The Bell Messenger

Title: THE BELL MESSENGER
Author: Robert Cornuke with Alton Gansky
Publisher: Howard Books
September 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4165-4981-9
Genre: Inspirational/thriller

Gary Brandon’s uncle gave Gary a strange graduation gift, an old Bible and some trinkets that he allegedly unearthed in a cave in Saudi Arabia. As Gary starts thumbing through the Bible, he discovers that it originally belonged to one Elijah Bell, a young fourteen year old boy who was killed in the Civil War by a Union soldier. A letter in the Bible says that the Bible was given to Jeremiah Tate, the man who killed Elijah.

Jeremiah Tate takes the Bible with him to California after the war, and discovers that the Bible gives live and saves lives. The history of this Bible will take you to the building of the Pacific Railroad, to the holding of Chinese slaves in California, to the trenches of World War I. As Gary Brandon researches the history of the Bible, he will learn of the lives the Bible has saved, the deaths it has caused, and the history it has changed forever.

THE BELL MESSENGER is a fascinating account of a path that one Bible took and the lives it changed. I enjoyed some parts of the book more than others, Jeremiah Tate was a fascinating person to read about, as was a character named Frederick Von Scherling. I enjoyed reading this book and getting to know the characters and as well as the history behind the Bible. The ending kind of disappointed me a little. Parts of it was good, but part of it just seemed wrong.

If you are someone interested in the history of Bibles, then THE BELL MESSENGER is a book you will want to read. I was interested to discover if this was based on a true story or simply the product of the author’s imagination, but I couldn’t find anything out about that when I visited Mr. Gansky’s website. Mr. Cornuke’s website is still being developed. I understand that a second novel by Mr. Cornuke will be coming out sometime some time in 2009, but I couldn’t find any information on that either. Don’t miss THE BELL MESSENGER. It is a fascinating read, but does have considerable violence—and if it were a movie, it would be rated R for violence. 304 pages. $12.99