This second book was even more suspenseful than the first and I am now thoroughly caught up in the story of The Gifted. I can’t wait for book 3 – The Blessed to release this fall. Once again the author transports readers to distant times and places with her writing and brings the characters to life through words.

Life becomes increasingly dear but also increasingly risky for Daria and the others as both “The Sorcerer” and the established “Church” of their day are hunting them each for their own purposes. One to harness their powers for the darkness and the other to gain prestige from God’s work through them. Who will succeed and who can be trusted in these dangerous times?

Daria and her small group have discovered that there is another “treasure” that will direct them in their quest to follow the path laid out for them centuries ago in the alleged Pauline epistle of which they possess merely a fragment. They must look right under the noses of the clerics who are under the authority of the very “Church” that seeks them. Can they do this on the sly and collect the pieces of this new “treasure” without anyone being the wiser?

If you enjoyed The Begotten you will love this book even more as you continue on with Daria and her friends through their growth and lessons in faith, love, trust, hope and many more. In The Betrayed the characters face an increasing intensity of warfare and more agressive attempts of the darkness to draw them from Truth. Again there are so many elements in this book it cannot truly be placed in any one genre. Mystery, Suspense, Adventure, Historical, Romance and more all rolled into one. You can read my review of the first book here.