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The Book of Names
Within each generation, there are thirty-six righteous souls. Their lives hold the key to the fate of the world. Now someone wants them dead.
When a childhood tragedy comes back to haunt Professor David Shepherd, he finds himself in possession of knowledge that holds the world in a delicate balance. He uncovers the Book of Names---an ancient text originating with the biblical Adam, and thought lost to history forever. By Kabbalistic tradition, the book contains the names of each generation's thirty-six righteous souls---the Hidden Ones---by whose merits alone the world continues to exist. Legend holds that if all thirty-six Hidden Ones were eliminated, the world would meet its end.
When the Hidden Ones start dying of unnatural causes, the world grows increasingly war in Afghanistan, massive flooding in New York, brutal terrorist attacks in Melbourne, a tanker explosion in Iran. David finds himself battling against the Gnoseos, a secret religious sect whose goal is to destroy the world by eliminating all of the righteous souls. David's involvement quickly turns personal when his stepdaughter's name is discovered to be one of the endangered. With the help of a brilliant and beautiful Israeli ancient texts expert, David races to decipher the traditions of the Kabbalah to save the righteous souls, his stepdaughter, and perhaps the world.
When a childhood tragedy comes back to haunt Professor David Shepherd, he finds himself in possession of knowledge that holds the world in a delicate balance. He uncovers the Book of Names---an ancient text originating with the biblical Adam, and thought lost to history forever. By Kabbalistic tradition, the book contains the names of each generation's thirty-six righteous souls---the Hidden Ones---by whose merits alone the world continues to exist. Legend holds that if all thirty-six Hidden Ones were eliminated, the world would meet its end.
When the Hidden Ones start dying of unnatural causes, the world grows increasingly war in Afghanistan, massive flooding in New York, brutal terrorist attacks in Melbourne, a tanker explosion in Iran. David finds himself battling against the Gnoseos, a secret religious sect whose goal is to destroy the world by eliminating all of the righteous souls. David's involvement quickly turns personal when his stepdaughter's name is discovered to be one of the endangered. With the help of a brilliant and beautiful Israeli ancient texts expert, David races to decipher the traditions of the Kabbalah to save the righteous souls, his stepdaughter, and perhaps the world.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2006
25 people are currently reading
1119 people want to read
About the author
Jill Gregory
63 books201 followersNew York Times and USA Today best-selling author Jill Gregory is the award-winning author of more than thirty novels. Jill has been awarded the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence and her novels NEVER LOVE A COWBOY and COLD NIGHT, WARM STRANGER were honored with back-to-back Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice awards for Best Western Historical Romance.
Jill Gregory's novels have been translated and published in Japan, Russia, Norway, France, Taiwan, Sweden, Italy, and Germany. Jill grew up in Chicago and received her bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Illinois. She currently resides in Michigan with her husband.
Jill Gregory's novels have been translated and published in Japan, Russia, Norway, France, Taiwan, Sweden, Italy, and Germany. Jill grew up in Chicago and received her bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Illinois. She currently resides in Michigan with her husband.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 226 reviews
October 29, 2014
Sweat poured from my armpits as I read...
This book isn't good, but it gets an extra star for not being the painful kind of bad. It's just another me-too Dan Brown knockoff whose really notable aspect is that it's based in Judaism rather being another Catholic-centric conspiracy thriller.
It's kind of fun in a dumb way, sort of the equivalent of a laughably bad B movie. Notable aspects include:
-the inexplicable focus on describing sweat running from characters' armpits, mentioned no less than four times
-the way in which the main character meanders back and forth between being oblivious of basic concepts (to help explain things to the reader) to being weirdly competent (when the plot needs to move forward)
-the endearingly blasé way in which religion is shown to be provably true, with artifacts from the Garden of Eden sitting around and self-admitted "secular scientists" throwing up their hands and stating that they recognize that there's a supernatural component to the world
It generally breezes along pretty well, and it's basically the kind of book that's worth a read if you have side time to kill and want something enjoyably goofy to get through.
This book isn't good, but it gets an extra star for not being the painful kind of bad. It's just another me-too Dan Brown knockoff whose really notable aspect is that it's based in Judaism rather being another Catholic-centric conspiracy thriller.
