adults in her life are trustworthy. However, she has yet to learn about the evil inherent in some and their need for power. Reincarnation is at the heart of this book in the series. The message of the Council of the Elders gets a bit political by including the ‘redistribution of wealth’ as one of the commands. I rated Imogene’s Past Lives at 3 out of 5.… (altro)

This ‘thriller of extreme prejudice’ begins as soon as the reader opens the book. It is extreme; it is ugly; and it’s not for the faint-hearted. Xantara Pembroke, the protagonist, has been captured because she is different. Xantara means “protector of the earth.” She was one of eight Energy Guardians; she was a healer for the ancient order. Their location is a village called Avebury Circle which is very near to Stonehenge. Several zealous fundamentalist sects (people referred to them as ‘fundos’) thought Xantara’s actions made her a witch. They determined that it was God’s will for them to eliminate as many sinners as possible. So they captured, tortured, and sometimes killed people because they would not repent. While she was in their prison, Xantara watched in horror as they brutally whipped and cut a young man they assumed to be a homosexual.

Just prior to her capture, Xantara’s daughter, Imogene, had died in an accident on a school outing. She felt her daughter’s gentle presence while she was imprisoned. In the meantime, Braeden, Xantara’s husband, was fighting spiritual battles of his own. Having been an atheist most of his life, he went to Ezekiel’s group for comfort following his daughter’s death. He bought into the deception and even OK’d them to imprison Xantara. Upon seeing their brutality first hand, he starts to second guess his actions. But, has he waited too long; is he too late to save Xantara?

This was a different read for me. Many scenes were hard to take. The difference between the Fundos and the Guardians is as far as east is from west. The Guardians and the Light Beings were beautiful and displayed beautiful wills and actions. The Fundos were ugly, brutal, and deceived themselves into thinking they were doing God’s will. This book held a few too many characters with some new ones being introduced even as late as the last 25% of the book. This felt to be a bit preachy to me; a book with a message which basically said stand up for good before man’s goodness disappears altogether. It started out fast-paced and engaging but the last 20% slowed and the end was not a complete end as it will be continued in Imogene’s Past Lives: A Thriller of Extreme Consequences (published Sep 8, 2014). I rated the novel at 3 out of 5.

http://www.fictionzeal.com/imogenes-message-thriller-extreme-prejudice-christine...… (altro)