#REVIEW: Exodus: Shadow of the Mountain #1 by Cliff Graham

Title: Exodus

Series: The Shadow of the Mountain #1

Author:  Cliff Graham

Published Date: May 5, 2015

Publisher: Bethany House

Format: paperback

Pages: 303

ISBN: 9780764214752

Genre: biblical fiction

Add to: Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis: Caleb and Joshua Roar to Life in this High-Impact Old Testament Saga
Two men were brave enough to tell the truth about what awaited the Hebrews in Canaan. This is their story. From the slave pits of Egypt to the efforts of an eighty-five-year-old Caleb as he drives out the last of the giants, Shadow of the Mountain is a vivid portrait of two of God's chosen champions, and a meditation on masculine mentorship and the challenges and blessings of growing older.
For the sake of his new God and his loyalty to his friend Joshua, Caleb will not spend his twilight years resting, but taking the battle to the enemies of God's people until his dying breath. From his early days as a mercenary for Pharaoh in Egypt watching the Hebrews suffer under the yoke of slavery, all the way through a desperate fight with giants in the dark forests of the hill country, this is a story filled with epic battles, gritty intensity, and supernatural events that made Graham's Lion of War series a hit. Shadow of the Mountain is sure to ignite a love for the Old Testament in popular culture.

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A prevalent theme in this book is how life doesn’t end up quite the way we dream it will in our youth. In this book, the author has written a whole backstory to a character who is only mentioned a few times in the Bible: Caleb, of Caleb and Joshua. In here, Caleb comes from the Kezzanites, and goes to Egypt to find his fame and fortune through being an artist, a carver of beautiful images. Instead, he ends up being sponsored to be in the Scorpions, an elite group of Egyptian warriors, where he excels. This puts him directly in the palace when Moses and Aaron approach the Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt.

This is a fascinating book that shows a firsthand account of the ten plagues of Egypt from the Egyptian point of view, but doesn’t actually get to them until the last half of the book. The author does a spectacular job of really fleshing out Caleb, giving him a back story, and yes, using artistic license with it. Caleb must have been some important figure in the Bible, for with the thousands upon thousands of Israelites that were alive during the Exodus, many of them were never named. The storyline has just enough action to keep you reading, though the beginning I admit, was a bit slow and dry for me.