It's kind of fun in a dumb way, sort of the equivalent of a laughably bad B movie. Notable aspects include:
-the inexplicable focus on describing sweat running from characters' armpits, mentioned no less than four times
-the way in which the main character meanders back and forth between being oblivious of basic concepts (to help explain things to the reader) to being weirdly competent (when the plot needs to move forward)
-the endearingly blasé way in which religion is shown to be provably true, with artifacts from the Garden of Eden sitting around and self-admitted "secular scientists" throwing up their hands and stating that they recognize that there's a supernatural component to the world
It generally breezes along pretty well, and it's basically the kind of book that's worth a read if you have side time to kill and want something enjoyably goofy to get through.
December 5, 2017
¿Alguien me puede explicar por qué este libro tiene un rating tan bajo?
Me gustó muchísimo. Es una novela que sorprende con cada página, con un ritmo absorbente y adictivo. No varía el nivel en ningún momento, tiene personajes muy bien desarrollados, una trama correctamente hilvanada y un final tremendo.
Ampliamente recomendado.
Me gustó muchísimo. Es una novela que sorprende con cada página, con un ritmo absorbente y adictivo. No varía el nivel en ningún momento, tiene personajes muy bien desarrollados, una trama correctamente hilvanada y un final tremendo.
Ampliamente recomendado.
September 25, 2017
Die sechsunddreißig Gerechten dieser Welt.
Wie lange werden sie noch leben?
Das weiß nur Gott – und diejenigen, die sie töten.
Ein uralter Papyrus mit einer Namensliste. Nach jahrelanger Suche im ägyptischen Wüstensand hält Sir Rodney ihn endlich in den Händen. Wenige Minuten später ist der Archäologe tot.
Damit nimmt eine rätselhafte Mordserie ihren Lauf. Auf der ganzen Welt werden Menschen getötet, die bestimmte Namen tragen.
Und nur David Shepherd kann das Morden stoppen. Denn er ist der Einzige, der die Namen kennt …
Ein Wichtelbuch, das mir zugewiesen wurde, was sich als Volltreffer erwies. Spannend und actionreich wenn auch etwas reißerisch geschrieben, fühlte ich mich gut unterhalten und habe einiges über die jüdische Mystik, die Kabbala und die Gnoseos nebenbei aufgenommen.
Wie lange werden sie noch leben?
Das weiß nur Gott – und diejenigen, die sie töten.
Ein uralter Papyrus mit einer Namensliste. Nach jahrelanger Suche im ägyptischen Wüstensand hält Sir Rodney ihn endlich in den Händen. Wenige Minuten später ist der Archäologe tot.
Damit nimmt eine rätselhafte Mordserie ihren Lauf. Auf der ganzen Welt werden Menschen getötet, die bestimmte Namen tragen.
Und nur David Shepherd kann das Morden stoppen. Denn er ist der Einzige, der die Namen kennt …
Ein Wichtelbuch, das mir zugewiesen wurde, was sich als Volltreffer erwies. Spannend und actionreich wenn auch etwas reißerisch geschrieben, fühlte ich mich gut unterhalten und habe einiges über die jüdische Mystik, die Kabbala und die Gnoseos nebenbei aufgenommen.
April 1, 2018
Un simulacru de Dan Brown într-o traducere execrabila.
December 6, 2019
When David Shepherd was a teenager, he died after falling from a third storey roof. He was brought back with no memory of his near death experience. For the next decade and a half, David is plagued with headaches and impulses to write down lists of names. Names of people he doesn’t know. Fifteen years later, a secret religious sect known as the Gnoseos are systematically killing the Hidden Ones, the thirty-six pure souls in a generation. As each Hidden One dies, another tragedy strikes in world. When David realizes everyone in his journal of names is dead or dying, he teams up with Yael HarPaz, an Israeli scholar, to stop the Gnoseos from destroying the world and to save his step-daughter, the last surviving Hidden One.
The best thing about The Book of Names is that the authors don’t insult their readers by keeping up a ruse for too long. Once they reach a point where any reader can figure out who the mysterious antagonist is, they give you his full name. They don’t torture their readers with eye-rolling moments throughout the rest of the book for the simple shake of a final, ‘shocking’ moment. For that, they’ve come up with something more inspired.
