The Cross of Ciaran by Andrea Matthews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ciarán is a pagan priest in the Kingdom of Connachta in Ériu, however, a twist of fate has led him to an unfortunate event and a gathering storm is showing the displeasure of the Goddess he has sworn allegiance to. His crime was falling in love, marrying the woman and converting to her religion in the process and this angered the priests who raised him, welcomed them into their ranks and gave him the honour of being a Child of the Goddess whose role in the priesthood was to create the new generation of these chosen. This is why he is being condemned to eternal living confinement in a tomb and his wife is to suffer the trifold death while he watches on, tears Ciarán apart and the guilt he feels for this act of love is immense. As he is forced to drink the elixir which places him in the bodily state needed for his punishment, he learns some truths which shatter his whole world and repair it at the same time, he only has time to pray to his God as he slowly freezes into a state of living death.

Caitlin O’Connell is an archaeologist working on a dig in County Mayo in Ireland when she discovers a tomb on a hillside with an inscription which details who is interred there and why, but the why leaves more questions than answers and when the team open up the tomb and find a fifteen hundred year old body still in pristine condition. She has had to deal with a lot while on this site, a certain lack of respect from her coworkers, but nothing is as annoying and trying of her patience than the son of the digs benefactor who has no idea what he is doing or how the things he does on site can affect the whole dig, but when he tries to mess with the body and attacks one of the team members at the same time, leniency is not in his immediate future, despite who his father is. As the dig progresses and more tombs are found, there is a mystery as the differences between the three become apparent, however, when they are taken to three different museums around the world for display, things are even more strange when the body starts to bleed and stories of it opening its eyes start to circulate. Meanwhile, Ciarán is slowly waking up from his imprisonment and as he does, he is plagued by dreams and memories of his past, his childhood, his lady love and the revelations he has yet to process, however, he cannot understand where he is and how the invisible barrier is holding him in, so he decides to break out of the prison and find out what is happening.

Caitlin is dealing with the jet lag and all the responsibilities which have come with this new discovery, until it all comes to a head when one night the body just disappears after the glass display it was being preserved in is shattered and there are no leads as to where the priest has been taken. The police are trying to investigate, but with no leads and the benefactor being unimpressed with the handling of the situation and a copycat scenario on the other side of the world, both the dig and the investigation are closed, meanwhile Ciarán has made his way through the mysterious city he has woken up in to arrive at a church of the God he now believes in and is taken in by the Priests who live there, they care for him, feed him and make sure he has everything he needs, however, as he recovers from his plight, he doesn’t realise that Caitlin is the niece of one of the Priests and as much as he tries to deny it, there is an attraction there, but she is determined to uncover the truth behind both the missing Priest and the mysterious newcomer to the Parish who seems to know more than he is letting on, especially when he has an encounter with the police, where he sees something which reminds him of someone from his past he has no wish to see upon the earth once more.

As Caitlin is finding more questions than answers in her need to seek out the truth, will Ciarán let his past slip out and reveal his true identity to the world, or will his secrets catch up with him in more ways than one? Will Ciarán’s physical attraction to Caitlin lead to something more, or will the things he has endured create a blockade they cannot break down? This is a supernatural story with a historical and romantic twist where pagan rituals, religious beliefs and archaeology are mixed together to create a complex story of love, loss, life and death which is compelling throughout.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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