In the Beginning by Abby L. Vandiver.

In the Beginning is a tale of two mysteries. One involves a conspiracy surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls and the other grabs the reader to uncover the hidden agenda behind this book. Abby has an interesting writing style. She uses that very feminine tactic of planting an idea in the readers mind with a hint, then bringing it up again later with a nag and finally repeating what has happened before.

This novel starts with a bold prologue declaring a prophetic vision. Chapter 1 begins in Israel during 1949 with the discovery and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In Chapter 2 we jump to America in 1997 and meet our heroine Dr. Justin Dickerson, a biblical archaeologist. Her parts of this novel are written in the first person.

In the Beginning then swaps time zones quite frequently as Abby hints and nags at what is going on until Chapter 20 when it settles down to 1997.  Justin is set on her quest to discover the truth behind the Dead Sea Scrolls. Woven into the story are many issues for the reader to think about and form their own opinions.

I really enjoyed reading this novel which Abby finished writing in 2012. It is available as a 487 KB Amazon Kindle eBook. It is an unusual read because you are always wondering about any hidden agendas. You wonder if this story is one big metaphor and Justin is a spokesperson for certain global issues. All the hints are there but you are uncertain how this story will end.

A big part of this novel is the family life that Justin shares with the reader. Family life has it's joys and excitements, which shows easily as when Justin gets heated Abby enters many typos into the script that were never edited out! Do not let this lack of proof reading put you off as this book is a very good read. It puts many of life's little wonders into perspective as you roll along with this conspiracy tale about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Abby has written a lovely book that is a refreshing change from big name author conspiracy novels. She certainly has that female way of telling a story. After 22 years of being happily married to my wife Gail, it was like her telling the story on our sofa. I fell in love with this book and Justin's character comes across so strong, it feels like she is an old friend. Because this book has been written with such great feminine passion, I will vote it the top score of 5 stars.

When you get to the Epilogue at the end, which is set in America during 2000, it all slowly starts to make sense in your mind. What Abby has done is rather clever and very subtle. After a couple of hours after you have finished this book you realize the back story and the hidden agendas.