The Expected One: A Novel (The Magdalene Line) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Kathleen McGowan (Author), Linda Stephens (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2006 | Series: The Magdalene Line

A deadly political rivalry that ended in two brutal executions...An intricate love triangle that altered the course of history...A religious revolution that changed the world...THE TREASURE...For two thousand years, an undiscovered treasure rested in the rocky wilds of the French Pyrenees. A series of scrolls written in the first century by Mary Magdalene, these startling documents hold the power to redefine the events and characters of the New Testament. Protected by supernatural forces, the priceless cache can only be uncovered by a special seeker, one who has been chosen for the task by divine providence - The Expected One. THE CHOSEN 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 complex and dangerous that thousands of people have killed and died for it. As a long buried family scandal comes to light, she can no longer deny her own role in a deadly drama of epic international consequences.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The standard religious-thriller architecture is evident in McGowan's much-heralded debut, which coincidentally shares similarities with The Da Vinci Code (e.g., murders, Vatican interference, nefarious secret societies), but mostly the characters sit and talk about biblical history and the search for Magdalene-connected treasure. Biblical dreams and visions plague American Maureen Paschal, author of the bestselling HERstory—a Defense of History's Most HatedHeroines. When she travels to France's mysterious Languedoc region at the urging of Magdalene scholar Lord Berenger Sinclair, Maureen finds what has eluded centuries of treasure hunters—the original Magdalene scrolls that detail her love affair with Jesus, their marriage and the crucifixion. Though the author makes no effort to render these gospel excerpts in period prose, they're the most compelling part of a novel otherwise freighted with romance-fiction stylings and unadorned facts numbingly narrated. Originally self-published, this first of a trilogy has already sold foreign rights in 22 countries.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"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. Butz, author of "The Brother of Jesus and The Lost Teachings of Christianity"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD: 15 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Unabridged edition (July 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743563840
• ISBN-13: 978-0743563840
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 5.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (177 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #959,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathleen McGowan's dynamic publishing career began with the debut of her novel, The Expected One, on the New York Times bestseller list. The sequel, The Book of Love, followed with a similar NY Times bestseller list debut and has developed a fierce cult following around the world. The latest novel in the series, The Poet Prince, tells an unprecedented story about the birth of Renaissance art and the secrets hidden in the greatest paintings in history.

Kathleen's unique style of historical fiction combines unprecedented field research with inspired storytelling. Her books have sold over a million copies and are published in almost 40 languages while appearing in approximately 80 countries.

Her first non-fiction work, The Source of Miracles, is a life-changing handbook about prayer and spiritual practice which was influenced by Kathleen's studies of Catharism in France. It was chosen by Oprah's book editor as a holiday gift selection in 2009.

In 2010, Kathleen teamed up with European bestseller and investigative journalist Philip Coppens to create a revolutionary radio show which they co-host on BBS Radio, "The Spirit Revolution." She appears with Coppens as an expert historical advisor in Season III of the History Channel's highest rated series, Ancient Aliens.

Kathleen is currently at work writing her fourth novel, The Tudor Heresy, an explosive and previously untold account of Anne Boleyn's heretical education in France. These lost years of Anne Boleyn have been thoroughly researched in multiple languages, using sources inexplicably ignored by most Tudor scholars, to provide an exciting and controversial account of the infamous queen who changed the world.

Kathleen is a dedicated activist, and commits a portion of her time and royalties to organiations that protect women and children from the horrors of human trafficking and sexual slavery. She has teamed with The Emancipation Network and Made by Survivors to fund and participate in programs which provide shelter and safety for victims of abuse, and raise awareness of this global epidemic.

She shares her time with her partner, Philip Coppens, and her three sons in the US and Europe.

www.KathleenMcGowan.com
www.AnneBoleyn.com
www.TheSpiritRevolution.com
www.MadebySurvivors.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 139 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what it's hyped up to be...., September 26, 2006

By 

C. Drakulic "smce15" (Monroeville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Expected One: A Novel (Book One of the Magdalene Line) (Hardcover)

I found this book to be somewhat mediocre.. I almost felt as if it was a "Da Vinci Code" wannabe. It was good at some parts, very interesting and does make you wonder, but just wasn't convincing enough. After Da Vinci Code, I found myself actually thinking about things I would read, or looking closely at pictures of the Last Supper and reflecting back on what I read in the book.. This book did not enthrall or bind me in the same way. It's worth the read if you would like to expand your ideas about religion, but if you loved Da Vinci code, you might be disappointed as it is far from being as captivating as that.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointment, November 28, 2007

By 

Gregg Eldred (Avon Lake, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Expected One: A Novel (Book One of the Magdalene Line) (Hardcover)

This book has a bit of personal history. We were in Michigan, at a Borders, when I overhead a couple of women talking about it. The reason they were buying it? Their church told them not to. That piqued my interest, as well as the "50% off" sticker that was affixed to the cover.

