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Read more. March 17, It was fun to see them try to contain their feelings for each other while attempting to work together. Lina was strong, smart, and managed to keep a level head when faced with difficult situations.
Those are traits I love to see in heroines. Hunter managed to be protective of Lina yet didn't try to overwhelm her by trying to control or dominate her in any way that would suggest she couldn't take care of herself. While he does sort of manipulate her into helping to find the stolen artifacts, that was only done out of necessity. She was an expert on ancient Maya artifacts, something he needed. Plus, he already knew her. Slowly, the mystery of what is going on is revealed and Lina's and Hunter's relationship grows and blossoms into something neither of them can deny.
Overall, this one gets a 5 out of 5 roses. There was plenty of romance, drama and suspense as they attempted to learn who stole the artifacts, and where they came from.
Kawa'il is depicted as the "god of blood sacrifice and death," who reportedly "demanded more blood and sacrifice than other gods. I would love to see this one be made into a movie. I'd actually pay to see it in the theater. While Ms. Lowell states there are no plans to make this into a series because her publisher prefers singles, I would love to see it become one. Even if she had to change characters to do so.
You should use extreme caution when reading a book with this rating in public. People may inquire as to why you looked flustered and flushed. Notes to keep you in the know: Throughout the book Lina and Hunter kept talking about how Lina was supposed to be like 'Caesar's wife'. Well, I had never heard the phrase used before and was curious as to its origins, so I looked it up. It basically means that a person should be above approach.
Apparently Ceasar's wife, Pompeia, 'hosted the festival of the Bona Dea "good goddess" , which no man was permitted to attend However a young patrician named Publius Clodius Pulcher managed to gain admittance disguised as a woman, apparently for the purpose of seducing Pompeia.
He was caught and prosecuted for sacrilege. Caesar gave no evidence against Clodius at his trial, and he was acquitted. Nevertheless, Caesar divorced Pompeia, saying that "my wife ought not even to be under suspicion. Examples of Cenotes found on photobucket: The following was created by Frederick Catherwood — copyright expired found on wikipedia: Example of a Chacmool found on photobucket: Ms.
Lowell did not write about God K, but she did say there is some dispute as to whether the Mayans had such a god. Here is a depiction believed to be of God K on pottery. I thought I'd include it because of the fact it has a serpent depicted on it. Photo taken by Justin Kerr. Found on wikipedia At first it was interesting. I did like Archaeologist Lina Taylor.
May 30, Bukcrz rated it did not like it. Elizabeth Lowell is one of those authors that, to me, can capture my interest right at the first page of her books.
The fact that it took me more than a week to finish this book since its release says a lot at how hard I had to force myself to finish reading, to make sure my guess at who the bad guy was is right at the first chapters of the book. THAT'S how predictable the story was. Don't get me wrong, the ch Elizabeth Lowell is one of those authors that, to me, can capture my interest right at the first page of her books.
Don't get me wrong, the characters were not bad as individuals especially the main characters. The heroine is a true modern woman with her own job that she both enjoyed and love. She does not take crap from anyone but also has first class manners to boot.
That goes without saying that she is beautiful and rich as well. The hero is your modern day warrior who can survive both in the concrete jungle of cities and of the wild. He has high connections in the government and private and even in the not so legal side of the law. A typical alpha male who is both a gentleman to his lady and a formidable warrior to his enemies.
They sound great, right? And honestly they main characters I would pay to read. It's not that I did not want to be educated about Mayans but if I want that I will pick up text book, not a romance book. I do not even mind having histories integrated on a story I am reading as long as it does not overshadow the romance factor like the intricacies of banking and gun-running in Innocent As Sin, or the cutthroat world of art collectors in Blue Smoke and Murder and a lot of her other books.
In this book though the Mayan info did cast a dark and long shadow over the magic between the main characters. It does not help that the story or plot is a predictable one, which I wouldn't mind as long as I can read some new twists but no, it's just more and more Mayan facts. In the end the book tells about a brilliant Mayan archeologist who is blackmail by her handsome student for her knowledge. Her life gets in danger and the handsome warrior will save her from her evil family.
Along the way they talk and breathe Mayans, artifacts, cults, and more Mayans. I don't know why this book did not do it for me because I would have thought with an academically strong heroine and a strong hero who is not intimidated with her knowledge I would enjoy this book but somehow it really lacked the magic of romance for me. Sigh, I just wish for more of Ms. Lowell's St. Kilda series.
At least they never disappointed me. Hunter Johnson is a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. He hopes a better understanding of the significance of the lost artifacts can help him locate them.
