The Hadassah Covenant (Hardcover)

by Tommy Tenney (Author), Mark Andrew Olsen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
What was "the rest of the story" of the biblical Queen Esther? Could her impact still reverberate through generations to the present? In Tenney's ancient Persia (now Iraq and Iran), the king is brutally murdered, and Esther (aka Hadassah) wonders what her role might be in continuing to further God's plan for her people. It appears it might require aiding her uncle Mordecai in preparing Leah, a lovely young Jewess, for her "audition" night with the new king—letting history repeat itself. In a parallel contemporary story, the Israeli prime minister's wife, Hadassah (a descendent of Leah), must delve into the past to resolve a tragic standoff with terrorists who threaten the lives of contemporary Jews living anonymously in the Middle East. This sequel lacks the freshness of Tenney and Olsen's original collaboration, Hadassah: One Night with the King. While it's intriguing to imagine what might have happened to the original Esther, too many contrivances stretch the reader's belief (e.g., a toddler with the same name and unusual eyes of Hadassah is conveniently orphaned just as Hadassah discovers she might not be able to have children). Yet the theatrical release this fall of One Night with the King should stimulate interest in this book and its predecessor. (Nov.)
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Review
"(Four Stars) Tenney and Olsen's knuckle-biter has a compelling mystery set in both modern and biblical times." -- Romantic Times, December 2005

"Captures the parallels between the lives of Leah and Hadassah... the read is quick with lots of action and adventure." -- Marty Medley, Armchair Interviews

"The Hadassah Covenant resonates with the thrill of power and Biblical majesty." -- Mellanie Crowther, The Romance Readers Connection Inspirational Corner, Jan 2006

"The action and storyline progress expertly... and the characters are interesting... Recommended." -- Tim Frankovich, Christian Fiction Review

"an intriguing follow-up to the superb Hadassah...fine ancient biblical fiction that will please sub-genre fans." -- Books N Bytes

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House; First Edition/First Printing edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076422736X
• ISBN-13: 978-0764227363
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #819,315 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars intriguing follow-up to Esther's biblical tale, October 25, 2005

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In Susa, Persia, Queen Regent Esther, the "Hadassah", knows she is in trouble though her spouse King Artaxerxes has sat on the throne for two decades. The Queen Mother Amestris has returned to cause trouble and Commander Megabyzos secretly leads the rebellion. Concern in the empire over the Jews led by Nehemiah returning and rebuilding Jerusalem worry the Persians. Esther's apprehensions turn true when her husband is murdered. The new monarch must select a new queen. Esther's "sister in spirit" Leah feels she is heir apparent, but is stunned that the monarch clearly hates Jews; upon seeing the Star of David selects someone else as his is chosen one; Leah is relegated to the harem.

In modern times, the present Hadassah, the wife of the Israeli prime minister is stunned when her beloved "Poppa" is assassinated. Before he dies Kesselman tells his daughter that she must find the ancient documents that speak the truth of what happened in Persia to stop terrorists from killing Jews living incognito in Iraq. After sitting Shiva for eight days, she begins her quest.

This is an intriguing follow-up to the superb HADASSAH: ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING though too much has to be accepted as gospel this time around. Following up on what happens in Persia after Esther becomes the queen is cleverly handled so that the audience can sense the political uproar especially when Artaxerxes dies. The modern story line has it own intrigue, but plotted to enhance the past yet comes across disruptive of the follow up to Esther. Still this is a fine ancient biblical fiction novel that will please sub-genre fans.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy!, December 6, 2005

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Sometimes it is easy to believe that God only works in big ways using big events: David slaying Goliath; Esther becoming queen and saving the lives of the Jews in Persia; and Saul transformed to Paul and becoming an apostle of Christ Jesus. For the rest of us, His hand is not always so readily seen, although He is always present. He has a purpose for every single person, and He is faithful to reveal it as we seek Him.

