Amy Deardon's A Lever Long Enough ~ Reviewed

A Lever Long Enough
by Amy Deardon
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Taegais Publishing, LLC (January 12, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0981899722


Product Description:

In the near future, the Israeli military has developed a prototypic time machine. When believers in Yeshua (Jesus) create a politically explosive situation that threatens the balance of peace between Israel and nearby countries, the Israelis must send a team of four elite soldiers back to film the theft of Jesusʼ body from the tomb and thus disprove Christianity. The team, consisting of a Special Forces soldier as leader, an ex-American astronaut as engineering specialist, an archaeologist, and a linguist, has exactly seventy-two hours to collect the video evidence. Drawn into a web of first century deception and death, the only way to escape is for the team to change the past. In the present, a traitor attempts to sabotage the mission and seize control of the military complex. The Special Forces leader operating in the past is the only one who can reveal him, but he is trapped two thousand years away. Even with a time machine, time is running out...

Review:

Amy Deardon has bitten off a whole lot of story substance in A Lever Long Enough... biblical and historical fiction, speculative fiction, time travel, suspense and a bit of a love story. I'm impressed with the homework she invested in this involved novel to meld all of the above into a flowing story that spans centuries, political realms and spiritual attitudes.

Intense action takes place on a closed military base in pre-apocalyptic treaty, modern Israel while simultaneously a team of agnostics slip through the fabric of time to film the theft of Jesus Christ's body. The time travelers land late and end up fighting for their lives, and to keep from changing the future, unaware of the damage unfolding back home.

Though I'm not a big sci-fi fan and tend to skip over details involving machines, I enjoyed the story. Those who toy with the truth or untruth of the death, resurrection and life of Jesus Christ may find this novel intriguing. Those who don't want to feel preached at in their fiction choices could be offended at the minimal pages that go there. The writing is solid and nuts and bolts rather than beautiful and poetic and the main characters are fleshed out well enough. I did have to suspend disbelief a time or two especially regarding a member of the team who ended up being unstable enough that she shouldn't have been on the mission in the first place. Those who want a happy and clear ending may feel a bit frustrated. Overall, I'm giving Lever a solid four stars because of the impressive way Deardon pulled all of the details together and produced a satisfying read.

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer