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click here to visit my fine arts Web site
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5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant plot, beautiful ending, July 19, 2011
By Jamaica Me Crazy "Janie" (Clearwater, fl)
This review is from: Epiphany (Kindle Edition)
This story grabbed my attention and held me hostage from the first page. It is the story of prepubescent virgin girls around the world becoming pregnant at nearly the same time, and especially the story of four individual girls. The girls are from Russia, Africa, and two from America. It begins with the girl from Africa, an 11 year old fleeing her village with her friend, a peace corp volunteer, because her family doesn't believe her when she tells them she hasn't been with a man and they assume the p.c. volunteer has made her pregnant and are planning on killing her and him.
Skip to Russia, a rash of pregnancies in one village and our doctor there sent to sort things out before things get out of control. He believes he is looking for a pedophile and goes to extraordinary measures to catch the culprit, even separating the men from the women in the town, then right under his nose 4 more girls become pregnant.
Skip to the U.S, an ob/gyn and his wife a geneticist. Our doc here starts seeing one then another pregnant virgin. Then the 11 year old friend of their daughter comes to his office pregnant, next his own daughter becomes pregnant. They go to the FBI. As each story line develops all of the girls from the three countries end up together in the U.S. With the ob/gyn and his geneticist wife, the FBI and cast of supporting characters holed up in the wife’s lab/compound trying to unravel this mystery while the rest of the world goes mad as more and more virgin pregnancies are reported.
I won't tell anymore of the story except to say say that the girls make extraordinary bonds with each other, the government agencies are much more benign than usually found in a novel of this sort, the assumptions I made through out the story were mostly wrong and based on other books I've read which I thought were similar to this one but were not, as this is in a category by itself. Only after finishing it did I realize how well the pieces all fit together and how beautiful the ending was. I think this is one I will have to read again to catch all the bits I missed the first time from rushing to see what happens next.
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08/18 Tamela Quijas gave 5 stars to: Epiphany by Stuart Land
status: Read in August, 2011
Epiphany is a gut-wrenching novel spiraling around the most unbelievable of subjects and topics. Stuart Land has written an amazing tale that would shock the world, where prepubescent virgins throughout the world become pregnant. I had to sit back and think how parents would react to their 11 year old child’s pregnancy and have to give kudos to Stuart for writing exactly what many of us would feel. As adults, we would be out for blood…and desperate to find the culprit. Stuart has elloquently put this terror, anger, and disbelief into words.
Epiphany centers around the life of four young girls that reside in various regions of the world—Russia, Africa, and the United States. His opening chapter centers on one such child, Ayira, and I could feel the fear radiating from the girl. She’s desperate to save her Peace Corp. friend and herself from the retribution her tribe wishes to inflict on her friend David. I sensed the fear radiating from this child, Mr. Land has written a novel that draws the reader into a world of fear and questions, where the unbelievable can happen, and the blame often shifts onto innocent people.
The story moves onto Russia, where an outbreak of unexplained pregnancies is unsettling the community. Under the watchful eye of a doctor, who makes it a point that sexual relationships will not continue during his stay, more young girls become pregnant.
Stuart’s story explodes into vibrant life when the tale spirals to the United States. The most successful of couples, an OB/GYN doctor and his wife, a geneticist, have the unexplained hit their home. Their daughter is the next on this list of unexplained pregnancies.
Being an American while a potential epidemic is spreading, the FBI is brought in…I won’t spill anymore of the story but I can tell you Stuart Land has written a suspenseful masterpiece that should be on the Bestseller list. Suspenseful, emotional, fill with a mystery that puzzles the world, Mr. Land has my resounding 5 stars!
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This review is from: Epiphany (Paperback Edition)
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5*****Stars
Epiphany is quite a unique reading experience. The subject matter might be too controversial for some, too chilling for others. I must say after reading Mr. Land’s Shadow House and Original Blood, which are also two very different stories, Epiphany is certainly another road we travel with this wonderful storyteller. Enter into the mind of the creative Stuart Land.
As the mother of two daughters, I know that one of a mother’s worst nightmares, is the possibility of her young daughter coming home and saying she is pregnant. Stuart Land takes this nightmarish thought one chilling step further. What if preteen girls, from every corner of our world, were becoming pregnant without any sexual contact? Virgins, pregnant at 11 - 13 years old. From America, Africa, Russia we meet the children, parents and doctors fighting against the clock to solve this mystery.