The Expected One, by Kathleen McGowan, begins with a woman writing a passage in "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene" in the year 72 AD. It flashes forward nineteen hundred years to a murder and a woman experiencing visions. It is the woman with the visions, Maureen Paschal, that this novel centers. Maureen is researching a new book on Mary Magdalene, and her travels take her from Jerusalem to the south of France. It is in France that she learns that she could the The Expected One, the one that will locate the lost gospel of Mary. These lost writings will reveal Mary's love affair with Jesus, her role in early Christianity, details on her children (some from her marriage to Jesus), and a first person account of the crucifixion. As you might expect, there are those that do not want the gospel found and want to stop Maureen and her associates.

There is a lot of background in this novel, as McGowan weaves in passages from "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene" and Maureen's visions. The early portions of the book seemed to unfold slowly (thus, it took a few starts and stops to get me back to reading) but the second half of the book really picked up. I thought that there were quite a few loose ends, but I now see that this book is intended to be the first part of a trilogy. Good thing. I didn't understand why McGowan introduced some fanatical elements, only to discard them midway through the book. Perhaps they were there as placeholders for what is to come. Also, some other loose ends were neatly wrapped up at the end, which didn't really make sense after the build-up. Again, I expect that McGowan will expand upon those parts in a later novel.

Take the time to read the Afterword, as it provides the reader with additional information on McGowan's extensive research, and thoughts, that ended in the writing of this book. And it isn't everyday that you read the Acknowledgements and find a "Thank You" to Jackson Browne.

Overall, if it wasn't that it was 50% off and some people were told not to read it, I never would have picked it up. And the fact that it took me so long to get through it, tells me that it is a book that I wouldn't recommend. However, now that I have started her trilogy, I will have to find out how it all ends. So, McGowan has pulled me into her orbit. But the next books will come from the library.

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What if, January 4, 2007

By 

Basbenee (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Expected One: A Novel (Book One of the Magdalene Line) (Hardcover)

This book brings forth some interesting questions, but I can't help wonder if it would get as much attention if it wasn't in that 'Da Vinci Code' mode, throwing intrigue, mystery, secret societies, and oh, yeah, for added spice, a chosen woman to unlock the gospel of Mary Magdalene.
It's OK, but without the potential for controversy I doubt it would get as much attention.
Finding out it was originally self-published kind of throws a wrench into the machinery.
The writing isn't that great, and the author seems, to me, to have trouble finding her voice, and just tosses in details to explain stuff, instead of revealing them or showing them to the reader via actual storytelling, and the added adverbs bug me personally, where she'd write, 'she smelled the gloriously rich red roses,' which is too fiction 101 for me, it's like she's telling you you're there, instead of transporting you there via good prose.
Also, she'll mention something happening, then throw in a sentence right after it to explain those details even more, like a sentence and then a footnote sentence following it. I won't get into whether it's right or wrong to write that way, but I don't care for it myself.

Don't read on if you don't want spoilers:

In the framework of the story, the main character, Maureen Paschal, who is a writer, is fascinated by historical women like Marie Antoinette and Mary Magdalene. Maureen ends up being invited to the home of this wealthy Scotsman, Sinclair Berenger, in France. Berenger is the head of this secret Magdalene society, and they have hopes of Maureen being 'the expected one,' to unlock the key to get to the Magdalene gospel. Maureen is special because she has visions of Mary Magdalene, and is of Jesus-Mary's bloodline. Of course they find the book-gospel, and Maureen's cousin Peter, conveniently versed in Greek, does a rough translation of it, and Magdalene's story unfolds. Other complications ensue, but it's not really that climactic, as far as I'm concerned, and it seems to lack the dramatic arc most stories have.
McGowan has Mary Magdalene marry John the Baptist, though she is originally betrothed to Jesus. But politicking basically throws a monkey wrench into the arrangements. John then he gets beheaded, and due to misunderstandings, Mary and Salome get trashed in history, but of course this discovered gospel of Magdalene reveals her side of the story. After John is beheaded, Mary marries Jesus and they have a couple of kids, and then she is chosen to be his first disciple, to carry on his word after he is crucified. The gospels are revealed and some mysteries unraveled. Then when it seems like it's resolved (sort of -- there are a few complications via the church), Maureen has a dream of Jesus and is instructed to find his 'Book of Love,' and it's set up for a sequel.
The research seems pretty solid: There are a few theories (let's just stick to that word) that Magdalene was married to John, and eventually to Jesus, and that Jesus presumably cured Mary Magdalene of 'seven devils' is given a different take here -- using his healing powers to cure her of a deadly eastern poison. You get a bit of Pontius Pilate's story, Salome's and other biblical/historical characters' sides of the story. I'm no bible expert, but I went and looked some stuff up as I was reading this, and she's mostly working on theories that are out there, and building on them. It's good food for thought, but again, I wish the story contained a bit more drama, and was better written. Maybe the sequel will be more showing, less telling.