Print List Price:	$12.95
Kindle Price:	$4.99 Save $7.96 (61%)
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the authors

MAYAN STAR Kindle Edition

by Howard Allan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.0 1,347 ratings

See all formats and editions

“This is a wonderful brew of genres—murder mystery and irreverent religious thriller—that is sure to titillate readers in search of both literary action and philosophical stimulation.” - Kirkus Reviews

This much is true: In 1562 Diego de Landa burned all the Mayan codices and began a suppression of the Mayan religion that was brutal even by 16th century conquistador standards. What we don’t know is why.

Excavations at a recently discovered Mayan site near Valladolid in the Yucatan unearth a codex – the first to be discovered in over 50 years. A mangled body is found among the ruins. It belongs to Father Colvin McNeery, an expert on the Gospel of Matthew, the only Gospel to mention the Star of Bethlehem. The local police say he was killed by a jaguar.

Dr. Isabel Reyes, renegade daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Mexico, is called away from her clinic to issue a death certificate. She wonders, when she sees the claw marks, what sort of jaguar is left-handed?

Ex-rabbi and scholar Simon Press has just seen another of his controversial lectures on the spread of Christianity end in violence. He’s back at his hotel nursing a scotch when he gets the news that his friend and colleague, Colvin McNeery, is dead in the Yucatan. Press has always been resentful of Christianity’s success; what he finds in McNeery’s translation of the codex will allow him to get even.

Detective First Class Benito Rufino of the Antiquities Police is pulled off a sting he’s spent nine months setting up, and ordered to Valladolid. He’s furious until he finds out why: a codex worth $500 million pesos is missing.

Leon Cortes - devout Catholic and a direct descendant of the Conquistador - has become drug overlord for all of the Yucatan because he believes his faith requires him to mortify his soul as his Savior mortified his body. Now he’s ordered by the Vatican to find the codex and send it to them.

The 1500 year old codex contains an account of a holy man, a savior who is born under a bright star to a virgin, performs miracles, dies a horrible death, and is resurrected. If McNeery’s translation of the codex is correct, then something is radically wrong with the conventional accounts of the European discovery of the Americas. Or - and this is the only other possibility - something is radically wrong with Christianity’s notion of itself.

Mayan Star is mystery/thriller with a Borgesian twist.

“A captivating and intelligent theological tale deftly composed.” - Kirkus Reviews

“This is a wonderful brew of genres—murder mystery and irreverent religious thriller—that is sure to titillate readers in search of both literary action and philosophical stimulation.” - Kirkus Reviews

“A captivating and intelligent theological tale deftly composed.” – Kirkus Reviews

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07CYXG79Z
Publisher ‏ : ‎ (May 8, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 8, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3963 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #791,023 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #4,006 in International Mystery & Crime (Kindle Store)
- #5,425 in International Mystery & Crime (Books)
- #23,250 in Suspense (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.0 1,347 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Howard Allan
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Howard Allan
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

1,347 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Kae Bender - Writer and former Editor

Mythical Redux

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

I read this shortly before embarking on a trip to Egypt, so when my tour guide there claimed that the Egyptians were global explorers millennia ago, I was already comparing the pyramids and Egyptian history in the Mayan context. I must conclude that were the structures and stories transported west, it is more likely ancient myths and the story of Akhenaten (Amenhotep) were their inspiration than a story predating Matthew by a few ("star"-inaccurate) years, but I digress....

My second generic complaint is authors' irksome insistence that independent female characters have to succumb to romantic (or at the very least sexual) interest in the lead male character. Ex-rabbi Simon Press is bellicose, fairly obtuse, and not really likeable. Why Dr. Isabel Reyes would be attracted to him is fathomless; I'm only sorry that the Mexican drug cabal ethos (or perhaps the Vatican underworld) precludes a surviving alternative.

The story itself seemed internally consistent and well-plotted, and the morality of the drug cabal principals also consistent if flawed. One can only hope the young star-gazer and his girlfriend indeed escaped the machinations of the omertà. Perhaps most importantly (and worth the 4☆ evaluation), the story gives perspective, nuance, and consideration to alternative historical hypotheses that our schools rarely suggest let alone delve into.

As a mystery/thriller, Mayan Star is adequate; as a "Borgesian" (look it up! I had to) exploration of Mayan culture, Mayan Star stirs the mythological pot with thought-stimulating considerations worth pondering.

