This is a well written book, with an amazing and simple plot. A group of people is condemned to eternal life on earth. As they cannot die, they cannot face God ever. This is their punishment for worshiping a golden calf when Moses was up on the Sinai mountain receiving God's tablets with the ten commandments. They are known as the 13th tribe. In order to try to get rid of this punishment and fall in the grace of God again, this group start killing sinners. Their actions are all over history, but they always go anonymously. They are brilliant and their plans are executed to perfection, as they had 3500 years of training. Our hero Jagger is the head of security of an archaeological digging site on Mount Sinai. He lost his arm and his best friend in an accident. He also lost his faith in God. The story develops as a thriller and Jagger is caught with his family in the middle of one of the tribe's mission. In order to rescue his wife he has to face and defeat the tribe. There are a lot of twists in the story and there is no way you can foresee the end. Brilliantly written, this book is a great entertainment for hours. It is destined to be as successful as any one of the Dan Brown's best sellers.

I recommend this book to the permanent library of all book lovers that wants to be entertained with a thriller story that will hook you from the beginning and you will read it on the edge of your chair. It took me around 12 hours to read the whole book. This book was written by Robert Liparulo and it was published by Thomas Nelson on April of 2012. Amazon.com was kind enough to provide this product for me through their Vine Program for reviewing and I was not requested to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own. ( )

Again I say, I am not a fan of Christian fiction, but this one had me riveted from the first page! I loved the back story from deep in the Old Testament, along with fictional accounts of the people who were at the bottom of Mt. Sinai when Moses was on the mountain obtaining the ten commandments from God; their fear, rebellion and ultimate punishment. I loved the depth of the characters. We knew what made them tick, what their passions had grown to be, and could very easily picture them from the detailed writing. Good and bad were merged in a way that made you compassionate for the "bad" guys while still wanting justice. I can't wait to read the next in this series!
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Title: The 13th Tribe (An Immortals Files Novel)
Author: Robert Liparulo
Pages: 416
Year: 2012
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Riveting! A page turner with quite an adrenaline rush! I bought this last year because the title caught my attention, though I had no idea what the novel was about. By the front cover, I thought maybe it would be something akin to science fiction or like a Frank Peretti novel. What I didn’t expect was a tale that has so many elements of different genres I wonder how the cataloging personnel ever settled on Christian suspense. Trust me; it has suspense along with mysteries, archeology, history, science, military, Old Testament plus love.
I am not sure exactly what to share as I don’t want to spoil the reader’s excitement by giving away too much about a story that has so many twists and turns. There is an ex-military man who is working security for a monastery after an accident forever changed his life. Jagger’s physical life isn’t the only change that occurs, but his spiritual life also. His wife, Beth, loves him, understands him well and prays for him while waiting for healing to come. Tyler, their son, brings smiles and joy to Jagger’s life in ways he can’t ever explain, but never wants to live without. Now, a group of people known as the 13th Tribe have begun to arrange devastation that would make a nuclear explosion look like child’s play. Some tend to have much longer lives than others, but to find out which characters that might be you have to read the book. What would you do if someone you loved could out live you by a long time? Would you distance yourself from them or live the rest of your time, enjoying life with them?
Encased in this story is action that takes them across the globe on a journey to initiate their destruction with a couple of people trying very hard to thwart their plans. The looks from the Tribes faces seem surreal; their bodies heal quickly unless mortally wounded in one way only. Trying hard to earn God’s favor and no longer be separated from Him is why they do what they do, but they cannot grasp grace. When Owen begins to share things with Jag, the man has to make a choice to help Owen or not. What is it that turns the decision one way or the other for Jag? Who is this Owen character?
You will not want to pass up this fascinating novel and its sequel, The Judgment Stone, which I will share in an upcoming review. Either way, the chapters are short and the heart thumping adventure is beyond description! Never have I read something of this nature that includes so many different woven together to keep the reader glued till the very last word, and what a word it is! It has an ending I never saw coming, and I can’t wait to dive into the sequel!
My rating for this is 5 stars.
Note: The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility. Other reviews can be read at http://seekingwithallyurheart.blogspot.com/ . Also follow me on Twitter @lcjohnson1988, FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/lisa.johnson.75457 ( )

Robert Liparulo's first two books, "Comes a Horseman" and "Germ" were favorites of mine. They had sinister cabals, global conspiracies, intricate plots, and well written action. This book has all of those characteristics, but it just doesn't work.

To read a book in this genre, you accept some pretty crazy things on the outset. In this case, that there is a tribe of immortals who were cursed by God at Mount Sinai to live forever (unless their heads are cut off.) Once accepting the premise however, things need to make sense within that premise. I couldn't believe that children and teens who have lived 3500 years would not only STILL behave like children, but would behave like modern American children. I could not accept that people who's evidence of God was so direct, would believe that the way to heaven is by indiscriminately killing people they thought were probably "bad guys". I could not accept that a dad would leave his son in critical condition in a hospital to chase lunatics across the world - even if they had kidnapped his wife. I'll skip several other nonsensical plot elements which would be spoilers.

There are other problems as well. The religion is preachy and not tied in well. The story stops to evangelize rather than neatly incorporating the message into the plot. The climax is disappointingly weak. It lacks the adrenaline rush his first two books gave. And while his plot opened the way for some fascinating theological thought, (Is it OK to do bad things for a good end? Is God vengeful?...) Liparulo settles in this book for bland "Love Jesus and have faith" platitudes.

I'll give it two stars instead of one because he still writes a good action scene. ( )

When Moses went to the top of Mt. Sinai to receive the 10 commandments from God, he left the Israelites behind with Aaron. After some time the people began to complain that it was taking too long and perhaps Moses wasn't coming back after all. They convinced Aaron to make them a golden idol to worship and Aaron complied. The men, women and children began to worship the golden calf that Aaron had created and when Moses returned, the Bible states he was furious and broke the tablets in anger.

When confronted with their worship of a golden calf, Moses told them to repent and those that refused were killed. This is the basis for latest novel,The 13th Tribe by Robert Liparulo. We all know about the 12 tribes of Israelites, but in this fictional novel based on the biblical story, there is a 13th tribe of men, women and children, 40 of them, that were cursed by God to wander the earth as immortals for their sin and never see the face of God. These would be the people who not only worshiped the golden calf but tasted the blood of the sacrifice.

Now they have become a vigilante tribe that takes matters of sin and justice into their own hands as they have survived for generations. Believing at some point that what they are doing is approved by God, they will stop at nothing in the hopes that God may find favor in what they are doing. Unfortunately for them, they fail to see that they are wrong and that God is the one responsible for handing out punishment, not them. Now in the 21st century they are planning the ultimate in vengeance willing to take the lives of sinners and innocents to accomplish their purpose.

Caught in between them is Jagger Baird who is heading up security at an archaeological dig on Mt. Sinai and finds himself immediately involved with the 13th tribe who now believes that he must be eliminated as well. What they fail to understand is that Jagger is a former army ranger and when they involve his wife and son, he will stop at nothing to save them and the millions of lives that now hang in the balance.

I received The 13th Tribe by Robert Liparulo compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and have to say, I couldn't put this one down. To me, this merits an outstanding book when I will sacrifice sleep to see how it ends. I love how Robert blends biblical history along with a modern twist to a group of immortal people who believe they are God's avengers to the injustices of the world. I couldn't wait to see how this one would turn out! It's action-packed, edge of your seat, thrill ride from beginning to end and rates a 5 out of 5 stars! For those of you that love story lines like Indiana Jones, this will be a must have for you! Now I am going to be picking up other thrillers from Robert to add to my Christian library! ( )