Blood of the Lion
by John McRae
Blood of the Lion is an exciting historical novel that offers a sweeping view of the turbulent era chronicled in the opening pages of the Book of Mormon. It weaves the factual threads of scriptural and ancient history into an action-packed, romantic saga that makes Lehi, Nephi, and their family come vividly alive.
The story unfolds before a backdrop of escalating wickedness and tense political climate in the tiny nation of Judah, six hundred years before the birth of Christ. Lehi publically condemns idolatry and the powerful apostate priests who encourage it. Laman and Lemuel, Lehi's two oldest sons, openly oppose their father's views and support of the prophet Jeremiah, believing it will hurt the family's prosperous business.
After Judah's king is murdered, Jerusalem is besieged and sacked by the Babylonians, who drive the leading citizens toward the slave camps of Chebar. The power-hungry lower class clamors to fill the leadership void, making the political climate treacherous. When Lehi is warned in a dream that his family is in danger and is shown a wonderful land of inheritance, his family flee into the desert, barely escaping with their lives.
A gripping ebb and flow of tension ensues as Lehi's sons make two perilous return trips to Jerusalem and as the families of Lehi and Ishmael spend eight years in the desert, enduring hardships of increasing magnitude.
The familiar scriptural account becomes a spectacular epic filled with action, romance, faith and insights into the characters' motivations. Tender romantic interludes between Lehi's sons and the daughters of Ishmael and the seething hatred Laman develops for Nephi make this a riveting fictional account of real people and real events in early Book of Mormon history.
About the Author
John McRae has enjoyed an extremely successful career in writing and producing trade and educational films and television commercials. Prior to his retiring to become a full-time novelist, he was president of an advertising agency in Seattle. He had spent 22 years as a senior vice president and creative director of a major advertising agency, and 14 years as a newspaper feature writer and editor.
He has won scores of top national and regional awards, including a regional Emmy, the prestigious New York Art Directors Award for best television commercial, seven first-place national Telly awards for non-network television commercials, four Best in the West awards, and many more for both film and print.
His trade and educational films have also won top national honors. Two films have been in use in schools throughout the nation for over a decade, winning awards as the best educational and agricultural films in the nation.
His first film script was produced into a movie for the LDS church. The Utah Fine Arts Commission awarded top honors for the manuscript of his first novel. He currently has several other novels on the market.
Educated in English schools, Mr. McRae is a World War II navy veteran who has traveled extensively throughout the world. He is a lifetime member of the LDS Church who has served in many callings, including two stake high councils. He has lived in the Pacific Northwest for 30 years, and currently lives with his wife, Vicki, in Seattle, Washington.
Notes
This one was hard to find, but I managed to get the last copy at the Deseret Book outlet store in Salt Lake. If you're looking for it, the ISBN is 0-88290-509-2, and it was printed in November, 1994. The publisher is: Horizon Publishers & Distributors Incorporated, P.O. Box 490 Bountiful, Utah 84011-0490. That's what the dust jacket says, but it may be outdated.
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