The science behind discovering the thirty-six Hidden Ones is an interesting concept, but it wasn’t
explained thoroughly enough for me to understand exactly what they were doing. ELS (equidistant letter skips) is clear enough, but the results were often gibberish. So how did they clean up the results? What I missed most where the images. Maybe they’re not common place, but I’ve come to really look forward to cryptograms from Dan Brown’s novels. It’s fun to try and solve the mystery along with the characters.
What I thoroughly enjoyed about this book is that it’s based around Jewish traditions. Incorporating Adam’s Book of Names, the breastplate of Aaron, and modern mystic Judaism gives the book a unique flavor.
In place of Dan Brown’s Illuminati villains, there are Gnostics. From what I understand, Gnostics are Christian mystics in the same way Sufis are Muslim mystics and Kabbalists are Jewish mystics. While Kabbalists and Sufis are highly praised here, Gnostics are responsible for trying to destroy the world? I think those groups have more in common than different, and I think the book would have been better if the villains were non- or anti-mystics.
The best thing about The Book of Names is that the authors don’t insult their readers by keeping up a ruse for too long. Once they reach a point where any reader can figure out who the mysterious antagonist is, they give you his full name. They don’t torture their readers with eye-rolling moments throughout the rest of the book for the simple shake of a final, ‘shocking’ moment. For that, they’ve come up with something more inspired.
The science behind discovering the thirty-six Hidden Ones is an interesting concept, but it wasn’t
explained thoroughly enough for me to understand exactly what they were doing. ELS (equidistant letter skips) is clear enough, but the results were often gibberish. So how did they clean up the results? What I missed most where the images. Maybe they’re not common place, but I’ve come to really look forward to cryptograms from Dan Brown’s novels. It’s fun to try and solve the mystery along with the characters.
What I thoroughly enjoyed about this book is that it’s based around Jewish traditions. Incorporating Adam’s Book of Names, the breastplate of Aaron, and modern mystic Judaism gives the book a unique flavor.
In place of Dan Brown’s Illuminati villains, there are Gnostics. From what I understand, Gnostics are Christian mystics in the same way Sufis are Muslim mystics and Kabbalists are Jewish mystics. While Kabbalists and Sufis are highly praised here, Gnostics are responsible for trying to destroy the world? I think those groups have more in common than different, and I think the book would have been better if the villains were non- or anti-mystics.
May 30, 2010
Teton County Library Call No: F GREGORY
Susannah Broyle's Rating: 3 Stars
The perfect read-a-like for The DaVinci Code…except instead of delving deep into Christianity’s roots it goes into Judaism’s history. It takes an obscure Kabbalah belief that there are 36 pure, godlike people in every generation. If there are any less, bad things begin to happen. It has all the classic ingredients for a religious themed mystery: an unlikely, unbelieving protagonist who needs to save the world, a beautiful, intelligent sidekick, religious symbolism, evil sects, and the apocalypse. The book is a fast paced mystery that is nearly impossible to put down. The characters are likable, but not really three dimensional, the language is nothing amazing, but the plot makes your eyes dart across the page needing to know if the good guys win. Literary genius it is not, but a fun read that makes you stay up all night, definitely.
Susannah Broyle's Rating: 3 Stars
The perfect read-a-like for The DaVinci Code…except instead of delving deep into Christianity’s roots it goes into Judaism’s history. It takes an obscure Kabbalah belief that there are 36 pure, godlike people in every generation. If there are any less, bad things begin to happen. It has all the classic ingredients for a religious themed mystery: an unlikely, unbelieving protagonist who needs to save the world, a beautiful, intelligent sidekick, religious symbolism, evil sects, and the apocalypse. The book is a fast paced mystery that is nearly impossible to put down. The characters are likable, but not really three dimensional, the language is nothing amazing, but the plot makes your eyes dart across the page needing to know if the good guys win. Literary genius it is not, but a fun read that makes you stay up all night, definitely.
