Product Description

It's August, AD 81. Presumed dead by their families but wanted by unknown authorities, Flavia and her friends feel very far from home. News of more kidnappings in Italia reach them, and when they discover one of Miriam's twins is among the missing, the four detectives set out for Halicarnassus in the Roman province of Asia. Here they find the countryside is full of prophets who heal the sick and cure the lame - or are they merely tricksters and villains in disguise? Once again, the detectives' loyalties are tested as they are confronted with hopes for the future and grim legacies of the past . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86152 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Review
'the novel opens - and indeed ends - on a note of tension and excitement.. This is an interesting, well researched and well paced novel' (THE BOOKBAG )

'The best of the bunch... I already need to read the last book' (ANNE GILES BOOKWITCH )

About the Author
Caroline Lawrence is American. She won a scholarship to Cambridge to read Classical Archaeology, then did a degree in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College, London. She lives with her husband, a graphic designer, by the river in London and is active as a speaker in schools and at book festivals.

Customer Reviews

The Prophet
This new book from Caroline Lawrence is once again quite an accomplishment. It goes back to previous themes including the Colossus of Rhodes. The book charts the trek across Asia of Flavia Gemina and co to find missing children,taken by a not so evil slave dealer and his bodyguard, and along the way they encounter christianity in its early days. The flowing book is sown with intresting facts yet does not bore you. Will the children ever be the same again? find out by reading the book.

The Prophet From Ephesus
The Prophet From Ephesus is the latest book in the Roman Mysteries series, and is the penultimate one. It is an outstanding read, full of wonder, suspense and surprise. The book is set in Halicarnassus, the Roman province of Asia, and the four friends are once again solving a mystery. Not only have hundreds of children been kidnapped, but Jonathan's nephew is also among the taken. They set out on a journey to find them, meeting mysterious characters on the way, including prophets and slave-dealers. With this main plot, there are many sub-plots cleverly woven in, and the book has a surprising ending. Altogether, this is an amazing book, and I am sad that there is only one more book to come!

Almost complete surprise
This series evolves with the maturity of the four protagonists. Carolyn Lawrence is also maturing with her plots and themes, and this one is a leap up from the previous book in the challenges, experiences and decisions of the four friends. I was not expecting the plot and development twists in this one at all. While one may reasonably doubt that any set of children in the Roman era could ever have had so many experiences and lived to tell the tale, the settings and culture they pass through always ring very true. I would have liked for the friends to have spent more time in some of the places; Flavia would have been a natural in the library of Alexandria, for example; could she have become one of the great librarians? (maybe she'll travel back there in the future)
While these look like children's or young adults books I long ago recommended them to my friends also interested in Roman history and culture.