Hi everyone!
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Children of Sinai by Shelley Clarke. Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for my stop on the tour! Check out my review and let me know what you think.
How would you feel if you got caught up in a secret so vast it threatened everything the world had come to believe?
That’s what happened to John Milburn, computer science lecturer, orphan, husband and father, who lived an ordinary life in Haverhill, Suffolk, England.
That is, until the dreams started…
From the idyllic calm of Cambridge, John Milburn is drawn to the dust and the heat of Jericho. Thrown into danger and intrigue, he discovers more than he’d bargained for.
A wowser of a tale that is exciting and thought-provoking with a cast of characters you’ll fall in love with. Inspired by Biblical events, historical finds, theories and the author’s own strange imagination.
Amazon US * Amazon UK
Review:
You know what you should be doing right now? You should be reading Children of Sinai! I’m already telling you my rating – this is a 5 star read and it’s going into my list of favorites from 2019, with the possibility of making it into the top 5. This book is SO GOOD.
The hours of research that Shelley Clarke must have put into this novel is so obvious. It’s incredibly realistic. Her ability to take parts of her imagination and blend them so perfectly with factual information is just astonishing. She also has this beautiful writing style that just flows through the pages and kept me memorized the entire way through.
I love the timeline and the pacing of the story as we move between past and present. This is a difficult thing to make work, but Shelley Clarke makes it work wonderfully. I did not sense a slow part in this story at all. I flew through the pages, devouring the story. The story is woven together brillantly, and guess what folks…this is a debut novel!
I’m counting the days until the next book Shelley Clarke releases. I can’t wait to read more from her. Highly recommended!
Rating:
5/5☆
Shelley Clarke was born into a naval family in Kent in 1958, and consequently moved house a lot as a child. She had ambitions to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the Royal Navy, and to become a carpenter, but these were not female occupations at that time. So she learned to type… which has come in jolly handy for putting her stories first onto paper, and now onto screen.
Shelley is a keen painter, poet, and karaoke enthusiast; she loves mad family get-togethers, hates olives, ironing and gardening, and currently lives in Devon with her husband Kev, and their two Tibetan Terriers Nena and Pepi, who make them smile every day.
Shelley often forgets she is a grown-up.
Children of Sinai is Shelley’s debut novel. The story had been bouncing around her head for many years, and putting it down on paper has been the hardest thing she’s ever had to do. She certainly could not have got through this experience without a lot of cursing and chocolate!
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Let me know what you think!
Jessica Belmont 
Hm… sounds interesting but… I’m confused by the title. Jericho isn’t in the Sinai, its in the West Bank in the Jordan Valley. Jericho is nowhere near the Sinai.
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I agree with Shelley, you’d need to read it to understand. I thought similarly when I first picked the book up, but the factual info is spot on and wonderful.
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Hi Davida, Jericho is indeed in the West Bank. I’m sorry if the title may seem confusing. The story is set in England, Colorado and Jericho (1960s). The characters don’t actually visit what they believe to be Mt Sinai as they can’t. They don’t actually go to Sinai. It’s not easy to explain without giving away the plot. If you decided to give my story a go, I so hope you enjoy it too. All the best. Shelley
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Wonderful explanation, Shelley. The story is amazing and so worth the read. ❤
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Hm… okay. I take it the Six Day War had something to do with their not being able to visit it. Still, I’m unsure if this is a book for me. Thanks for the explanation.
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Hi Jessica, I can’t tell you how happy I was to read your review and am over the moon (jiggling like a three year old) that you enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to read and write such lovely words. I’m working on a sequel now … eeek. All the best to you. Shelley
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You’re so welcome, Shelley! I’m honored to have read such an amazing novel and I cannot wait to see what you have in store for us next. All the best to you as well! ❤
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