September 20, 2016
I don't know why I keep trying with these books that are about "all the deep symbols and hidden meanings" of things, and the hero rushes around the save humanity from an evil that no one even knows is a thing. I should've just stopped after the DaVinci Code, because nothing else has entertained me as much. I'm not saying DaVinci Code was the be-all and end-all, but everything else feels like the authors jumped on the bandwagon.
If any of the parts about the Jewish culture and history is true, then I learned new things. Unfortunately, now I'll have to spend time researching to learn if those few things are true...and that's frustrating to me. I want to be able to trust that I did learn something and not wonder if the author just made up some words and ideas for the furthering of a story.
If any of the parts about the Jewish culture and history is true, then I learned new things. Unfortunately, now I'll have to spend time researching to learn if those few things are true...and that's frustrating to me. I want to be able to trust that I did learn something and not wonder if the author just made up some words and ideas for the furthering of a story.
June 10, 2013
I can honestly say that this book just makes you appreciate a book that is well written. This 'action-adventure' had me gritting my teeth and rolling my eyes more times than I care to think about. Truthfully, I was ever so glad it was finally over. It's not a bad premise for a story and certainly had potential to be on par with the Dan Brown series in the right hands, but it fell well short of achieving it. There were so many times that were implausible or impossible that I often found myself snorting with derision -'As if!". Not a good sign. I didn't feel the author had a good understanding of what it would be like to be in the center of this kind of intense action-drama, let alone what it would be like to be beaten with a pipe by a thug that was big and burly. Somehow I feel, getting hit across the knees and the hips would not be conducive to being able to stand after, forget about overcoming said thug, but somehow the hero of this story could this and some other equally incredible and unbelievable feats. Dodging bullets comes to mind.
Anyways, I was feeling cynical and put out. This book just wasn't worth the effort and I hate that I just didn't abandon it when I first starting snorting.
So do yourself a favor and stroke this book from your list before you fall into the same trap as I did. You won't regret it.
Anyways, I was feeling cynical and put out. This book just wasn't worth the effort and I hate that I just didn't abandon it when I first starting snorting.
So do yourself a favor and stroke this book from your list before you fall into the same trap as I did. You won't regret it.
July 4, 2011
Not terrible, but fairly pedestrian suspense novel that never quite lived up to the intriguing premise on which it is based.
The main characters are familiar and relatable, but not exactly memorable. I was curious what would happen to them, but didn't feel as though I was concerned for them. I was not deeply invested, in other words.
As with just about any suspense novel that centers around a cult or group of bad guys, the final few chapters were a hastily thrown together flurry of meticulous fight scenes that didn't seem to fit in with what came before it. And what came before it was mostly a book that was paced somewhat different. In other words, it shared a problem with many suspense novels...the final section seemed rushed, and aided by heretofore unlikely coincidence and deus ex machina.
Fair, but not stunning read.
The main characters are familiar and relatable, but not exactly memorable. I was curious what would happen to them, but didn't feel as though I was concerned for them. I was not deeply invested, in other words.
As with just about any suspense novel that centers around a cult or group of bad guys, the final few chapters were a hastily thrown together flurry of meticulous fight scenes that didn't seem to fit in with what came before it. And what came before it was mostly a book that was paced somewhat different. In other words, it shared a problem with many suspense novels...the final section seemed rushed, and aided by heretofore unlikely coincidence and deus ex machina.
Fair, but not stunning read.
May 18, 2007
This book was good but not spectacular. It's a similar style to the DaVinci Code - all about Adam's book of names and the battle to save the Lamad Vovniks. The conspiracy and mystery was not as deep and thorough as I would have liked, so it ended up being a relatively quick read. Still worth the effort, but probably not one to place at the very top of your to-read pile.
May 20, 2015
What an honor and a pleasure to be able to read this book written by my friend! Excellent book with a great topic and suspense! Thanks so much Karen!!!
March 5, 2021
I really had to push myself hard to get through this book and when I finally finished, I said, “What a waste of my book reading time!” Yeah, this isn’t going to be a glowing review.
David Shepherd is a politics professor at Georgetown University and a divorced secular Jew. A childhood accident left him with a peculiar side effect: random names pop into his head, accompanied by blinding headaches. He has written them all down but hasn’t given much thought to why it happens or what it means.
