The Book of Names ~ by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori

The Book of Names ~ by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori, 2007

It's a thriller. This book is a lot more about blood and gore and the guy maybe getting the girl at the end than anything else. Oh, I did learn a little bit about the twelve gemstones worn by Aaron, the brother of Moses, which I remember from the Bible. There's information about the Kabbalists that may be interesting to some, though I already knew most of what's in this book. And the writing is good enough to keep me turning the pages.

That's what you want in a book, right? Then it deserves the rating I give it.

Jill Gregory usually writes romance novels, which I admit I haven't read. I am very unlikely to pick up a book like Rough Wrangler, Tender Kisses, published in 2000. I chose to read this one, though, because I was curious about the religious angle and because it was published by St. Martin's Press, an excellent publisher. The names referred to in the title are names of the 36 mentioned in the Talmud:

The world must contain not less than thirty-six righteous people, who are blessed by the Shekhinah (God's presence). ~~~ Rabbi Abbaye

These 36 are being killed off, and catastrophes are increasing all over the world. Bring in the hero, bring in one of the 36, bring in the Dark Angels, mix well and you have this book. Rated 8/10, a very good book.