Review: The Christos Mosaic, Vincent Czyz
By Othman Nahhas
The Christos Mosiac follows the story of Drew Korchula a down on his luck American in Istanbul who goes through his days mechanically and with very little excitement about anything. Divorced, teaching english and with frequent bouts of rage Drew craved an adventure, even though he might not have admitted it to himself. Little did he know that Istanbul is a lady that never lets you get too comfortable and just around the corner lies an adventure that’ll change no only his life but might even change the course of history itself.
He strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Turkish dwarf named Kadir, which means capable in Arabic. Kadir walks into Drew’s life and turns it upside down when he, under suspicious circumstances, gives Drew a package which supposedly contains two scrolls. While trying to unravel the secrets of the scrolls, Drew finds himself having to elude assassins, barely surviving shootouts and questioning the whole world and his own beliefs. The legend tells that tucked away in the scroll’s ancient text is the real truth about Jesus Christ and how he might have never been born. Naturally a secret like that is much sought after.
Mystery versus history plays a major part in the novel as fiction and history merge together to stimulate not only Drew’s brains but the readers as well. Through Drew’s eyes pieces of the puzzle fall one by one and the reader can enjoy the exposition using Drew’s own process of understanding them which is very helpful as there’s a lot of historical events and data to be thought about. Even though filled with mischievous adventures, Drew’s journey is very intellectually demanding having to process an incredible amount of new information. Drew thinks and processes puzzles and ciphers in a very unique way that helps the reader to follow the deeply historical and biblical knowledge that is divulged in the book and connected in deviously erudite ways.
While trying to uncover the secret of the world’s most prominent religion, Drew also has to dive into the ruins of his marriage and excavate his own personal problems. His struggle between pure intellectual prowess and trying to save his personal relationship keeps the reader engaged and sympathetic. His anger issues mixed with his faith and determination makes him a multi-dimensional character.
If you’re a fan of Dan Brown and similar novels you will definitely want to pick this one up, History, intrigue, thrilling gunbattles and of course universal conspiracies and shocking revelations. The plot moves at a comfortably quick pace and the characters jump out of the pages and live with you. Especially the one character that defines the whole structure of the book: the city of Istanbul. In this story that walks on the line between fact and fiction, Drew’s struggles while with mostly fictional problems feel extremely real.
The ending gives a very romanticized view of faith vs. fiction that will leave you glad that you read the novel all the way through.
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