475 pages. This is the story of the Good Samaritan and forty-five years of his life as he also lives through most of Jesus’ other parables…..…..Read this amazing rags-to-riches story. Everyone calls him Zarus. He rises from slave to mine owner. His wealth is from a discovery of copper in a first-century desert. Everywhere he goes, people try to cheat him through lies, traps, and even murder. How can he maintain his integrity under such conditions?.....…..To complicate matters even more, he is a Samaritan who marries a Jewish young lady. Their mutual love of horses is what brings them together. Their mutual love for their two sons and daughter even in adulthood keeps them together. Along the way they meet Jesus through Zarus' sister, Istar, famously known as the "woman at the well" and are united in Christ…..…..Events take place in Arabia, Idumea, Palestine, Samaria, China, India, and Persia. Zarus endures false imprisonment, a cruel indenturement, a mine collapse, a brutal sandstorm, an earthquake, an epidemic, and kidnapping…..…..What is all the exhilaration and heartache for? What is life all about, especially when it is hard? Why are we here? Follow the suspense, romance, and adventure as Zarus and the love of his life, Devorah, sacrifice, persist, survive, rise and fall then rise one last time. The surprise ending is based on one of Jesus' last parables and will take your breath away. I would give this novel six stars if that was an option. This is quite a unique book. ...story twists and turns in ways you don't expect. ...isn't simply historical fiction - it has romance and action blended in with the history ...an amazing writer and Bible scholar. Lose yourself in this well-written and well-researched story of faith, love, and hope, You will rejoice, grieve and grow with the characters and when you finish the book, I don't think you will be able to forget them. ...hard to put down ...awesome in the way the author wove... ...amazing to me. Unbelievable amount of research to the workings of mining in the ancient days. Also loved the intertwined love story. ...exciting, riveting, scary, happy journey of a poor man and his wife. Talk about love and sacrifice... I would give this novel six stars if that was an option. This is quite a unique book. ...story twists and turns in ways you don't expect. ...isn't simply historical fiction - it has romance and action blended in with the history ...an amazing writer and Bible scholar. Lose yourself in this well-written and well-researched story of faith, love, and hope, You will rejoice, grieve and grow with the characters and when you finish the book, I don't think you will be able to forget them. ...hard to put down ...awesome in the way the author wove... ...amazing to me. Unbelievable amount of research to the workings of mining in the ancient days. Also loved the intertwined love story. ...exciting, riveting, scary, happy journey of a poor man and his wife. Talk about love and sacrifice... Katheryn Maddox Haddad spends an average of 300 hours researching before she writes a book-ancient historians such as Josephus, archaeological digs so she can know the layout of cities, their language culture and politics. She grew up in the northern United States and now lives in Arizona where she doesn't have to shovel sunshine. She basks in 100-degree weather, palm trees, cacti, and a computer with most of the letters worn off. With a bachelor's degree in English, Bible and social science from Harding University and part of a master's degree in Bible, including Greek, from the Harding Graduate School of Theology, she also has a master's degree in management and human relations from Abilene University. She is author of forty-eight books, both non-fiction and fiction. Her newspaper column appeared for several years in newspapers in Texas and North Carolina Little Known Facts About the Bible and she has written for numerous Christian publications. For several years, she has been sending out every morning a daily scripture and short inspirational thought to some 30,000 people around the world. She spends half her day writing, and the other half teaching English over the internet worldwide using the Bible as textbook. She has taught over 6000 Muslims through World English Institute. Students she has converted to Christianity are in hiding in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Somalia, Jordan, Pakistan, and Palestine. "They are my heroes," she declares.She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Christian Writers of the West, Historical Novel Society, and is also an energetic public speaker who can touch the heart of audiences.