This book is the story about two men with opposing faiths on a quest for the same thing, to hear the voice of God.
This novel opens with the pastor:
Daniel Lawson, the CEO/senior pastor of a 4500 member mega church in Rockford Illinois, is with his wife Jill and a group of church members in Istanbul on a Holy Lands tour.
Daniel and Jill are buying halvah in the spice bazaar when the merchant is suddenly pulled from his shop by two men and taken away. Later they discover he has hidden a green stone with writing on it into their package. That night Jill dreams that Daniel is dressed as a high priest wearing a vest with the stone in the center of it. She tells Daniel about the dream, telling him also that God told her that Daniel will hear Gods voice.
The next morning Jill is killed by a robber as she returns to their room to get a sweater.Daniel then returns to the states, forgetting completely about the stone in his possession. While he is a his wife's funeral, Daniels house is ransacked and it appears the vandals were looking for something specific.
Daniel then realizes they must be looking for the stone and goes to have it analyzed. He learns it is one of the stones from the breastplate of the Hebrew high priest, said to have helped him to hear the voice of God.
meanwhile:
The terrorist:
Ibrahim el-Magd is the leader of a secret terrorist group who is planning a holy-war attack against most of the world. He is seeking the stones so he can consult with Allah before "unleashing his greatest and most final fury" He will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Daniel then decides with the encouragement of his son that he has lost his way and needs to go in search of the stones(He is also having dreams about the stone) Daniel and his son Tyler head to Jerusalem to meet up with Helen Zimmerman a world renowned archaeologist, who has agreed to help them. On the way there, they meet a young Muslim student, Natra Frazil and she decides to tag along with them. (a spy sent by Ibrahim el-Magd)He will allow Daniel to gather the stones and then steal them from him.
As this story unfold Daniel is forced to evaluate his judgments and prejudices of other people, including his son. He discovers he must try to learn to love as God loves.
Although everyone in this story has their own plans God will work it out how He sees fit.
This book was really excellent and caused me to do some soul searching of my own. The characters were complex with many of the problems we all deal with in our own lives.
It also has a lot of action and is a thrilling adventure to the very end. If you read only one book this year read this!
9/10