First let me say that Don Hoesel is an excellent writer. His use of the English language is fantastic. His pros, articulation and overall style made reading this book a joy. If I were to give stars solely on the writing this book would get an easy five. Don writes the story through the eyes of a PhD who uses words some of us don't hear very often but it's smooth none-the-less.

However the book was not what I had expected. Some compare it to Indiana Jones but to me it was much more of a academic look into archeology then a fast-paced adventure of thrills and suspense. Don't get me wrong, there are sections of suspense (and great sadness not expected) but they are few and far between. The dialogue is extremely slow (and if I had to say why this gets 3 starts it would be for this reason). Short conversations would take five pages instead of one due to the main characters thoughts taking up most of the exchange. This made for very slow dialogue and therefore slowed the book down terribly. The action sequences were very well-written and fast paced but as I said they were far too few. Another issue was the lead female character. For some odd reason, even though she was there throughout the entire book, she seemed to disappear as the story progressed. She ended up saying very little in the last quarter of the book and her strong character seemed to just fade.

Biblically the story was based on a possible Old Testament find but most of the book had little spiritual significance at all. The main female lead professed to follow Christ but no attributes of a Christian were present. In the end the question of the existence of God was asked and therefore the book redeemed itself a bit. This book could be good for those who are asking the big question... Does God exist?

Over-all I enjoyed the book. It should (and could) have been faster paced. This genre of book cries for adventure, thrills and suspense.

1 Star = Pathetic

2 Stars = Fair

3 Stars = Good

4 Stars = Excellent

5 Stars = Life changing

Elisha's Bones is the first book of Don Hoesel. Having the chance to read first books by new authors is much like trying a new restaurant for me. I love being able to see the writer's style, his method, his first baby. It is such a privilege to hold in your hand an author's first book and know that it was such a labor of love for them.

Fans of Dan Brown's DaVinci Code will definitely love this book. It has all the fast paced intrique without the controversy that Brown's book brought to it. However it is quite thought provoking as this college professor leaves his quiet life behind to traverse the world to find the bones of Elisha. The trip is financed by a man who has a limitless amount of money, but not a limitless amount of time because he is dying. His willingness to finance this college professor's search means many Indiana Jones type adventures around the world. However, Hoesel does a great job of keeping this realistic and not hokey sounding at all.