The Prisoner of Paradise (Painted Souls Book 1) by Rob Samborn – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes
The Prisoner of Paradise by Rob Samborn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Nick and Julia O’Connor are on the trip of a lifetime to Venice after one of Julia’s photographs has been chosen to be in an exhibit there. While touring one of the local museums Nick is inexplicably drawn to a portrait of a beautiful young woman in Tintoretto’s work of art, Paradise, the world’s largest oil painting. When the woman in Paradise starts to speak to Nick, he feels as though she is his soulmate and becomes compelled to save her from being trapped in the painting.
Nick’s wife, Julia, is naturally concerned because Nick has recently suffered a concussion from a hockey injury, and she fears his hearing voices is a side effect of his brain injury. Nick tries to prove to Julia that he is not suffering from delusions and that this woman is his soulmate from a previous life which he lived in the 16th Century. Julia wants to believe her husband and even she is unable to explain how he understands a foreign language that he has never spoken before. Julia is unsure how to help Nick and begs him to get help from his doctor. When he ignores her pleas, Julia decides it is best to cut their trip short and return home. Unfortunately, Nick has now disappeared, and Julia is frantic to find him.
Nick’s obsession with the woman in the painting has consumed him and he seems to have forgotten that he is currently married to Julia in the present day. His focus is on learning more about this mysterious woman in the painting and he starts to investigate who she is. Through a series of blackouts, he learns this woman is Isabella Scalfini, a beautiful aristocrat that he had fallen in love with in 1589. As the blackouts continue, Nick is drawn back to his time with Isabella and the fate that brought her to her soul being forever trapped in Paradise. His obsession with the beautiful woman in the portrait leads him to uncover a secret religious Order that has been condemning souls to the painting for centuries. His beloved Isabella pleads with Nick to free her from the painting so he sets out on a mission to destroy the painting and save his beloved soulmate, only to discover that it is the Painter that he must destroy. However, the Order will never allow anything to happen to the painting and therefore have it heavily guarded. Nick now finds himself running for his life as the members of the Order are determined to destroy him so he cannot divulge the secret of the painting.
This book was very well written and both the past and present were beautifully interwoven together. I enjoyed reading the flashbacks as Nick was drawn back to his previous life in 1589 and his time with his beloved Isabella. My heart broke for Julia as she felt such deep concern for Nick and was worried about what was happening to him. She loved her husband and wanted to believe him but was also worried about his declining mental health. Then he just vanishes without a trace, and she has no idea of his whereabouts or if he is even still alive. How gut wrenching for poor Julia to be put through that. Nick was conflicted between his past love, Isabella, and his present-day love Julia which must have been confusing for him. Yet, at the same time, you just want to shake Nick and tell him to get a grip. How is he going to save a soul trapped in a painting? Why put your life in danger and that of your wife’s for a woman in a painting. I wanted to scream at Nick to get a grip, go back to his wife, and leave the country. Forget the painting, the Order, and get out of Venice while you can. I am anxious to see what will happen in book 2 to learn what became of Nick and Julia. Did their marriage survive? Does Nick still think about Isabella? Was Nick really suffering delusions? What will become of the souls in Paradise?
