The Expected One

A Novel

By: Kathleen McGowan

Narrated by: Linda Stephens

A gripping thriller and a profound spiritual journey that reveals the greatest story never told!

Two thousand years ago, Mary Magdalene hid a set of scrolls in the rocky foothills of the French Pyrenees, a gospel that contained her own version of the events and characters of the New Testament. Protected by supernatural forces, these sacred scrolls could be uncovered only by a special seeker, one who fulfills the ancient prophecy of l'attendue—The Expected One.

When journalist Maureen Paschal begins the research for a new book, she has no idea that she is stepping into an ancient mystery so secret, so revolutionary, that thousands of people have killed and died for it. She becomes deeply immersed in the mystical cultures of southwest France as the eerie prophecy of The Expected One casts a shadow over her life and work and a long-buried family secret comes to light. Ultimately she comes face-to-face with Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, Judas, and Salome in the pages of a deeply moving and powerful new gospel, the life of Jesus as told by Mary Magdalene.

CONTAINS NEW, UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL FROM THE ARQUES GOSPEL.©2006 McGowan Media, Inc. All rights reserved; (P)2006 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Captivating . . . controversial . . . enchanting . . . courageous . . . Kathleen McGowan delivers the truth against the world!" -- Betsy Chasse, producer, What The Bleep Do We Know?

"It took a tremendous amount of courage to write this book. . . . Its portrayal of biblical characters is hauntingly, disturbingly real. I will be forever grateful to Kathleen McGowan for giving me a huge push forward on my spiritual journey by opening me up to a deeper vision of the Divine." -- Reverend Jeffrey J. Bütz, author of The Brother of Jesus and The Lost Teachings of Christianity

Worth the Read

Overall, I enjoyed the story and plot. I really wish, considering the paradigm shifting subject matter, that the author could have given more information regarding where she got some of her background information regarding the sourse material she was using. I understand these are secret traditions throughout Europe, but are there actual ancient documents, or was most of the information passed down through word of mouth? Is the Arc Gospel an actual document or something the author invented from secret information? But I understand she needs to protect her sources. Anyway, it was a great story that left me wanting to know much more about the subject of the life of Mary Magdalene. I will be reading the other books in the series.

I enjoyed it!

I read some of the other reviews and wonder why anyone would read something when they aren't interested in the subject matter. Some complained that this book rides on the wave of popularity of the DaVinci Code. If you think there are too many books like that out there, why read another one? I enjoyed this book as well as Dan Brown's. I like this author's take on the subject. I think the history is solid and how she wove the story together makes it very entertaining. I was happy to find that this is part of a series. I look forward to the next one. My advice to other readers is if you are looking for another Dan Brown, this isn't it. If you are looking for a good story that keeps you wanting more, this just might be a good fit. But as is the case with Dan Brown, you must keep an open mind.

Chick lit meets Dan Brown

This is a hard book to review.
Does this sound familiar? Mary Magdalene, information hidden in paintings in the Louvre, secret societies, an eccentric aristocrat hidden away on an estate in the French countryside
Add to this: designer suits, Manolo Blahnik shoes, an "unusually petite" protagonist.
I almost gave up more than once, but the "bones" of a good story are there and I wanted to hear more. The narrator does an excellent job of covering many characters with a variety of regional accents -- though the Scottish burr and Irish brogue overlapped at times. There is enough passion about the story of Christ, and respect for the story, that it is neither offensive nor dopey.
The author's afterward is worth a listen and says a lot about her motivation for writing this book (excellent) and the amount of serious research she put into the project (commendable). Fiction it is, though she implies that it is only marginally so. Clearly, there are sequels either out or in the works.
Ultimately, this was decent and not a waste of time, but rather painful to slog through at moments.

Excellent

Kathleen McGowan wrote a wonderfull portrait of Mary Magdalene and the times she lived it. An eye opener for sure. This is one book I will recommend to friends and family.

Book OK reader bad

The story was just OK---just another novel based on Holy Blood Holy Grail, which seems to be flavor of the year. I usually like this type of historical fiction, but the repetitiveness of the text and the inability of the reader to vary her tone or inflection gets really old really fast. I ended up getting the book in print to end my misery of having to listen to this reader!