AustLit

'Two families . . . One bloodline . . . and a city named Jerusalem

'When Bilal, a radicalised Palestinian youth, is shot during a botched terrorist attack, his life is saved by a young Jewish surgeon, Yael Cohen. But when Yael makes the startling discovery that her DNA is identical with Bilal’s, they become caught up in a high-stakes conspiracy – a disturbing plot that will blow the region to pieces and stun the world with its audacity.

'But unknown to Bilal and Yael, theirs is the last and bloody chapter in a story that crosses millennia. Century after century, two ancient families – bloodline ancestors of Yael and Bilal – defied the corrupt power of kings and conquerors, and their struggles forged a fiercely proud people and an enduring hope for peace. But through war and atrocity, kinships were shattered, forcing dynasties apart and allowing evil to gain a foothold.

'And in modern Israel, confronted with exposure, those sinister forces will do anything to take control of the Holy Land and silence Yael and Bilal, who must run for their lives. Through imprisonment, assassination attempts and political machinations, they must ultimately confront the truth of who they are.

'But is blood enough?' (Publisher's blurb)

'The history of one of the most troubled yet beautiful parts of the world as told though the eyes of two families. This second part in the trilogy, like the first, it is a dual time narrative in which we witness the birth of the state of Israel and also the Holy Land under Roman rule. But this isn’t dry history, instead it is a rollercoaster ride of intrigue and drama and even more exciting than Bloodline.' (Publication summary)