Thank you to Bethany House for my free copy in exchange for my honest review.
This is the first book by Cliff Graham I have read. I actually had never heard of Cliff Graham until Bethany House sent me the email to pick a book to review. When I saw what Shadow of the Mountain was about, I picked it without even reading the other books on the list.
Why? - Because I had just finished with that part of the Bible and I thought it would be really interesting to read a book about Caleb, Moses, Exodus, etc. Also, because I love Biblical Fiction.
The cover of this book is amazing! It fits the actual story in the Bible perfectly, in my opinion. It, also, fits the story in the book quite well.
Now, for my actual review -
I am not sure what I think of this book. It is written wonderfully. The characters are alive and fascinating. The second part of the story is amazing!
So, why do I feel so torn about if I liked it or not? I don't know...
The second part of the book was breathtaking. It made the plagues that struck Egypt so much more real. Don't get me wrong, I know it happened. I know they were horrible. However, the way Cliff Graham described them was painful, heartbreaking, and it made my love for God that much stronger. God is SO good in His judgements.
The first part of the book was interesting enough to read. I just could have done with the battle scenes toned down a bit - BUT they are battle scenes and therefore should not be toned down. The ending of the book was... different. It ended not like I expected, but for that I was glad.
When Caleb talked about meeting Joshua for the first time, I cried. Something about it, along with the plagues, just made me almost long for people of such strong faith.
So, as a whole I give this book 3 1/2 stars because while I liked it a lot, I don't know if I would read it over and over again.
The second part of the book with the plagues, I give 5 stars because it was breath-taking.