When Beverley Panagopoulos’s name pops into his head, he decides to Google it and discovers she was recently murdered. Bemused, he begins searching hundreds of other names in his journal and discovers a significant proportion of them have met untimely ends in the not-too-distant past. When he tells a priest friend, he is advised to go to New York and seek out a rabbi. The rabbi and an expert from Israel named Yael tell him the names are of the Lamed Vovniks. There are 36 Lamed Vovniks in each generation, righteous people on whom the existence of the world as we know it depends. And someone is trying to kill them all and bring about the beginning of the end.
David is sceptical – it all sounds a bit farfetched – but his former stepdaughter is on his list of names. And when the rabbi is murdered right in front of him, he and Yael go on the run. First, they have to save themselves. Then they have to save his stepdaughter and the world.
David is right – it’s all very farfetched. There is a huge amount of exposition explaining the Jewish and Kabbalistic mysticism that the plot is based on and while I normally enjoy that kind of thing, my eyes started to glaze over after a while. The result is a poor man’s Da Vinci Code.
The writing is terribly melodramatic . Characters are frequently “incredulous”, “stunned”, “heartened”, “full of hatred”, “frustrated” or “terrified”. And all of them are either very good or very bad, with no shades of grey. They lack any suggestion of complexity or subtlety. They also seem to lack personalities. And, of course, there’s the obligatory inappropriately timed romance. Even as people are being murdered around them, David is distracted by Yael’s obvious beauty (yawn).
Honestly, I don’t have much more to say about it. It’s an interesting idea badly executed and poorly written, populated by people I didn’t really care if they lived or died. I’m usually very reluctant to give books one-star ratings but when I thought of all the books I’ve given two-star ratings to, I just couldn’t dishonour them by including this one in the same category.
In a word: dreadful.
David Shepherd is a politics professor at Georgetown University and a divorced secular Jew. A childhood accident left him with a peculiar side effect: random names pop into his head, accompanied by blinding headaches. He has written them all down but hasn’t given much thought to why it happens or what it means.
When Beverley Panagopoulos’s name pops into his head, he decides to Google it and discovers she was recently murdered. Bemused, he begins searching hundreds of other names in his journal and discovers a significant proportion of them have met untimely ends in the not-too-distant past. When he tells a priest friend, he is advised to go to New York and seek out a rabbi. The rabbi and an expert from Israel named Yael tell him the names are of the Lamed Vovniks. There are 36 Lamed Vovniks in each generation, righteous people on whom the existence of the world as we know it depends. And someone is trying to kill them all and bring about the beginning of the end.
David is sceptical – it all sounds a bit farfetched – but his former stepdaughter is on his list of names. And when the rabbi is murdered right in front of him, he and Yael go on the run. First, they have to save themselves. Then they have to save his stepdaughter and the world.
David is right – it’s all very farfetched. There is a huge amount of exposition explaining the Jewish and Kabbalistic mysticism that the plot is based on and while I normally enjoy that kind of thing, my eyes started to glaze over after a while. The result is a poor man’s Da Vinci Code.
The writing is terribly melodramatic . Characters are frequently “incredulous”, “stunned”, “heartened”, “full of hatred”, “frustrated” or “terrified”. And all of them are either very good or very bad, with no shades of grey. They lack any suggestion of complexity or subtlety. They also seem to lack personalities. And, of course, there’s the obligatory inappropriately timed romance. Even as people are being murdered around them, David is distracted by Yael’s obvious beauty (yawn).
Honestly, I don’t have much more to say about it. It’s an interesting idea badly executed and poorly written, populated by people I didn’t really care if they lived or died. I’m usually very reluctant to give books one-star ratings but when I thought of all the books I’ve given two-star ratings to, I just couldn’t dishonour them by including this one in the same category.
In a word: dreadful.
December 23, 2021
"Sie sind nicht der Erste, der diese Namen in ein Buch schreibt. Und es sind nicht irgendwelche zufälligen Namen - es sind ganz besondere Namen." S.77
Seit einer Nahtoderfahrung in seiner Jugend kommen David Shepherd immer wieder Namen in den Sinn, die er sich aufschreibt. Wer sind diese Menschen, zu denen sie gehören?
