Ryan and Aryn are married, but their marriage is strained to the breaking point, foundering on the shoals of mistakes and the submerged rocks of past tragedy. Ironically, what saves the relationship is a crisis that takes the decision away from Ryan, by taking Aryn herself away she is abducted, and nothing riles a person like having their autonomy violated, even when it seems to accomplish their intentions for them. The truth is, Ryan does love Aryn, and he has to admit this truth to himself when she is taken, or be untrue to his self as well. And so he sets out to find her, and finds that the threat to her is a continuation of a generations-old struggle for the secret heart of Bishop’s
Island
: its buried treasure, but even more importantly, its heritage and its legacy.
Note how the names of the two protagonists are variant spellings with the same four letters. There are archetypal forces at play in the shaping of this story, as the male and female aspects of the soul of mankind try to tell us, here and now, how they fare and what we need to know about them. Aryn, a historian and keeper of secrets, represents Sophia, the feminine godhead, the very reason why the pronoun for “God” in Aramaic is plural, and why many people pray to “Our Father and Mother.” Garrett himself may never have heard of Sophia, may never have heard of the plurality that makes monotheism a paradox if not an oxymoron but that is the nature of archetypes: you don’t need to “know” them; they are inherent.
Whether you read this at the level of an adventure with lots of emotional pull and resonance, or as a modern Mystery Play with immediate relevance, the characterizations, historical components, and plot are designed to carry the reader on a voyage of discovery. ~~ Chris R. Paige
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