The Skin Map, by Stephen Lawhead

The Skin Map, by Stephen Lawhead, explores what happens when a young man, Kit, discovers that he has a special ability to travel through time. Kit is a young professional living in modern day London with a boring job, a boring girlfriend, and an altogether neat and tidy boring life. That is, until he unexpectedly meets his great-grandfather and is whisked into a series of adventures as they travel through time and space in pursuit of “The Skin Map,” an ancient document that just may unlock the secrets of the universe.

The Skin Map is a fun read, with several interesting sub plots as various characters try to adapt to life in places as far flung as ancient Egypt, and 16^th century Austria. All of this, of course, as they flee a villain named Burleigh who seems to have a knack for always showing up at the worst possible time.

Unfortunately, The Skin Map is ultimately unsatisfying. The battle scenes are well written, but unrealistic. For instance, there is one scene in which Kit and his companions, battling for their lives and armed with swords and a gun, only use these weapons as clubs.

But the most unsatisfactory part of this book was the ending. As I neared the end of the book I kept wondering how Lawhead would bring all of the plot lines together. He didn’t! It just ends, as though he ran out of pages. This is billed as the first book in a series, but it would be more accurate to bill it as the first volume in a book.

On the other hand, it’s refreshing to find a book where many of the key characters make decisions based on their Christian beliefs, without being preachy or artificial. It’s just part of who they are. I enjoyed reading The Skin Map enough that I’ll look forward to the next book. But I hope that it will have a more satisfying ending than this.

The publisher provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®. See a preview of this book HERE.

From time to time I'll be posting reviews of books I've been reading. Some, like this, will be just for fun! Others will focus on biblical teaching, church life, or modern living. I hope you'll enjoy!