Gleichzeitig wird bei einer Ausgrabungsstätte ein Buch gefunden, welches eben jene Namen enthält. Plötzlich stirbt nicht nur der Finder des Buches, sondern auch die Träger der Namen.
Und mit jedem Tod erschüttert eine weitere Naturkatastrophe die Welt.
Religionen, Sekten, Rätsel. Zu Beginn war ich gleich angetan von dieser Story, die etwas an Dan Browns "Illuminati" erinnerte. Doch meine Begeisterung hielt nicht lang an und die Rätsel flachten ab. Irgendwann war es nur noch eine reine Verfolgungsjagd. Mir gefielen die Aspekte und Informationen über die Mythologie der Religionen und des jüdischen Glaubens, welche in die Geschichte eingewoben wurden und als Kontrast zu dem ausgedachten Teil des Buches standen.
Dennoch überflog ich die Seiten ab der Mitte des Buches nur noch und verpasste auch nicht wirklich viel, denn die Charaktere blieben flach, ich baute keinerlei Verbindung zu ihnen auf und dadurch war mir der Verlauf und ihr Schicksal auch eher gleichgültig. Am Ende kam dann nochmal ein typischer "Endkampf" und alles geht - wie sollte es auch anders sein (und das ist vermutlich auch kein Spoiler) - gut aus. Happy End, Friede Freude Eierkuchen. Dieses Buch wird heute noch gespendet.
Seit einer Nahtoderfahrung in seiner Jugend kommen David Shepherd immer wieder Namen in den Sinn, die er sich aufschreibt. Wer sind diese Menschen, zu denen sie gehören?
Gleichzeitig wird bei einer Ausgrabungsstätte ein Buch gefunden, welches eben jene Namen enthält. Plötzlich stirbt nicht nur der Finder des Buches, sondern auch die Träger der Namen.
Und mit jedem Tod erschüttert eine weitere Naturkatastrophe die Welt.
Religionen, Sekten, Rätsel. Zu Beginn war ich gleich angetan von dieser Story, die etwas an Dan Browns "Illuminati" erinnerte. Doch meine Begeisterung hielt nicht lang an und die Rätsel flachten ab. Irgendwann war es nur noch eine reine Verfolgungsjagd. Mir gefielen die Aspekte und Informationen über die Mythologie der Religionen und des jüdischen Glaubens, welche in die Geschichte eingewoben wurden und als Kontrast zu dem ausgedachten Teil des Buches standen.
Dennoch überflog ich die Seiten ab der Mitte des Buches nur noch und verpasste auch nicht wirklich viel, denn die Charaktere blieben flach, ich baute keinerlei Verbindung zu ihnen auf und dadurch war mir der Verlauf und ihr Schicksal auch eher gleichgültig. Am Ende kam dann nochmal ein typischer "Endkampf" und alles geht - wie sollte es auch anders sein (und das ist vermutlich auch kein Spoiler) - gut aus. Happy End, Friede Freude Eierkuchen. Dieses Buch wird heute noch gespendet.
February 1, 2018
This novel was a bit 'colour by numbers' for me. It was fine, good in places, pedestrian in others, an overall readable novel. The premise was intriguing - an ancient cult set on destroying the world, knocking off the holy ones (36 people who don't know that they are spiritually enlightened to the point that their very existence stops the world from slipping into complete darkness) from the book of names, yep those from the title, to bring about total annihilation of planet Earth... battling against the good guys, our main man David, a US university professor who has been "receiving" a bunch of names ever since he had a near-death experience as a kid when he jumped off a second storey roof and banged his noggin - the names just started arriving into his brain shortly thereafter, and he started writing them down. He's not sure why, or what they mean... until!
These two world's collide - David and his hand-written journal of names violently crashing up against the evil-doers, with an increasing fever pitch as we reach a climax... which happens deep down within the earth under the Tower of London.
It's all quite fanciful but kinda fun. Not sure if the dual authorship had much to do with the choppy nature (at times) of the pace and storyline... Quite enjoyed it, wouldn't go raving about it to others and will happily pop it into my charity store giveaway bag for someone else to glean some passing pleasure in reading.
