Mark Andrew Olsen Reviews

Added January 19, 2006

Hadassah: One Night with the King

Author: Mark Andrew Olsen with Tommy Tenney
Publisher: Bethany House
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: January 2005
Genre: Fiction: Historical/Contemporary/Christian
Format: Trade Paperbac
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 0-7642-2943-5
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

Tommy Tenney's debut fiction novel, Hadassah: One Night with the King, is compelling from the opening chapter to the last. It sounds cliché I know, but there is simply no other way to explain the powerful storytelling other than compelling.

If you do not know who Hadassah is, then you might want to flip to the 17th book of the Old Testament. It is the book entitled, Esther. In those ten chapters, Hadassah evolves into Queen Esther. Though this is a novel of fiction, Tenney, known for his in-depth research, has created a historically accurate rendition of the life of Hadassah, sharing with readers the customs and traditions not fully explained in the Bible's text.

The books starts with a woman named Hadassah, from the present, who actually reads the below account of the Biblical Hadassah, prior to her marriage to Israel's prime minister.

When Hadassah's family is brutally slaughtered by foreign people displaying a symbol strikingly similar to the German swastika, Uncle Mordecai takes her in. Together they live as Persians-keeping the fact that they are Jewish a secret from all. This secret will protect them from an untold number of dangers.

When King Xerexes' wife is banished, he must find a new bride. The young, beautiful virgins in the area are, in essence, captured and brought to live at the royal palace. For the next year Eunuchs will be teach them how to prepare for one special night with the king. The king will choose, from the hundred or so gathered, one to become his wife. The rest will continue to live within the palace as concubines, but more than likely will never have contact with the king again.

Thanks to her uncle, Hadassah was raised as a devout Jew and is plagued with fear over the number of immoral objectives laid out before her. The bottom line, however, is to win the love and affection of the king, and to become queen. Through endless hours of prayer, Hadassah realizes what she must do in order to make the most of her one night with the king.

Amid evil plots to poison the women candidates, to over throw King Xerexes, and to kill all the Jews in the land, Hadassah knows she must continually stay focused and in constant contact with the one who truly matters --- God.

Exciting and insightful, Hadassah: One Night with the King, is more than the retelling of a Bible story. It is a genuine romance novel. Taut chapters keep the pages turning and well developed characters force the reader to care about what will happen next...and if you're like me, and rip through this novel, you'll be excited to hear that sequel is now out and available. The Hadassah Covenant: A Queen's Legacy. This picks up with the story of the present-time Hadassah and her exciting life with Israel's prime minister.

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Added October 11, 2004

The Assignment

Author: Mark Andrew Olsen
Publisher: Bethany House
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: July 2004
Genre: Fiction: Christian/Thriller
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 0-7642-2817-x
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

Mark Andrew Olsen has written a Christian fiction thriller that is obscure, fantastic and fast-paced. The story spans a great length of time, with a splash of the supernatural to keep it intriguing.

Before graduating from seminary school, a young priest is surrounded by rumors of a secret monastery order. But like most rumors, the group of covert priests has become more of a legend than reality. That is until Father Stephen is contacted and asked to join the group and their paramount mission.

For more than sixty years the priests worked as laborers, digging holes all over Poland, looking for something that urgently needs finding. Day after day, year after year the priests slaved away the hours, digging, and digging, until finally they find the treasure they have been looking for. What they have recovered is the essence of a man-who for two thousand years-has lived life as a human man. He is a man with a spiritual, often haunting and humbling mission. Revived and rejuvenated, he and the priests continue forward on the assignment.

Unfortunately, the priests are not the only ones anxious to unearth the timeless relic. The CIA is anxious to get to the bottom of the disturbing tales of religious mumbo-jumbo, as well as other forces with less than honorable intentions (way less than honorable) who will stop at nothing to get what they want.

The Assignment, internationally based, is intrigue at its best. Olsen keeps his scenes taut, his dialogue crisp and has skillfully made his characters three-dimensional. Olsen keeps his reader glued to the story in eager anticipation of the climax that has been building since the opening prologue.

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