We begin with an 11 year old from a village in Africa. Her name is Ayira. Her friend David is in the Peace Corps and lives in her village. He is going to be blamed for her pregnancy. She creeps to his campsite in the middle of the night. They must leave immediately before the elders come to kill them both. The pain of this child having to leave her home, her mother and her life has been written with great caring and insight. You can taste the fear and danger.
They make their escape through the jungle to the American Embassy and are flown back to the States. They are taken to meet Dr Sam Enright, OB/GYN, and his wife Dorinda a geneticist. They have just found their daughter is in the same position, as are other young girls in their town. They have no other choice as fear has led them to Homeland Security and the FBI is brought in. We flash to Russia and meet a learned Doctor there. He has been given orders to find out why girls in this area are getting pregnant. He actually holds a whole town almost hostage trying to find the culprit, finding the girls are getting pregnant anyway. He is brought to America with one of the Russian girls to work with this team.
Who is the villian ??? and how and why is this happening??? You feel the fear, pain and torment of these children and families trying to decipher this secret. They huddle together against all odds. The story is an excellent depiction of human nature, adding fear of the unknown to the mixture. Epiphany is poignant, with heart and family values ever-present, yet shocking in its ideology. I laughed and cried connecting with the children and the families. You cannot stop thinking that Mr. Land has laid the gauntlet down to mankind to take a good look at themselves.
As I said when I began this review, This book is quite an undertaking for both the reader and the author. It is not a simple read. It might make you question your beliefs, some might feel this powerful read might be too controversial, but this reviewer found it to be a 5 Star read. Bravo Stuart Land.
Review by Gloria Lakritz
Senior Reviewer and Review Chairperson for the Paranormal Romance Guild
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5***** Stars
Prepubescent girls worldwide are showing up pregnant, all claiming to be virgins, and all claiming to have had no contact with boys.
In Africa, 13 year old Ayira Akilah Mukendi escapes with Peace Corps volunteer David Fifer. The tribal elders are convinced David is the one to have gotten her pregnant, and are determined to kill them both. In America, 11 year old Roshonda Williams is attending Girl Scout camp along with her best friend Kimber Enright and faints during a marshmallow roast. In Russia, Dr. Dimitri Sergeyevich Andronnikov gets a mysterious late night phone call informing him he must attend an early morning meeting that is of utmost importance. The next morning he drives to a small village where he finds six frightened girls and their mothers, soon discovering all six girls are pregnant.
Soon, Ayira and David, Dr. Dimitri and one of the girls Evgeniya, will end up being whisked away to the home of Dr. Dorina and Dr. Sam Enright, who are Kimber’s parents in America, to try to figure out how these girls became pregnant and what to do about it. Special Agent Edward Hogarty and Secret Service agent Laura Rodriquez, are added to this mixed group of people to will embark on the harrowing mission of trying to solve the mystery of the virgin pregnancies, and will become a family along the way.
One has to approach Mr. Land’s writing as you would a painting in a museum. You look at it from all angles, you look at it close up and at a distance, and you sit and ponder it for a while. You never just quickly glance at it and move along, you get up and walk away and come back and look again. The same happens with Mr. Land’s books, his words must be savored, studied, pondered, read and re-read, yes, you even get up and walk away to think and come back again. Epiphany is no exception to this. The characters are complex and simple at the same time, the plot is not straight forward, and there are surprises around every corner.
I found myself getting involved with Kimber and her parents immediately, I loved their by-play with each other, their love and strength as a family was obvious from the beginning, and I knew I was going to enjoy getting to know them. I didn’t take to some of the other members of this small family as quickly as others, Dr. Dimitri was difficult for me to get to know and I’m not sure I ever knew Special Agent Hogarty or David that well. The girls all had their own personalities and quirks, again, some easier to know and like than others. The story flowed along somewhat like a river, quickly at times and sometimes slow and lazy, causing me to stay alert so as not to miss anything.
This book is not going to appeal to all, as a matter of fact; I dare say some are going to be outright offended. It deals with controversial issues and comes to conclusions that might make a few readers angry. That aside, it’s obvious Mr. Land put his heart into the story; I couldn’t help but be drawn in, and truly didn’t know how it was going to end until it was over.