These two world's collide - David and his hand-written journal of names violently crashing up against the evil-doers, with an increasing fever pitch as we reach a climax... which happens deep down within the earth under the Tower of London.
It's all quite fanciful but kinda fun. Not sure if the dual authorship had much to do with the choppy nature (at times) of the pace and storyline... Quite enjoyed it, wouldn't go raving about it to others and will happily pop it into my charity store giveaway bag for someone else to glean some passing pleasure in reading.
August 22, 2021
There is an ancient Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah with a core belief that in the time of Adam a Book of Names was written down. In this book are the names of 36 people, hidden righteous souls, in each generation who, by their very existance uphold our reality. The Book of Names has long been lost to the world. There also exists a secret religeous sect, the Gnoseos, who believe that if they can find these hidden souls and eliminate them all they will destroy the world. When the 36 righteous begin to die in unnatural circumstances, the world becomes more and more unstable - flooding, wars, famine, terrorist attacks.
Professor David Shepherd finds that a childhood tragedy has come back to haunt him. As memories come back, he finds himself holding the knowledge of who the Hidden Souls are and he is a race against the Gnoseos to save the world.
I will admit that the beginning of the book was a little slow to catch me, but I am glad I stuck with it. Fast paced, intense, and thought provoking.
Professor David Shepherd finds that a childhood tragedy has come back to haunt him. As memories come back, he finds himself holding the knowledge of who the Hidden Souls are and he is a race against the Gnoseos to save the world.
I will admit that the beginning of the book was a little slow to catch me, but I am glad I stuck with it. Fast paced, intense, and thought provoking.
July 6, 2025
3.5 stars. Very much a page-turner, but my inability to suspend my disbelief about the main premise of the book knocks it down.
July 21, 2018
Het boek der namen gaat, behalve als thriller, ook door als reli-thriller. Dit zal vooral komen omdat de belangrijkste karakters van joodse afkomst zijn en ook de joodse religie, de Torah en Kaballah spelen een belangrijke rol, zal hierop van invloed zijn.
Overigens betekent dit niet dat het boek alleen maar over religie gaat. Zeker niet, maar uiteraard is het wel de rode draad. Het boek der namen is een vlot geschreven boek waarbij de spanning niet uit het oog verloren wordt.
Het blijft van begin tot eind boeien. Het verhaal is goed te volgen zonder dat het verwarrend en ingewikkeld wordt. Bij het lezen van dit boek heb ik me geen moment laten afleiden. En dat vind ik altijd een goed teken.
Overigens betekent dit niet dat het boek alleen maar over religie gaat. Zeker niet, maar uiteraard is het wel de rode draad. Het boek der namen is een vlot geschreven boek waarbij de spanning niet uit het oog verloren wordt.
Het blijft van begin tot eind boeien. Het verhaal is goed te volgen zonder dat het verwarrend en ingewikkeld wordt. Bij het lezen van dit boek heb ik me geen moment laten afleiden. En dat vind ik altijd een goed teken.
October 11, 2025
Implausibility can be fun. If you're into that, this is a good ride. But is it really necessary to describe a Black professional as "lumbering" around his desk, an Italian man as "swarthy" and an Italian-American man as including "bada-boom bada-bing" in his internal monologue? Names like "Sheppard," "Bonfiglio" (Italian for "good son") and HarPaz (Hebrew for "fine gold mountain") are too lame for words, so I won't waste any more on them. The final chapter is predictable and disappointingly formulaic in 2025, and I think it would have been not much less so for an intelligent reader who might have read this book when it first came out in 2007.
September 7, 2017
This was a great book. It started off a bit slow, but with a little effort, getting through some of the initial story plot will lead you to an increasingly addictive finale.
I listened to this in audio-book form, and my only complaint is that the voices are truly horrible. The audio-book company could have at least gotten female and male readers to do the voices instead of one man trying to emulate a 13 year old girl, an Israeli scholar, and several other female characters, in addition to several male characters of varying ages and ethnic backgrounds.
