Martuk ... The Holy [Kindle Edition]

Jonathan Winn (Author)

Book Description

In a crowded Left Bank cafe, an immortal man sits, the phantoms crawling near, the heat of their whispers stinging his cheek ...

and Martuk ... The Holy begins. 

One thousand years before the birth of Christ, a golden god damns Martuk with a kiss. In a land ruled by a wounded king, life everlasting steals his mortality from the bottom of a golden cup. Finally, generations later, a Messiah who has the power to heal breaks under the weight of Martuk's demons, stumbling to his death defeated by darkness. 

From his home in modern Paris, he writes, his memories lush, his words evocative. Revisiting his impossible life, he vents his rage and shares his loneliness. From bloody battles with a demon he cannot escape to the ghost of a beauty who haunts him still, this is his story.

This is Martuk ... The Holy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"mesmerizing" prose and a "tale imbued with a relentless darkness and an intoxicating sensuality" ... A HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR -- The 2012 Papyrus Independent Fiction Awards


"Martuk ... the Holy is a very dark and fantastical tale where angels and demons blend together; where violence and sexuality are entwined and madness and clarity are confused." -- Caleb Blake, Papyrus Independent Author Reviews


"holy mother of sweet Jesus ... the book grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't let go ... my heartbeat is still not entirely back to its normal pace" - Megan Broutian, meganblogs

About the Author

Screenwriter, playwright, actor, and now author, Jonathan Winn was born in Seattle, WA, and currently divides his time between the East and West coasts.  

Martuk ... The Holy is his first book.

Feel free to visit him at martuktheholy.com

Product Details

• File Size: 541 KB
• Print Length: 446 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007HPQPV4
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,588 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What a wonderful fantastical twist of an ancient tale! March 18, 2012

By White Russian

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I just finished reading Martuk after starting in on it just 17 hours ago. I did sleep 4 hours before hungrily snatching it up again to finish it. That is how much I enjoyed this book.
I was so pleasantly surprised with this novel, not really knowing anything about it when I made the purchase. I simply bought it because it was recommended to me and Jonathan Winn is a new author so I wanted to give him a chance, and I am so happy that I did.

I'll start with what little negative I could find because I want this to be a helpful review, not only to the readers but to the author as well.
The beginning of the book seems like a chaotic dream and left me confused on more than one occasion as to whether I was reading about the present, past, or another dream. I soon decided that this was what the author was going for. I believe he was trying to make it seem just as a dream would...chaotic, and constantly shifting.

I stuck in there and sure enough the layers started to become clear and I couldn't help myself but smile at the genius of it all. My only other comment which, while not meant to be, but could construed as negative, is that it seemed in the first half of the book almost everyone could read thoughts. However, I was not sure that it was an actual gift or if these characters were just very intuitive and I was simply reading too much into it.

That being said, had it taken me longer to read the book I would have most likely forgotten all about those slights and they in no way altered my enjoyment of the book, thus the five stars.
Now the positive, although I don't think I have enough space...

This book brought me back to my youth and the stories I had read and learned about the biblical times. To me this was a wonderfully fantastical version of such an ancient and popular story and it re-introduced old characters in a new light. Anyone with no imagination might take affront to this tale and how it differs from the classical version of Christ and what we have all read and know but I found it to be quite fascinating.

The way Winn spun Martuk into the old story was masterful and anyone who knows the scriptures will be at the edge of your seat like I was trying to figure out what influences this character played on those events.

The characters were great, especially Martuk himself. I found myself wondering what he looked like and maybe would have liked a better description of him but then it left more to the imagination and added to the dark mystery that surrounded him.

I could ramble on forever about this book but I don't want to give any more away then I already have.

I leave you with one quote from the book that I just loved and would have used in a query letter to an agent to grab his/her attention.

"Two generations had passed since he stumbled to his death. Two generations since Mary, my Mary, had urged me to 'go and be well'. Two generations since I had killed Judas with a kiss."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant discovery! April 12, 2012

By willowbarcelona

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Jonathan Winn has created what is, for me, the best way to begin a novel of intrigue: scatter lots of marbles, so to speak, on the floor, and then give the reader enough credit to sort those marbles (clues) into many connecting and contrasting categories and patterns.

For example, in addition to sorting by literary norms such as good and evil, young and old, etc., when Winn introduces his multiple characters, he also utilizes the master story teller's manipulation of time. So, to continue this inept metaphor, in the first chapters there appear to be a lot of marbles on a floor that keeps shifting and tilting. Then the real fun begins just a few pages in as Winn ratchets up the speed with which he drives the narrative, and soon the floor stops tilting and the marbles fall into their rightful places. And there's such a reward when that happens. Each time I figured out a character's true motive, it was like winning the lottery. And the great thing is that one feels Winn is right there applauding one's acumen when one figures out a motive or understands a new clue.

As a historian, I especially appreciate the research that Winn must have undertaken to provide Martuk the Holy's extraordinarily vivid details and background. To emphasize how much this is the "can't put it down" read other reviewers have mentioned, I was reading it in the gate area of a flight to London two weeks ago. I almost missed boarding as I was so absorbed. Once in flight, instead of putting it away and sleeping, which I should have done, I read right through to the end as we crossed the Atlantic! The first thing I told my friends when I landed was they had to buy Martuk the Holy. The characters and narrative are unforgettable, and they make one want to urge Winn to continue this remarkable story with a series of books. Let's hope he does--he is the new master of a genre he is making his own. Bravo!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Archetypal Intrigue! May 10, 2012

By Jude Cowell

Format:Kindle Edition

In recent years, author Jonathan Winn's creative talents have become known to me through his thoughtful comments on one of my blogs so when Martuk...the Holy debuted I was eager to check out his novel.

What I found immediately drew me into Martuk's mysterious, turbulent world with Jonathan's masterfully detailed landscapes, intriguing characters, and 'page'-turning action. Considering the book's other reviews here, it may be redundant to say that Martuk...the Holy is a fascinating, well-written tale by an accomplished author, script-writer, and actor--yet that's just the case.

Coaxing into the light dark archetypal themes from the deepest recesses of the Collective Unconscious, Jonathan gives them voice to speak 'as of old' while the novel's past-present-future sensibilities and dramatic immediacy closely engage all readers of the genre who dare to take such a journey.

Yes, I believe you'll find Martuk...The Holy to be an intriguing delight of a novel that leaves you pining for more tales from the keyboard of author Jonathan Winn!

More About the Author

Screenwriter, playwright, actor, and now author, Jonathan Winn was born in Seattle, WA, and currently divides his time between the East and West coasts.  

Martuk ... The Holy is his first book.

Feel free to visit him at http://martuktheholy.com