Beautiful Sacrifice contains a significant amount of Mayan history. I enjoyed the history lesson but some listeners may grow weary of the many details Lowell includes. Narrator Richard Ferrone has a gravelly voice that suits the sometimes mysterious and mystical atmosphere of the story. His reading brings the forbidding jungle, the dark caves, and the ancient rituals to life. Belief in the ancient Mayan gods seems almost reasonable in this setting.
Hunter is presented as independent and emotionally closed off, and the narration emphasizes his strength and reserve. Lina is a capable professional who feels the weight of her family obligations. Due to her emotionally distant and often manipulative parents, Lina prefers to work in Houston rather than remain in the Yucatan.
There are only a few sections of dialogue when the change in speaker is not identified that may cause some confusion. However, the plot and setting are unique and the action moves the book along at a nice pace. In the end, Beautiful Sacrifice is an enjoyable, if somewhat flawed, book that is enhanced by a strong narration.
View all 6 comments. Sex : Reasonably frequent and explicit. Hero : former ICE agent now independent recovery specialist.
Heroine : Archaeologist specialising in Mayan relics. Includes : Excerpt from Night Diver. Lessons on Mayan culture language, culture, gods, sacrifice, relics… Enjoyable but very long and slow.
Lots of characters who should have seen it coming and pointless extras to add a little colour but not much else. And the mysterious villagers who exist as ghosts through the story, almost to a cultural bias, innate paternal racism level….
Did Carlos import drugs? Why did he hide the relics in a drug courier truck, so badly? Awful coincidence that his BFF is involved and he just happens to know Lina, completely tied into the Evil Plot… And his past, the death of his daughter It is typical of Lowell. But easily missed. Nov 10, Lisa James rated it liked it Shelves: mystery. There's also a very steamy relationship going on between 2 of the main characters, which makes it secondly a good old fashioned romance too.
May 17, Kristi Davis rated it really liked it Shelves: contemporary. This was a wild ride through some Mayan 'end of the world' myths and extreme awesome details of artifacts lost and then found. I haven't read her in awhile and it just reminded me why I need to go reread her backlist!
Loved this book! Jun 26, Season rated it did not like it. I hate to say this, but I ended up skimming this one because it just didn't grab me right away and I wanted to be finished with it. Jul 07, Lori rated it it was amazing. Very good book, kept you on the edge of your seat. Mar 11, Anne rated it it was ok Shelves: did-not-finish. I've always loved Elizabeth Lowell's romantic suspense. As with several other readers, she lost me on this one.
It just never came together for me. Sep 08, Jane Brant rated it it was ok. Don't waste your time How many times can we hear how gorgeous our main characters are, smelling good and ready for a little action with their party hats in hand? Apr 23, Melinda rated it really liked it Shelves: paranormal , highly-technilogical , different-but-good , historical , first-reads , historical-hotties , urban-hotties , supernatural , fantasy , adventure.
This is a really good book! It would make an incredible movie. It would be action packed and full of excitement and mystery, they'd be hot on the trail of missing Mayan artifacts being used by a killer for sacrificing victims.
Meanwhile, they would in turn would be stalked by unknown men in suits speaking a dialect of Mayan. Where will it all lead? It is amazing, but it leads to the Mayan God Kawa This is a really good book! It is amazing, but it leads to the Mayan God Kawa'il, at least 11 blood sacrifices, more dead bodies, attempted kidnapping, a boatload of rare ancient artifacts, hidden Mayan temples, bloodletting ceremonies, ripped out hearts- still beating, a gun battle, a knife fight, a rarer than rare codex, a prepared blood sacrifice for December 21, the day the Mayan calendar stops and the old world ends and the new one is born.
Lina is Mayan royalty dating back before the Spanish came to the New World. She is also Spanish royalty, who married into the local royalty. She works at the family museum there, catlaloging, displaying and teaching about Mayan artifacts found on Reyes-Balam lands. That's her last name Reyes-Balam. Hunter Johnston is in the security business with his Uncles.
He's ex- border patrol or ICE. He meets Lina by auditing her classes, but then his best friend Jason needs help finding some Mayan artifacts that were stolen from ICE's evidence room or he'll be fired.
Hunter turns to Lina for help. He only has pictures but that's enough to get things rolling. Now the story gets rolling too. In no time, things are out of control. Jason is shot and Lina and Hunter are fleeing for their lives. They go to the Reyes-Balam compound in the Yucatan. It turns out Lina's Greatgrandmother's Birthday is the same day as the end of the world, and Lina promised she'd be there.
