Mark of the Lion series

By Francine Rivers

Genre: historical fiction

My rating: 5 stars 

"Book 1 A Voice in the Wind: Torn by her love for a handsome aristocrat, Hadassah, a young slave girl clings to her faith in the living God for deliverance from the forces of decadent Rome.

Book 2 An Echo in the Darkness: Turning away from the opulence of Rome, Marcus is led by a whispering voice from the past into a journey that could set him free from the darkness of his soul.

Book 3 As Sure As the Dawn: Atretes. German warrior. Revered gladiator. He won his freedom through his fierceness . . . but his life is about to change forever." (summary from goodreads.com)

Oh my goodness.  I feel like Francine Rivers put me in a time machine to shortly after Christ's resurrection in Rome.  She thrust me into the lives of incredible characters.  She wrote such beautiful, compelling, enthralling story lines that I devoured this entire series.

I will admit it took me a little while to get into the first book, but once I did (around page 60 or so) I was riveted.  The last book is not as strong as the first two, but all three are beautiful and poignant.  

Not only did the story grab hold of me, but God did too.  I closed the final pages of this gift volume a changed woman.

I thought about writing a review about each book individually, but I couldn't do that.  You'll want to read them all. ;)  In fact, I will definitely be rereading this entire series.  Maybe at a slower pace so that I can savor it. :)