Stephen Lawhead's The Skin Map ~ Reviewed

THE SKIN MAP

By Stephen R Lawhead

Published by Thomas Nelson

ISBN#9781595548047

403 Pages

Back Cover:

Kit Livingstone's great-grandfather has re-appeared with an unbelievable story--the ley lines throughout Britain are not merely the stuff of legends but truly are pathways to other worlds. So few people know how to use them, though, that doing so is fraught with danger.

But one explorer knew more than most. Because of his fear of being unable to find his way home, he developed an intricate code and tattooed his map onto his skin. But the map has since been lost and rival factions are in desperate competition to recover it. What none of them yet realize is that the skin map itself is not the prize at the end of this race . . . but merely the first goal of a vast and marvelous quest to regain Paradise.

Enter the ultimate treasure hunt--with a map made of skin, a playing field of alternate realities, and a prize that is the greatest mystery of all.

REVIEW:

Kit Livingstone and his girlfriend (only because he didn’t have the time to find another) Wilhelmina are watching life pass them by. Until one day Kit is in the middle of a day where everything is going wrong, he starts to walk because the transit system is not working and is caught up in a storm. When things settle he runs into a man who says he’s his great-grand father. How could that be? He’d never met this man before. He turns to flee when Cosimo tells him, “I need your help with a project. It will be the adventure of a life time – of several lifetimes. But it will change yours forever.” Cosimo has discovered a way to travel through space, time and alternate universes using ley lines, which are forces of energy that are intersections between worlds.

Kit doesn’t know what to think. Was this real or a dream? He has to go home and sort this out. Cosimo lets him. He needs a willing partner who believes in the search for the Skin Map which will lead them to “the secret of the universe or something even more significant and momentous? He told Kit.” Should he join the quest to find the Skin Map? He gathered that it’s a treasure map everyone wants because it’s the road map to the ley-lines. What would he do?

Thanks to BookSneeze® who provided me with a complimentary copy of this amazing audio book. The man reading had a British accent and read with so much expression and created different voices for the many characters I felt as if I was there. The reader brought The Skin Map to life for me. It was a very unique experience. I really enjoyed. I've never read anything so riveting and illuminating as The Skin Map. Stephen Lawhead is a brilliant and imaginative writer. I liked his well timed sense of humor and his quirky characters. I liked his main characters and his sub-characters some are compassionate, quick witted and others are full of surprises.

The author starts the story in current time and whisks them back to Sept 1666 where life is quite primitive. The time travel is through ley lines. Kit is dropped into Cosimo and Sir Henry's world this way. They both keep Kit in the dark about their search for treasure. The author reveals things to Kit and the reader at the same time. I liked that but poor Kit gets in trouble because he doesn't understand the rules and what this mission is all about. I was so captivated by the adventure and search for the skin map, time travel, and them running from the bad guys I felt as if I might run into Kit during my daily routine. They were that believable.

I could see this series as an amazing big screen movie. This author did a great job of creating visual scenes and a setting I could picture and feel part of. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series. These books are a little expensive because they are in hard back but I’m telling you they are worth every dollar you spend to read this master story teller. I highly recommend this great adventure.

Reviewed by: Nora St. Laurent

The Book Club Network