What they find when they get there is anything but normal. It just gets worse and worse until reality totally slips away. What will happen to Hunter and Lina? Will they live to see the new year? Will they become a couple? What about the Reyes-Balam family- who will live or die? And the priceless artifacts - what about them?
Will the holy sacrifice take place at midnight on December. To answer these these questions you'll have to read the book - it's well worth your time and money. The book was not only entertaining it was educational. Even though the author made up the God Kawa'il, just learning more about Mayan customs and culture was very interesting, and added a lot of body to an already exciting book. You learn as the character learn, so it's not pendantic, or heavy handed, but nicely done, in fact it is extremely well done.
The characterization in the book was brilliant! Done through dialogue, description, actions, and description by other characters - it made each character fully alive and individual.
Each leapt off the page as three dimensional people, completely capable of walking through my front door with an an artifact or two to show me what all this fuss was about.
They were as real as fictional characters can be. The pacing in the story was the type where there should be a warning on the front that says " Hold on to your hats and keep your hands in the car at all times until the ride comes to a full stop! It never let up from the first sentence to the last sentence - you were totally mesmerized by what was happening I did take off a few hours for sleep , but then I was once again mesmerized by the story until the end, when I could breathe a sigh of relief.
Warning: don't read this on a weekday, wait for a free weekend. If you have kids or a husband, make arrangements for them to be cared for, because you'll be MIA until the book is finished.
Trust me, you don't want any interruptions. The diaglogue in the story is spot on. It is in three languages, but primarily English, then there's Spanglish Mexican mixed with English , then there's Yucatec, which is almost always translated to English. It's the language of the Maya. You could pick out characters by simply hearing them speak. Everyone had a uniquely different way of speaking that made it obvious who was speaking at any point in time.
That must be incredibly hard to do, but Ms. Lowell does it so well - it's like an artform. The plot of the book spins out slowly. Like a hedge maze, at first it looks simple, but then you find that your lost and facing three separate avenues that all look alike. Was it right turns or left turns I was taking? You don't know, so you sprint down the middle pathway, deep into the maze, totally lost, praying for any type of sign to get you out.
Soon you see a glimpse, you jog to the right, after a moment, you get another, closer glimpse, now you are flat out running for all your worth. You're in full kick when you reach the middle of the maze, but you need to slow down because what you find is Death with a capital D and it's coming for a lot of people - maybe you.
The only reason that I didn't give give this book five stars was because about half way through, I guessed the the ending, maybe not all the details but the main parts of the ending like who does what to whose dog for how many cookies. It took any surprise out of the final pages of the book except for those small details which didn't add much.
So, if I could, I would give this book 4. My favorite characters were the protagonists, Lina and Hunter, along with Hunter's friends Jason and his wife Ali. Jason and Ali are married with two kids and one on the way, and are madly in love. Lina and Hunter are discovering each other throughout the book. It makes for some very hmm! By the time the book ends they've decided whether they're compatible or not, in a big way.
I just love these characters. Most of the rest were either self centered, despicable, driven, insane, delusional, greedy, paranoid, criminal, neuvo riche or just plain folks. I want to thank Goodreads First Reads, where I won this book. What a wonderful book to win.
I want to thank Elizabeth Lowell for writing such a wonderful book. It would be Celia, her mother, who carried the complaint. Celia orbited between family and business like a planet with two suns. Lina was more like her father, an academic with a deep love of working in the field, discovering ancient cities and temples a single brushstroke at a time.
She thought about letting the call go to voice mail, but decided against it. With a glance at her watch—plenty of time before she had to teach class—she opened the cell phone. So does mi primo. Hunter Johnston might give the artifacts some real competition…if he ever stayed put. Guiltily she yanked her attention back to her mother. She felt no need to pretend closeness now, despite his recent, repeated invitations to confer with him about Reyes Balam artifacts, and how they might be used to celebrate the coming baktun in a worthy way.
The Turning of the Wheel of time was a great celebration among the Maya in general and her great-grandmother in particular. If Carlos wants help decorating for the baktun, let him go to Philip. Neither one of them has asked me for so much as a nod in the past. The market is humming with rumors. Lina winced. Someone could overhear and misunderstand you.
After many thousands spent to grease bureaucratic wheels, Lina thought, and academic reputations ruined. I understand. Her parents might still be married, but they lived separately because they fought constantly.
Then I can tell you if I have it. Even an unknown codex. All and more, of the very highest quality, appearing and then disappearing again, like ghost smoke. Even one of those artifacts would create a sensation in the archaeological world. All of them together? A dream.
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