The Accidental Pilgrim - Stephen Kitsakos

4 Stars!

ABOUT THE BOOK -

In the summer of 1974, Dr. Rose Strongin, a marine biologist, inexplicably disappears for three hours on the last day of an archaeological dig at the Sea of Galilee. She has no memory of the disappearance, but it causes her to miss her flight home from Israel. That plane, TWA 841, explodes over the Mediterranean killing all aboard. Twelve years later she learns that a 2,000 year-old perfectly preserved vessel, dubbed the “Jesus Boat,” is uncovered at the site of her disappearance and she begins to understand what happened and why.

The novel crosses several decades exploring the intersection of science, religion and the unexplainable as a family gathers to say goodbye to the matriarch who held a family secret.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -

Stephen Kitsakos is a theatre writer and journalist as well as the author of three opera librettos. His current project is the opera adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s international bestseller, A Thousand Splendid Suns with music by Sheila Silver. Other works include the Sackler-Prize award winning “The Wooden Sword” and “The White Rooster: A Tale of Compassion” for the Smithsonian Institution. His work often explores the connection between religion and art. He divides his time between Key West and New York.

Find out more about Stephen at his website, and follow him on Twitter.

MY THOUGHTS -

I enjoyed reading this book very much! This was a very interesting read for me. This one had me hooked right from the first chapter!
I love books based on fact. I looked it up and "The Jesus boat" really exists, I had never heard of it, so it was very interesting to me.
Here is the link - http://www.jesusboat.com/story-of-the-jesus-boat 
and the Wiki is here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee_Boat

The character development was great. I loved getting to know all the different personalities in this family!
I also loved all the little unexplainable magical mysteries/miracles in here. That made it a real fun book to read. Even if you are not a "believer" you would enjoy this one - it is a great blend of science and religion. So whatever side of the fence you are on, you're covered.

This book does a lot of flashbacks, that's how we get to know Rose. Sometimes I don't care for flashbacks, they can be confusing, but they are done very nicely in here.

And - it all winds down to a great ending. Well done!

I have a hard time believing this is the authors first novel. It is well thought out and very well written. I hope he continues to write. I look forward to reading more!

Thank you TLC book tours and Stephen Kitsakos for sending me this e-book for my honest review!

Get your copy from Amazon - HERE