This is a book I’ll read again and again, because, like most good books, I’m sure I’ll see something new each time it’s read. Anyone who enjoys a good, intelligent, mystery/thriller/suspense should read this book. Beware, read it slowly, savor it like a good wine or a really expensive piece of chocolate, so you don’t miss Mr. Land’s genius for storytelling.
Review by Penelope Adams
Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer
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Now that the reviewers have read each other's thoughts...
Wow, I do not think we meant to scare you away from reading Epiphany!!! I think by our similar but different reviews, Penelope and I see something deeper than the normal thriller here. Mr. Land gives you something to ponder, to chew on, and to think about during and after you have read the book. We can associate it with a movie where you have to re-visit to make sure you did not miss anything.
As we both already articulated, the premise was shocking, possibly delving into ones own psyche or religious beliefs; but the writer has gone forth and written a wonderful page turner that you are glued to, until the final word.
His ensemble of people are three dimensional, some you love more than others, and the book flows with this wonderful story line. What did you think Penny?
Oops, no, hope we didn't scare anyone away. I found with both of Mr. Land's books that I have read, that his work is worth looking at over and over again from different angles. I don't know about you, but I have my old favorite books that I read over and over again and always find something new each time I read them. I also find that just because a book might be about a "deep" subject, that doesn't stop it from being enjoyable. Can anyone say To Kill A Mockingbird?
Epiphany is not all serious deep stuff though. I found myself giggling more than once at the interaction between the different characters. I loved the relationship between Kimber and her parents, how much fun were they? Mr. Land does the one line zinger better than anyone I've read in a long time. He manages to throw them in at just the right moment, so the reader is never totally overwhelmed with the seriousness of the subject.
I did feel that this book was a subject close to Mr. Land's heart, and yes, it might challenge a few reader's ideals, but that is not a bad thing. I, for one, need a good "hmmm" moment every now and again.
Hmmm Moments huh??? Yes, we have had many.
Must ask you though, you mention in your review that Edward Hogarty was an enigma and we did not learn anything about him. I found as the story progressed we learned more and more about Eddy, his family and who he was. David was the only character that Mr. Land did not delve to deeply into. After he came to America, his charge, Ayira, was center stage, while he met Laura and melted into the background.
Yes Kimber and her family were wonderful, and the family that was bred from this story was wonderful as well. Do you have anything else to add?
While we did learn more background on Edward later on, I just didn't feel like I knew HIM. You know there are some people - err characters - that you feel you know from the inside out, and some that while you know their history and their story you don't know THEM. That's how I felt about Edward, like I just didn't know who he was. Make sense?
Nothing else to add except I enjoyed this book and look forward to more from Mr. Land. I would love to see him use that sense of humor more, I have a feeling it could be sharp.
Sorry, on Hogarty we can agree to disagree. I felt at the beginning he was a neutral, but at the end not at all. We just learned more of him more towards the end.
Yes Penny, we both loved Epiphany and I have certainly put Stuart Land on top of my TBR pile. I hear he has written a new Frankenstein type novel to be released shortly. Looking forward to reading it.
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5.0 out of 5 stars WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM? July 31, 2011
J. D. Michael Phelps (Miami, Florida) Author
This review is from: Epiphany (Kindle Edition)
I feel honored to have met Author STUART LAND in the Amazon Customer Discussion forum "SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION 4 AUTHORS" created by Author DENNIS BATCHELDER.
I'm pretty much a "realistic" guy, have been all my life and have thus limited my reading likes to Police procedurals, detective novels, true crime and business genre.
STUART LAND introduced me to the "HORROR" genre (with a little help from British Author ALISON BUCK). I took a chance and bought, read and Reviewed "ORIGINAL BLOOD" by STUART LAND. I followed that immediately with "SHADOW HOUSE" by STUART LAND. I was HOOKED on the Horror genre, especially by reading such fine crafted novels that actually gripped me and held me to the climatic end.
EPIPHANY, STUART LAND's latest novel is a masterpiece! A very realistic plot with finely developed and real characters; an International mystery of prepubescent girls becoming pregnant that could mean the end of Human Beings as we know ourselves to be. A medical mystery that seems impossible to happen and hopeless to solve. I don't really call this a "horror" story, but it is a classic "how could this be?" STUART LAND is also, among his many talents a magnificent Sculptor, and this is a finely-sculpted conglomeration of words. You will not put this book down until you've read the very last word.
I strongly recommend EPIPHANY for every reader interested in the Human Being development.
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