The Hadassah Covenant: A Queen's Legacy captures the parallels between the lives of Leah and Hadassah, two ordinary women whose lives seem to have no extraordinary purpose. Leah lives in the times of the Jewish exile to Persia, following in Queen Esther's footprints. As the wife of the Prime Minister of Israel, Hadassah is well known to the current world but has no meaning in her life. But God has a purpose for both of their lives that spans the centuries of time.

After her father is killed during a terrorist attack, Hadassah determines to track down his assassins. Her investigation is fraught with unusual twists and turns, and she finds connections between current and past events that she never could have imagined. Assassins stalk her. Jews living in Iran are being routed out and murdered. War seems inevitable.

But she and Ari Meyer, an Israeli commando/archeologist with an obsession for Jewish artifacts, are determined to find the truth. This truth saves the lives of thousands of Jews in a way that only an omnipotent God can envision and carry to completion.

Sometimes I really feel like I am just a puff of smoke--here today and gone tomorrow--but I can have peace in knowing that God knows otherwise. That's the lasting theme The Hadassah Covenant: A Queen's Legacy leaves with me. The read is quick with lots of action and adventure. Although I am not well acquainted with Middle East politics, the authors provide good background and I didn't get confused.

Armchair Interviews says: We know you will enjoy!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-researched and enjoyable novel , March 2, 2006

By	FaithfulReader.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

Picking up where the biblical book of Esther leaves off, THE HADASSAH COVENANT traces the fate of a concubine named Leah whose Jewish ancestry prevents her from becoming the queen of Persia during the Babylonian exile of the Jews from Jerusalem. Years earlier, Esther, then the queen, had befriended her, and the ongoing exchange of letters between the two women provides crucial clues to historical events that reverberate down to the present day.

Those events place Hadassah (the Jewish name for Esther), the wife of the present-day prime minister of Israel, in the critical role of saving the lives of "hidden Jews" who are being hunted down and killed by militant Muslims in Iraq. Unable or reluctant to leave Iraq decades earlier, many Jews had hidden their ancestry by taking on Arabic names and assimilating into the culture; now their identities have been revealed, and their lives are at stake. Several brutal murders of adults and children have even been shown on television.

The link between the ancient Israelites in Persia and the contemporary Jews in Iraq is Mordecai, Queen Esther's uncle and adoptive father who had served as "exilarch," one who represented the entire Jewish population during the exile. The letters between Esther and Leah, which tell the rest of the story about Mordecai, offer the key to a peaceful resolution to the wave of terror that has struck Iraqi Jews.

Enter the Mossad, the secret service of Israel, and one Mossad agent in particular who discovers and carefully guards the ancient letters as he analyzes their content. He and Hadassah share an important link, and they join forces in applying what they've learned from the past to forging a plan for peace in the present.

Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen do a credible job of imagining what might have happened in the lives of Esther and Mordecai and placing that possibility as a backdrop for present-day tensions in the Middle East. They've done their research, and on a technical level --- the book is highly detailed with regard to secret intelligence and covert operations, and the weapons and technology that make both possible --- it's all plausible. I had no problem believing that any of the governmental or terrorist actions could actually happen. The link with Esther, not so much, though it makes for a great story. Once I got past some of the unlikely scenarios and settled back into the story, I found myself genuinely enjoying it.

From what I gather, if you've read the first book in the series --- HADASSAH: ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING --- you may be a bit let down by this one, which makes me glad I didn't read the first one. With nothing to compare it to, I got caught up in both the present-day story and the ancient letters. Sure, I had a hard time imagining the Israeli prime minister calling his wife "honey" (isn't that a purely American term of endearment?), just as I found it hard to believe that there could be two green-eyed Israelis named Hadassah (the second being a child who narrowly escapes slaughter). And yes, I'd like to circulate a petition calling for a moratorium on green-eyed beauties in Christian novels for at least a decade. But these are minor annoyances and, I suspect, problems for me alone. Same with the cover, which brings the word "cheesy" to mind. But don't judge a book by it and all that. The content is much, much better.