Friday, April 17, 2009

Latayne Scott


Dear Readers,

Here is one of those books that is so interesting that the mystery becomes almost secondary to what you are learning from the book, Latter Day Cipher. The author, Latayne Scott, is a former Mormon and now spends most her time warning others about the dangers of this religion and all they are about. Some of the things I knew about, like the if you are able to work your way high enough you to can be a god of your own planet and all the secrecy that surrounds all they do. I was a bit surprised by how "protective' they are of the church, but not necessarily of each other, and then I was very surprised to learn about the blood oaths and secret hand shakes etc...

Reporter Selonnah Zee is being sent to Salt Lake City to see if she can uncover more about the architect of the LDS (Latter Day Saints) temples. A new one is being built near where she lives and there are rumors surrounding it and all the symbols that are on the building. Instead of a nice visit with her cousin and his family, she steps in to a major murder mystery and her newspaper at home wants her to send first hand reports home, turning her vacation into work.

Making it more difficult is her cousin, Roger, who will do anything to protect his new religion. He is the representative the church sends to field all the questions the media has about the murder of Kirsten Young, a well known but former Mormon. Her murder is traced back to things about the LDS that they don't really want the world to know.

As the murders begin to mount the church is desperate to get rid of all the publicity that the murders are attracting. Is the murderer trying to send a message to the church or the world? Who are they trying to warn? Or is this the just the work of a very sick mind? Selonnah and her new friend, a policeman named Luke, race to put the clues together before more people are found dead.

I know I said it before the facts and truths about the LDS almost over shadows the mystery, but it is interesting. I did have a good guess as to who it was before Latayne was ready to let us all know who did it. It wasn't really a problem this is a good story and the action continues all the way to the end. I have to admit that it was a very eye opening book for me and if I need to have a discussion with anyone I know that has been attracted to this cult I have a couple more tools to fight against it.

Happy Reading

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for this review. I don't know how you manage it with reading so many books -- your reviews are perceptive and comprehensive. I've read quite a few of your other reviews and have concluded that your assessment of a book takes into account so many elements that I feel I can rely on your judgment. So, thank you again!

I don't know if you have seen the book trailer for Latter-day Cipher on my Web site, but now that you've read the book I think you'd enjoy it even more than you would have previously.

And of course, I'll always have a tender place in my heart for Baker since they published three of my previous books.

Yours and His,
Latayne C Scott
www.latayne.com
novelmatters.blogspot.com

Chris Jager - Baker Book House-fiction buyer said...

Thank you Latayne for the nice words. I have to admit, reading is like breathing to me. I am not sure I would survive without it. I will check out the book trailer again. Thank you again