Let me introduce you to Lisa Tawn Bergren   She is the author  of 28 books, with over 1.3 million sold. She is a publishing consultant, writer, Bible study leader, mother and wife. Her hobbies include travel (mostly from an armchair), reading, watching movies, cooking and exploring with her family. Lisa not onlywrites religious thrillers like the Gifted series,  she also writes non-fiction like The Busy Mom's Devotional which came out earlier this year. She resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  To find out more about Lisa, visit her website where you can sign up for her newsletter, and read more about her other books.


Now to tell you about Lisa's latest book, The Betrayed.  It is the second book of the Gifted series, the first book being The Begotten.   Bergren cleverly uses the premise that part of a lost letter from the Apostle Paul has been discovered by a priest living in the 14th century.  The letter--and the illuminations added centuries ago--prophecy that a group of people known as the Gifted will arise and use their extraordinary spiritual gifts in a fight against evil to usher in an era of change.  The priest discovers a young woman named Daria with an extraordinary gift of healing, who eerily resemembles the woman illuminated in the letter, and concludes that the events prophecied centuries ago are coming to past.  Together Daria and the priest join forces with a young knight named Gianni and others to form the Gifted--but they must use extreme caution in exercising their gifts.  For not only do they have worldly enemies, they are also in danger from Church officials.
The Begotten does a good job of getting this religious thriller of a story started, but I think I am enjoying The Betrayed more.  In The Betrayed Daria and the other members of the Gifted are on a quest to discover the hidden parts of an ancient map that they believe will show them where they are to go and use their gifts.  But danger haunts them on every side, as they must travel to several churches to find the pieces of the map and church officials and their adversary known as The Sorcerer are both trying to destroy their group.  I like the puzzle aspect of these stories, as a reader it's always fun to try to guess where the pieces of the puzzle that have been revealed will lead the characters.   It's also enjoyable to travel through 14th century Italy with these characters too,  the language, descriptions, and cultural details of the book all made me feel like I was truly in another century and I enjoyed learning about another time and place.  But most compelling is the tension built by the quest that the characters are on and the danger they face from their adversaries, once the reader gets into the story it is a real pageturner and will be hard to put down.  If you like religious and/or historial thrillers, definitely give these books a read.