Carriers Divine Measure Book 1 by Lisa Llamrei; The Matriarch Matrix Mystery of The Matriarchs Book 1 by Maxime Trencavel; The Matriarch Messiah Mystery of The Matriarchs Book 2 by Maxime Trencavel
Carriers is a suspenseful and intricate thriller about the mysteries of human perception and natural and supernatural curiosities.
Nora Lansing, a deaf cryptographer receives a coded message from her missing friend, Marisol. The message leads Nora to pictures of crop circles. Nora is doubtful but curious and worried about her friend, so she books a tour of the circles headed by Steven Campbell, a tour guide and musician. Other people start disappearing in the same manner as Marisol suggesting a connection. Nora and Steven are thrown into a mystery involving aliens, ESP, secret societies, and conspiracies.
Carriers is the kind of mystery and thriller that introduces some fascinating possibilities and theories about many real life mysteries. Crop circles have been believed to be everything from UFO signals to experimental art projects or hoaxes. When Nora and her companions enter the crop circles she feels an energy surge, sees light formations, and senses that she is being watched. There are hints that these circles came not from human means but by something otherworldly.
The book is filled with action chapters where Nora, Steven, and their colleagues have to escape from secret societies that have their own agendas with the information that Marisol gathered. There are also moments of betrayal when characters turn traitors on one another and suspicions are raised about other dubious figures. It’s the kind of compelling adventure that holds the Reader’s interest with its various twists and cliffhangers.
One of the strongest themes in this book is language and communication. Because Nora and Marisol are deaf, they mostly communicate through sign language which requires an interpreter or use their phones for written messages. They also communicate to each other through mathematical languages and codes. This is how Nora learns of her friend’s discoveries and troubles. It is a complex language that doesn’t need words. It just needs two brilliant minds in synchronization and understanding.
Steven also has a way to communicate without words. He uses music. He has synesthesia which means that two or more senses work at once, so he can see lights whenever he hears notes play. There are beautiful moments when Nora sees him play music. She sees his deepest emotions and reverence that reveals more than dialogue ever could.
This book explores the various meanings of language and how humans use different means of expressing their strongest emotions towards each other. All it takes is another soul who understands.
The Matriarch Matrix by Maxine Trencavel is a complex engrossing Thriller about ancient secrets leading to ancestral memory and future possibilities.
Peter Gollinger, a copy editor, has recently inherited an oral tradition passed down by his deceased grandfather, a tradition that is told in riddles and leads to an ancient discovery. Zara Khatum is a Kurdish warrior battling the Daesh and is the heiress of a long matrilineal line. The two of them are hired by tech mogul Alexander Murometz who also has a shared complicated history with Zara. Their mission leads them to the temple of Gobekli Tepe and an object that could lead to untold power, knowledge, and potential destruction.
The adventure in this book has many byzantine layers that link the past and present. Many characters are descended from others and follow similar paths that their ancestors did. People switch sides, family members battle one another, and couples are reunited as though they were predisposed to repeat one another.
Many of the characters share themes of family legacy. Peter’s is an oral tradition that his family told one another. The meaning isn’t clear but it is what connects him to his ancestors. This tradition also opens up actual memories as he recognizes not only his own soul in the past but those of others like Zara. For him, this trip is a discovery of answers that have been hidden by words and images.
Zara’s lineage is more concrete. She knows where she came from. She knows that she came from a powerful lineage of wise courageous women who have watched their power and influence become smaller and more diminished by the dominance of men. This journey for her is an act of reclamation to reacquaint her with a history that was never really lost. It was just hidden and waiting to be rediscovered.
In this volume of The Mystery of The Matriarchs series, The Matriarch Messiah, the book lives up to its name. The most fascinating character arcs belong to the female characters while the men are pushed to the sidelines. It's a deliberate subversion of the usual gender roles often found in Adventure novels where male protagonists go on the adventure of looking for valuable treasure or information and women are the obligatory love interests/sidekicks.
Peter Gollinger and Zara Khatum have returned from their previous adventure in which they found a valuable ancient object in Gobekli Tepe and fell in love. Now they are contemplating their next move when tech CEO/financier, Alexander Murometz reappears to give Zara another assignment. She and Peter have to travel to a cavern of blue light but they have to do it as a couple. Meanwhile, Rachel Capsali wants to uncover the truth about an ancient goddess.
The adventure aspects are brilliant with the usual historical clues, traps, betrayals, exotic locations, and spine tingling suspense. But its strength lies in characterization. The female presence of Zara, Rachel, and Mei, a former associate of Murometz and lover of Peter's are the best parts. They embody different pantheons and goddesses. They are women of substance and goals and propel the narrative by their actions.
Zara is caught between her love for Peter and her own personal calling. She wants to live an ascetic life as a Sufi priestess like Rabi’a al-Adawiyya, a woman who dedicated her life to living in solitude and serving her god, Xwede. To do that Zara has to withdraw from emotional attachments including Peter’s.
She loves Peter but isn't sure that she is supposed to spend her life with him. She also resents Murometz’s pestering for her and Peter to consummate their relationship and conceive a child to pass their intelligent strong genes along. Joke's on Murometz because a graphic assault rendered Zara unable to bear children. While going on this adventure, Zara has to weigh her dedication to her heart and love for Peter or her head and religious devotion.
Rachel represents a different aspect. While Zara is a Kurdish Muslim, Rachel is Jewish and a Torah scholar. Her main interest is in the myths of Asherah who some ancient texts imply was the wife of Yahweh before she was edged out by male rabbinical scholars and chroniclers.
Like Zara she is intellectually devoted to her faith and wants to restore the female presence in mythology and history. The journey is Rachel's determination to find the answers that she sought.
The conflict between Rachel and Zara is reminiscent of the continuous Middle Eastern conflicts with each woman representing the two sides. They are both strong-willed devout women with similar goals suggesting that both sides have more in common than they are aware. They have problems that could be resolved through conversation, compromise, and understanding of interdependency. Trencavel humanizes both sides by giving them voices.
Mei, the third character, comes from a different place, a wealthier posher, more polished place than her protagonist sisters. She is a stylish fashionista who didn't mind playing up on her femininity to seduce Peter. She also had a troubled relationship with Alexander Murometz in which they shared ideas in business and in bed. She was someone who tried to be in control of any situation but things reached a downward spiral.
Now she questions her alliances and future. Once a shallow superficial character, she is forced to look inward towards who she really is and what she wants. She is also pregnant and weighing whether or not she wants to be a mother and if the father is a good fit. Her goddess association is Jiang, a Chinese fertility goddess, who had to isolate herself to give birth. Mei has to wonder if being at the center of such chaos, corruption, war, and destruction and whether she can or should have a child.
Mei, Rachel, and Zara are faced with immense choices and crossroads where they have to weigh their own fates, decisions, personal outlooks and also have to consider what is best for the world as a whole.
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