The explosive saga that began with Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites, Gadiantons and the Silver Sword, and The Feathered Serpent Parts One and Two kicks into high gear once again in this fifth volume of the ongoing adventures of the Hawkins family.
Join fifteen-year-old Harry Hawkins as he takes the baton from his father, Jim, and embarks upon a perilous quest to grant what may be his sister's last wish and reunite her with the love of her life. In the process, he discovers secrets about the mysterious caverns of Frost Cave that his father never dreamed of, secrets that plunge him into a world he never expected. A world in rebellion against the oppressors of Rome and against the pure and undefiled doctrines of Christ and His newborn Church — the dangerous and reeling world of Jerusalem and the New Testament in the first century A.D.
Tropes:
- All There in the Manual: Invoked in-universe. Harry goes to the Book of Mormon to see the timeline of events Marcos is ostensibly caught up in to see why he hasn’t returned yet.
- The Atoner: While Marcos switched sides to rescue Melody, he still grew up in the Gadianton cult and either witnessed or participated in some nasty stuff as a young man. As such, he remained in Nephite times to serve as a missionary, to atone for his many sins. Hence why he can’t be reached.
- Big Damn Heroes: Harry saves Marcos and Gidgiddonihah at the end.
- The Bus Came Back: Gidgiddonihah returns from the previous book, and in fact is the first person encountered on their journey.
- Bookworm: Meagan reads a lot, which comes in handy in this book and later on...
- Cliffhanger: The story ends with Meagan and Jesse captured and Harry with no choice but to try to infiltrate war-torn Jerusalem to get the Book of Matthew that will secure their release.
- Cool Bike: Harry has one, and is displeased to find out Meagan has one too.
- Cool People Rebel Against Authority: Meagan is going through a rebellious phase where she dyes her hair, gets a nose ring (something a bit more taboo in LDS culture), and is generally surly.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Kumarcaah.
- Fish out of Water: Meagan is VERY out of place in the past, demanding to go home. And Harry is a little out of sync as well, since she didn’t anticipate ending up in the Middle East.
- Similarly, Gidgiddonihah and Marcos are both very out of touch in Judea too, although they adapt a little better.
- Gladiator Games: Marcos and Gidgiddonihah are forced to participate in them.
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Growing the Beard: This is where the series really expands. Jim is no longer a protagonist, it’s the first of a three-book arc instead of a duo, and they’re suddenly traveling to other times instead of just the Book of Mormon. There’s also a new level of historicity to the setting since there’s more research on this era, and a new level of maturity in the war sections. - Heroes Prefer Swords: Marcos and Gidgiddonihah both wield them. Gid even keeps a nice one he finds at the end.
- Made a Slave: Marcos, as it turns out.
- Mundane Utility: Kumarcaah has discovered the caves that let you travel through time, but is mostly using them to steal new slaves from the lands he visits.
- Narnia Time: Discussed and invoked to justify Harry’s journey. Every time they’ve traveled, more time has passed in the past than in the present, meaning Marcos should’ve finished his mission years ago. But he hasn’t returned, which likely means something is keeping him from coming.
- Orphan's Ordeal: Jesse is a war orphan.
- Pals with Jesus: The heroes meet Symeon Cleophas, nephew of Joseph, father of Christ. This makes him cousins with the Savior, and he has firsthand stories of watching him perform miracles.
- The Quest: It’s in the title. It starts out with retrieving Marcos, but then turns into saving the Book of Matthew, which is more likely to merit the term “sacred”.
- Second Love: Jim is finally getting engaged to Sabrina after five years of dating. Their announcement helps kick off the plot.
- Sherlock Scan: Meagan figures out what time they’re in when she drinks from the hyper-salty Dead Sea. She instantly figures out where they are, since she knows there’s only a few hyper-salty bodies of water and they sure aren’t in Utah...
- Tagalong Kid: Meagan sneaks along after Harry, although she’s a bit older than the usual examples.
- Take Me Instead: Part of why Marcos couldn’t return. While tracking down a Nephite girl Kumarcaah had kidnapped, Marcos had cornered him but found the girl taken hostage. Marcos agreed to trade his life for the girl’s so she could be returned to her family, optimistic that Gid and co. could rescue him later. But it turned out to take over two years for them to track him down.
- Time Skip: Roughly five years have passed, meaning Harry is fifteen, while Melody is twenty-one.
- The Topic of Cancer: At the start of the book, Melody experiences body pains and discovers that she has ovarian cancer, which previously took her mother’s life. While her chances aren’t clear, it’s serious enough that she suddenly wants Marcos back, and Harry takes it upon himself to retrieve him.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: Meagan and Jesse are captured, but Harry has rescued Marcos and Gidgiddonihah, meaning that Marcos is going to go home and see Melody (accomplishing his original goal), and Gid is going to accompany him to Jerusalem, something he’ll sorely need.
- Tsundere: Meagan is pretty standoff-ish with Harry. While traveling through the caves, though, she admits it’s because she’s had a crush on him for a long time. He lets her down gently.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Meagan recklessly removes a scroll from a cave in Qumran, thinking she can sell it for big bucks in the modern day, but this ends up altering history enough that they have to engage in a whole quest to rectify her actions.
- Wham Episode: This is the first book where we discover they can travel to times and places other than the Nephites’.
