Book of Names: Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori

Political-science professor David Sheppard suffered severe head trauma as a teenager and had a near death experiment. After the accident he he developed a strange and consuming obsession; for almost twenty years David has been recording names that slide into his thoughts with no rhyme, reason, or explanation. He has kept meticulous notes but has never researched the reason for why this must be happening. At the time of the accident he also came into possession of a rare agate inscribed with Hebrew characters. After finally seeking help, David is led to a rabbi who unfolds the true meaning of David's vision and the weight that is resting on his shoulders.

Jewish by birth but not in practice, David is unfailingly logical; he has never felt a need for religion in his life. As the visions of names begin to come with more regularity though, David confides in his closest friend, a Catholic priest. His friend, recognizing something in the elements of David's story, refers David to a rabbi located in New York. The rabbi is well-studied in the Kabbalah and recognizes David's names for what they truly are; the Lamed Vovniks.

Lamed Vovniks are thirty-six truly righteous souls in every generation. If they are all killed the world will suffer great calamity. Though such a thing has been tried before, it has never succeeded until now. A secret sect, the Gnoseos, have made it their goal to bring about this destruction and it's almost complete. Only a few Lamed Vovniks remain, including David's ex-stepdaughter, Stacey. David must learn who the rest of the remaining Lamed Vovniks are so they can be protected but there is no sure way of knowing. The names are encoded in ancient scrolls and time is running out. David must learn code of the Book of Names and save Stacey and the other Lamed Vovniks before the world is destroyed.

Nice set-up, a little faulty on the execution and dismount. This is another Davinci Code bandwagon-book and while the idea is actually quite fascinating (unlike The Davinci Code) it falters somewhere along the way. It just seemed to move entirely too fast for a plot that encompasses the very end of the world as we know it. It was also a little hard to fathom how a purely logic-driven political-science professor could so suddenly become a switcher and start pitching for the Jewish home team. The plot felt too contrived and neatly wrapped up and that's never any fun.

On the plus side though, the idea of the Lamed Vovniks was absolutely fascinating. The Jewish history woven throughout the story seemed well-researched though not being Jewish I don't want to state that as a fact. This would be a good book to take along for summer reading on the beach or lazing around. Something fun and quick, not too mind-boggling and just interesting enough to keep the pages turning.
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Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; First Edition edition (February 5, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0312354738
ISBN-13: 978-0312354732