I listened to this in audio-book form, and my only complaint is that the voices are truly horrible. The audio-book company could have at least gotten female and male readers to do the voices instead of one man trying to emulate a 13 year old girl, an Israeli scholar, and several other female characters, in addition to several male characters of varying ages and ethnic backgrounds.
October 1, 2025
This felt a bit like Dan Brown lite (and, I am not a big fan of Dan Brown). The weaving of Kabbalistic traditions of Jewish religion and mysticism into an end of the world doomsday cult and targeted global assassinations to bring about the end of the world was interesting, but the characters were never fleshed out and the plot felt oddly derivative, and at times, ridiculous. Diverting enough entertainment if you are in the mood for a “shut off your brain and go with the flow” vibe (think the early 90s, direct to video espionage/adventure films), but not a book I would need to revisit.
June 15, 2024
Fascinating read, the 36 names of those since the beginning of time that keep our world safe are a secret, they don't even know themselves...but now the Dark side has unraveled the code and have been killing them one at time. Secrecy, the hunting of the three that remain, the fast pace, and the intensity of the characters make this a one day read. What an intense read of will good prevail over evil...
June 2, 2025
3.5*. It was an enjoyable read, but there is not one page without action. I am personally not a fan of that, though it does make for an exciting read. I can see why the Economist felt compelled to write “Watch out Dan Brown”, but I don’t think he has to worry quite yet - while the concept of the book was great, the worldbuilding was a little lacklustre compared to Brown. Still, I enjoyed it overall and will browse the books these authors have to offer.
June 29, 2025
Ik heb in mijn studententijd en later te maken gekregen met Gnosis en Kaballa. Allemaal zeer geheime leerstelsels. Gefundenes Fressen. Dit boek probeert Gnosis tegen Kaballa uit te spelen en maakt er een spannend verhaal van. De schrijfster slaagt erin het geheel min of meer geloofwaardig te maken. Het is bovendien behoorlijk spannend. Ik geef het slechts drie sterren omdat de vertaling te wensen overlaat.
September 11, 2025
I would campare this book to Dan Brown's THE DAVINCI CODE but not written as well. The story is rather farfetched, a group of 36 individuals in each generation that God has willed the power to keep life relatively sane, not that these people know who they are. And the satan-like cult of people who are trying to identify these individuals and kill them. Frankly, I had to skim my way through a lot of the book, the writing was so uninspired.
January 4, 2019
Dan Brown kitaplarini cok andiran, kabalaya dayali bir hikaye. Kitabin aslinda ilk ucte ikisi daha ilginc ve merakla okunuyor, ama ozellikle son yuz sayfa vurdulu kirdili Hollywood filmine donusmekte ve o yuzden kitabin degeri kesinlikle cok dusuyor. Ama yine de cok hizli okunabilen ve zevkli bir kitap biraz kafa bosaltmak icin kitap arayanlara...
February 12, 2023
I wanted to like this but I really didn’t…. Fascinating initial idea that quickly fell apart. The ideas and characters weren’t well described or developed. The bad guys were so flat to me.. why would you believe in this cult anyway.
I wanted to know more about the past almost destruction that the back cover talked about. Instead the description was one mini paragraph on one page!
I wanted to know more about the past almost destruction that the back cover talked about. Instead the description was one mini paragraph on one page!
January 6, 2024
Kitap konu olarak fazla dini geldi bana. Yahudilik'teki Kabala öğretisine odaklanıyor. Kitapta gerçekleşen olaylar genel olarak mantıksız ve tutarsız. O yüzden okumanızı tavsiye etmem. Ayrıca kitabın marjinleri o kadar dar ki okurken insanı çok zorluyor. ODTÜ Yayıncılık biraz paraya kırıp daha düzgün basabilirdi. Bir de çok fazla yazım hatası var :(
August 16, 2018
An enjoyable and easy read.
August 12, 2019
This is the first audiobook I've ever finished. It was interesting and well-narrated. The theme isn't something I would normally have chosen but thought if I read something outside my usual I may have an easier time of listening.
December 13, 2021
Since Adam, there was as list of righteous people. Now down to 36 and and those being killed. By time 30th was murdered, Poland was invaded. Now only 3 left alive. Running out of time to save the last three.
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