Faith, Redemption, Forgiveness, and Sacrifice

An Echo In The Darkness - Book #2 (The Mark of the Lion Series) - Francine Rivers


I finally finished this second book of the series and I just have to say, reading these books has literally changed my life.  I view my faith in Christ a little differently these days.  This book was AMAZING.  Nothing shy of a fictional masterpiece.  I have to give props and kudos to Francine on this one.  As you can imagine I gave this book 5 Stars.  I loved it!!  Since book #1 of this series, A Voice In The Wind, literally kept me hanging on to the very last sentence I could not wait to dig in to the second book.  My heart ached, my soul revolted as I read about each character and their lives...most importantly how the Lord was using and molding each one. 
Here's a brief summary: Through the courageous faith of the Christian slave girl Hadassah and the troubled lives of the Roman masters, An Echo in the Darkness continues this moving tale of first-century Rome. Having narrowly escaped death, Hadassah conceals her scars--and identity--with veils. But it is her God-given ability to heal others that brings her to perhaps her greatest trial. God's forgiveness and redemption triumph as this young woman, assumed to be dead, is called to risk her life for the one who would have destroyed her.

I grabbed this review on Amazon.com which says it all:
The MARK trilogy is set in the Roman Empire, shortly after the fall of Jerusalem. Using a Hebrew slave girl (Hadassah) and a German gladiator (Atretes; think the film GLADIATOR) as the main characters, three books are crafted around themes of faith, redemption, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Rivers is one of the best at writing characters and those that she creates here are absolutely convincing -- flawed and heroic on multiple layers, with developmental conflicts that relate to and parallel modern times almost seamlessly. AN ECHO IN THE DARKNESS, the middle book of the series, picks up immediately after A VOICE IN THE WIND's climax. Where A VOICE focused mainly on Hadassah and her struggle to stand for her faith, AN ECHO's main conflicts surround the Valerian family (whom Hadassah served) and their responses to the sacrificial price that Hadassah paid. The resulting journeys towards redemption play out wonderfully and, as the book progresses, become more and more moving.