The Expected One

By: Kathleen McGowan

Narrated by: Linda Stephens

When journalist Maureen Paschal begins the research for a new book, she has no idea that she is stepping into an ancient mystery so secret, so revolutionary, that thousands of people have killed and died for it.

Two thousand years ago, Mary Magdalene hid a set of scrolls in the French Pyrenees: the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, her version of the life of Jesus and the events of the New Testament. Protected by supernatural forces, these sacred scrolls could be uncovered only by a special seeker, one who fulfills the ancient prophecy of L'Attendu, the Expected One.

As Maureen becomes immersed in the mystical lore of L'Attendu, the eerie prophecy of the Expected One casts a shadow over her life and work, and a long-buried family secret comes to light. Maureen's extraordinary journey takes her from the dusty streets of Jerusalem to the cathedrals of Paris to the rocky foothills of southwest France. To search for the scrolls, she must unravel clues that link history's great artistic masters, dynasties, and scientific minds. Ultimately, she comes face-to-face with Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, and a love triangle that changed the course of history in a deeply moving and powerful new gospel...the greatest story never told.

©2006 McGowan Media, Inc. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"[A] much-heralded debut." (Publishers Weekly)

Worth the Read

Overall, I enjoyed the story and plot. I really wish, considering the paradigm shifting subject matter, that the author could have given more information regarding where she got some of her background information regarding the sourse material she was using. I understand these are secret traditions throughout Europe, but are there actual ancient documents, or was most of the information passed down through word of mouth? Is the Arc Gospel an actual document or something the author invented from secret information? But I understand she needs to protect her sources. Anyway, it was a great story that left me wanting to know much more about the subject of the life of Mary Magdalene. I will be reading the other books in the series.

Chick lit meets Dan Brown

This is a hard book to review.
Does this sound familiar? Mary Magdalene, information hidden in paintings in the Louvre, secret societies, an eccentric aristocrat hidden away on an estate in the French countryside
Add to this: designer suits, Manolo Blahnik shoes, an "unusually petite" protagonist.
I almost gave up more than once, but the "bones" of a good story are there and I wanted to hear more. The narrator does an excellent job of covering many characters with a variety of regional accents -- though the Scottish burr and Irish brogue overlapped at times. There is enough passion about the story of Christ, and respect for the story, that it is neither offensive nor dopey.
The author's afterward is worth a listen and says a lot about her motivation for writing this book (excellent) and the amount of serious research she put into the project (commendable). Fiction it is, though she implies that it is only marginally so. Clearly, there are sequels either out or in the works.
Ultimately, this was decent and not a waste of time, but rather painful to slog through at moments.

I enjoyed it!

I read some of the other reviews and wonder why anyone would read something when they aren't interested in the subject matter. Some complained that this book rides on the wave of popularity of the DaVinci Code. If you think there are too many books like that out there, why read another one? I enjoyed this book as well as Dan Brown's. I like this author's take on the subject. I think the history is solid and how she wove the story together makes it very entertaining. I was happy to find that this is part of a series. I look forward to the next one. My advice to other readers is if you are looking for another Dan Brown, this isn't it. If you are looking for a good story that keeps you wanting more, this just might be a good fit. But as is the case with Dan Brown, you must keep an open mind.

Excellent

Kathleen McGowan wrote a wonderfull portrait of Mary Magdalene and the times she lived it. An eye opener for sure. This is one book I will recommend to friends and family.

Book OK reader bad

The story was just OK---just another novel based on Holy Blood Holy Grail, which seems to be flavor of the year. I usually like this type of historical fiction, but the repetitiveness of the text and the inability of the reader to vary her tone or inflection gets really old really fast. I ended up getting the book in print to end my misery of having to listen to this reader!

Unexpected learning experience - The Expected One

This book was very interesting and I was looking forward to reading a different viewpoint about Mary Magdalene. I did learn new facts about versions of the stories that I had not know. It was a great experience and has changed my view of how I will interact with other people from now on. Looking forward to listening to Kathleen McGowan's second book. I hope it is similar to the first.

Must read for those drawn to The Magdalene

What intuition tells us is true, written gracefully with depth and humanity. This telling gave me shiver after shiver of deep acknowledgment that what I have believed is true.

Thank you Kathleen

I was lead to The Expected One many years ago and it touched me deeply. The trilogy of The Expected One, The Book of Love and The Poet Prince are among my most treasured books and I have read them all multiple times.

I am so grateful that Kathleen has such a brave and determined soul to share powerful insights and inspirational teachings. I have found the messages and writing brings up my heart connection to all that you write about .

I have been waiting for the audio version of all your books, and there they were! So timely is the opportunity to once again listen as humanity I believe has an opportunity to embrace love like never before. I highly recommend ALL of Kathleen’s book as “The Time Returns” to the truth of who we are.

Blessings and gratitude

Don't expect too much

This one wasn't a favorite. I like the genre but I thought this was pretty repetitive and in spite of all of the build-up of the heroine's role as the "expected one" it seemed to me when all was said and done that the author (and for that matter the spirit of Mary M.) didn't expect too much of her. This seemed a bit incongrous considering the general theme of the work.

Great Book

I enjoyed this book so much that I recommended it to a friend. It's along the lines of Dan Brown, in the sense that it blends history with religion and religous theory into a seamless believeable story. My only issue is with the reader who you can hear catch her breath at odd times. I tend to be overly picky with the readers. I can say that she does have distictive voices for the charaters without over-acting or causing me to roll my eyes.