The Brothers’ Keepers combines travel, intrigue and the global impact of a strong woman
How
far is too far to protect the ones you love?
It could be argued there is no stronger instinct on earth than
that of a mother to protect her family. The
lengths she will go to do so are explored in The Brothers’ Keepers (RidgeRoute Press/November 17,
2014/ISBN: 9780991401734/ $14.99), written by award-winning journalist
and world traveler NLB Horton.
In
The Brothers’ Keepers, we meet archaeologist
Grace Madison who is in Brussels cataloguing looted antiquities when her son’s
bride is attacked in Switzerland. Her day careens from bad to catastrophic when
daughter Maggie disappears in France.
Coincidence
is a luxury Grace cannot afford as history — saturated in espionage — is
repeating itself. The Madison family converges on Paris and begins a frenzied
search to locate Maggie. A cuneiform clay tablet is their only lifeline,
detailing a legend intertwining Solomon, Martin Luther and the Fourth Crusade.
As they navigate a deadly, 4,000-year-old artifact trail that crosses three
continents, they will jeopardize hearts and lives to preserve the ones they
love. As time runs out, they discover that to save themselves, they must first
rescue an old friend who is deceiving them at every turn. But will he let them?
In the midst of traversing the world,
Grace is also faced with trying to save her family by rebuilding her marriage. The roles a woman will assume
throughout her lifetime can be varied and complex. It’s difficult to fit any
woman into a “one-size-fits-all” box, and this is certainly true of Grace. With
strong female characters, The Brothers’ Keepers
affirms the impact an intelligent woman who wrestles with a vigorous faith can
have on the world and her own personal relationships.
One of the inspirations behind The
Brothers’ Keepers was a highly dangerous situation Horton’s own family was involved
in while on an archaeological survey as part of her master’s degree program at
Dallas Theological Seminary. “I stood at the edge of the tel Dan (Israel) archaeological
dig pit with my husband and two then-teenage children. Heavy artillery fire began
booming from Syria as staccato machine-gun reports peppered near the Lebanese
border. An Israeli Defense Force plane broke through cloud cover. I hoped they
could see we were unarmed! Grace Madison was born from this harrowing
experience.”
The Brothers’ Keepers is the second
book in the Parched series, named as such to bring awareness to the
life-threatening truth that sources of potable and economical
drinking water are severely limited in many areas of the world, even in the
U.S. Horton believes as stewards of God’s creation, Christians have a unique responsibility
in this area. She also hopes the book will draw in different kinds of readers. “I hope Grace
portrays a demographic of Christianity that is intelligent, fair and fearless because
of its belief in God’s empowerment, one attractive to non-believers because
these Christians live their faith with realism and love.”
Advance Praise
“The Brothers’ Keepers, book two in
the Parched series, delivers masterful international suspense driven
by contemporary family dynamics. Light the late-night oil because you won’t
want to put this book down.”
~ DiAnn Mills, Christy award-winning author of Sworn
to Protect and Breach of Trust
About the Author
NLB Horton returned to
writing fiction after an award-winning career in journalism and marketing as
well as earning her Master of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from Dallas
Theological Seminary. She has surveyed Israeli and Jordanian archaeological
digs, tossed a tarantula from her skiff into the Amazon after training with an
Incan shaman, driven uneventfully through Rome and consumed gallons of
afternoon tea while traveling across five continents.
Horton is a member of
the venerable Explorers Club, which was founded in 1904 as a multidisciplinary
professional society of explorers and scientists. From her home in the Rocky
Mountains, she writes, cross-country skis, gardens and researches ideas for her
next novel. Horton’s first novel in the Parched series, When Camels Fly, was released in May
2014. The
Brothers' Keepers is the second, and the third installment will be available
in fall 2015.
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