The Book of James

"You know, you have a very foul mouth - and are actually quite violent - for a monk."What use is a monk with a sword? wonders James. Born Skel, the only son of an amoral and ambitious Viking couple, he matures under their cruel tutelage. When a slave revolt forces their war-clan to the hostile shores of primeval Britain, politics and treachery drive Skel from his kin to take refuge among the forest folk. There he spends a tortured decade vying for the heart of the witch-priestess he longs to marry. Later converted and christened James by missionary monks, he spends a reflective middle age as a brother in their monastery, making peace with the past until Viking war-boats suddenly darken the horizon. As a cruel and violent new dawn breaks over Britain, the aging James must face his demons and die as he has lived - battling not for gold or glory, but his immortal soul. THE TOWERING HISTORICAL NOVEL OF DAMNATION & REDEMPTION "There are many ways to read THE BOOK OF JAMES - as historical adventure, Bildungsroman, tale of sword-and-sail or a finely-wrought portrait of 8th century Britain. But it is, fully and finally, a masterwork of profound moral and spiritual reflection - haunting, magisterial, unapologetically Christian. A defense of the faith for a new Dark Age ..."