LEGEND OF THE SPEAR

Author: Jason Edwards, aka, Sam Joy & Jean Sidney Blomquist

... a Woman's fast-paced Spiritual/Adventure novel

Legend of the Spear launches the reader, and twenty-seven year old Dimiter Markovitz, into a fast-moving perilous journey of terror, intrigue, double-cross, and paranormal events, in search of two ancient icons of the Christian world, The Cup of Arimathaea and the Spear of Longinus.

This novel will appeal to those yearning to escape into a shadow world of danger, intrigue and magic. Aficionados of high adventure and a fast pace - be they nineteen or ninety, will find themselves breathlessly sitting on the edge of their chairs as the story unfolds.

Events of spirit and paranormal happenings woven throughout this adventure will fascinate the metaphysically inclined reader, as well as admirers of the trilogy of Indiana Jones.

Historical references, accurate descriptions and well-known legends integrated into this surprising work, add factual interest and give a sense of credibility and reality to this fictional story.

SYNOPSIS

Legend of the Spear begins in the little town of Tenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina where twenty-seven year old Dimiter Markovitz is leaving church with her elderly parents, younger sister and brother, following the Easter Paschal Vespers Service. They walk along with the other parishioners to the town square where a festival of music and food awaits.

Arriving at the park on this beautiful spring day, the family separates and Dimiter wanders off by her self to the top of a hill overlooking the park where she looks down to see excited children playing and neighbors visiting as the band tunes up their instruments.

Enjoying the warmth of the sun shining down through the cypress trees, she becomes lost in her own thoughts. . . .

Without warning, machine-gun bullets ricochet off the bandstand and raise ugly puffs of dirt from the ground. Screams of the injured and dying pierce the air. In horror she watches her father, mother, sister and brother slaughtered, as well as lifelong neighbors and friends. Running and dodging, Dimiter hears the screams of a tiny child. In one swift movement she grabs the little boy from the ground and rushes with him to the safety of a nearby house.

After an arduous three-day hike through the woods, exhausted, still in shock, and with the child in her arms, she arrives at the monastery of St. Vladimir to notify her elder brother, Fr. Dimitrius. She tells him of the raid that she believes was carried out by the Serbs. Angry with her brother for abandoning the family years ago to pursue the monastic life, (which caused their father, a retired military officer and famous underground Freedom fighter during WW II, to raise Dimiter to be the son he lost) she directs her anguish and anger at him in a fit of rage.

Dimiter is introduced to the Starets, an eighty-three-year old monk distinguished by his great piety, long experience of the spiritual life, and possessing a gift for guiding other souls. The Starets befriends Dimiter and although he knows her Destiny and what is about to happen to her, he cannot interfere. He does however guide her, through gentle and sometime paranormal encouragement.

It is here that Dimiter sees for the first time, the ancient Cup of Arimathaea.

Dimiter leaves the child with the Brothers and returns to Tenica, where the Village Council urges her to search out Hugh Blackwell, International Arms Dealer, and arrange purchase of arms for defense of the village. She journeys to Monaco, Geneva and Austria where she locates Blackwell and meets attractive, sophisticated and wealthy, Veronica von Hugen-Schmidt, a black market dealer of art and artifacts - and, as a cover, operates a lucrative business as a Linguist and International Interpreter. Veronica has plotted to work for Blackwell, a devious step toward taking over his munitions market.

Veronica secretly possesses the long missing Spear of Longinus and is using its awesome magical power to build her own personal empire.

Once Dimiter learns the price of the arms, and fearing the Council cannot meet the demand, she offers Blackwell The Cup in exchange. Veronica overhears the conversation and suddenly becomes 'friendly' with Dimiter, planning to acquire The Cup for herself. Returning to St. Vladimir, Dimiter attempts to steal The Cup but encounters unexpected paranormal resistance and fails in her attempt.

Desperate for the arms, the Council sends Dimiter to withdraw the necessary funds from a Swiss bank account. Here she is kidnapped and tortured for the money and The Cup, both thought to be in her possession. During her ordeal Dimiter realizes that she is involved with an ancient secret society known for its practice of Black Magic and human sacrifice.

Later, Dimiter is found unconscious in an alley and taken to a hospital where she meets Dr. Angelo Fredrico, the hospital psychiatrist. Upon her recovery Dr. Fredrico is happy to expose her to a lifestyle she has never known and encourages Dimiter in discovering her latent femininity, totally strange to her, having been raised in the military arts by her father. And she is taught new meanings to the word 'Love' and about 'Choice.'

Veronica, intent on Blackwell's munitions holdings, is quietly weaving her deadly web. Her efforts to gain Dimiter's trust pays off one evening when Dimiter accidentally reveals the location of The Cup.

Dimiter begins to suspect Veronica when Dr. Fredrico dies in an auto accident and The Cup is stolen from the monastery. Using her military training skills, she stakes out one of Veronica's homes and photographs Hugh Blackwell being held prisoner. During his torture to obtain his signature on documents Veronica needs, Hugh appears to pass out.

Dimiter has secretly photographed the entire ordeal and takes the photographs back to the monastery. In one of the pictures the Starets recognizes the lost Spear of Longinus. He asks Dimiter to return to the site and bring The Spear back to him so he can, "Return it to the Source of its energy."

Dimiter enlists George Bahden, grandson of her fathers best friend and his friends to help her recover the Spear. They return to 'the fortress.' After killing the guards they eventually find the Spear - and The Cup, next to a silk scarf, a scorched chair containing a pile of ashes, and a pair of black patent leather shoes sitting underneath - plus encountering two more unexpected surprises - George discovers several million dollars in cash and Dimiter is visited by the Archangel Michael who appears to Dimiter, revealing future events and her Destiny.

On their return to St. Vladimir, Dimiter is surprised to find the Starets is packed and anxiously waiting for them. At his urging she, George, Fr. Dimitrius and the Holy Father hurry off to Srinagar, Kashmir India to the tomb of Yuza Asaf. While on the plane time appears to stop for everyone but the little group as the Holy Father removes The Cup from under his robe and explains that the one Dimiter has retrieved is a fake. He then performs a blessing on the three. Once The Cup has been wrapped and hidden away again, time resumes for the other travelers on the plane.

The story ends at St. Vladimir with Dimiter pondering a decision..

we can't tell you more, it would spoil the excitement :-)

Excerpt provided by Jean Sidney Blomquist:

please contact Jean on her web-site, where you can read about her other beautiful book;

"Dance Interrupted" ..... enjoy .....

	Jean Sidney Blomquist "Dance Interrupted" For Lessons about Life ~ and After "When Quality of Life Matters."	Dance Interrupted is a personal narrative written for spiritually inclined souls seeking personal growth - and perhaps a roadmap for an oftentimes lonely, frustrating and punishing journey into the realm of holistic/alternative methods of dealing with cancer.
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