Helpful

Love2read

Religion and death in the Yucatan

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2018

Verified Purchase

I just read all of the 5 star reviews and everything I loved about the book has been said. This book was so well written: the character development, the scenery, the dialogue, the plot. You feel that you are there. The author shows us, does not tells us: a perfect writing style. This is not a murder mystery. It is a mystery about a Mayan Codex and what it contains. There is a strange review here that almost made me not buy and read this book. Someone said this book is propaganda for the Mormon church. It has nothing to do with the Mormon church. The Catholic church is involved in the story, but anyone knowing about the history of Mexico knows that the Catholic church has had much to do with the history of Mexico. Anyone interested in the story and history of Christianity and religion will find much to think about. I hope this author will write more books about Mexico. His writing style gives you an authentic feeling of being there. Valladolid, Merida, ruins such as coba. The characters are wonderful. I enjoyed the dialogue so much, the building of relationships and friendships. A reviewer here said there was too much filler to get to the story. So sad that he did not realize that was much of the beauty of the book: the relationships, the characters. But the idea put across as the main idea of the codex is an amazing thought. There is much to think about here. Not a shallow book; it is a very deep book. A serious idea presented with a wonderful story, while getting a realistic view of society in the Yucatan. You will love this book and will not be disappointed. I kept thinking about what a treasure this book is, and that I was so fortunate to discover it.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

HKR

Good story but....

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2018

Verified Purchase

The interesting premise of Mayan Star is that the Maya had paper and writing much before presently accepted and they used their great astrological knowledge to present in a codex the birth of a new star at the time of the birth of Jesus. This possibility had me reading through the many twists and turns, murders and illegal sales of the book. However, in my mind the author could(should) edit it down to about half its length if he only took out the MANY and REPEATED statements of how our two main characters interact ( he always asking her if she'll ever go to bed with him and she teasingly replying). This happens from the moment they meet! And every time they meet after. When they finally bed, I sighed a relief in hopes this would stop, but no such luck.
So I read for the story and skipped the snide inuendos, much as I skip the sex scenes in other books. This just caused a lot more skipping than usual. Great story, great mystery, terrible character interaction.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Book Lover

interesting thriller

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

Father McNeery is a priest without a congregation. He is a scholar and is looking for proof of the Star of Bethlehem. He was in Mexico at Mayan site, on an archeological dig, when he is murdered. His friend Rabbi Press is notified and he travels to Mexico to find out what happened. The Mexican police are no help. They blame the murder on a young boy who was helping Father McNeery. It boils down to what the priest found in the dig and how it affects the Catholic Church.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Tinydancer

You'd expect this style of mystery/thriller to have excitement, but this book has much more than that.

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is an incredible book. You'd expect this style of mystery/thriller to have excitement, but this book has much more than that. The writing, especially the dialog, is so well done. It's a quick read because you can't put it down, but I found myself re-reading passages of dialog that just made me laugh out loud or smile coyly to myself with how clever they were. I found myself picturing the main characters as I was reading, without realizing it, because they were so well developed. This makes the book not just a fun, engaging read, but a beautifully told story. The elements of history, religion, and language combine to make you feel not only satisfied having read a great story, but also edified. This is the best book I've read in last 10 years at least!

25 people found this helpful

Helpful

Crazyman

Some pretty good storytelling, but...

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

Although I enjoyed this book for the most part, I did feel that the writing style was rather choppy and didn't flow very well. There was a lot of story told in many words that could have been told in many fewer. The mystery around which the book revolves really never became the central part of the story, rather it stayed on the periphery, which is I guess where the author wanted it to be. But that's not my style.
If the reader wants to understand the premise being this story, there is a book that explains it extremely well. Simply put, that is the Book of Mormon. Don't believe me? Read it and see for yourself.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

HJ Toby

A very good read

Reviewed in Canada on July 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

Interesting characters, well-paced story, good core premise. I go into this kind of book without great expectations but this one delivered a very enjoyable read.

Judi Moore

History and mystery set in the Yucatan

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is my sort of book. Indeed, I am writing one myself (faraway in time and place from this one, I should add). This is the sort of book my friend Glenna calls a ‘history and mystery’. An Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, Dan Brown sort of mystery, with its basis in history or legend, that has missing artefacts attached to it, which artefacts are then hunted for while the hunters are themselves hunted. The genre is substantial, and usually the results are weak. Mostly the authors have done insufficient work on the historical aspect and instead concentrate on the hunting, which lets them down because it is not a USP. A chase is a chase is a chase … The best in the genre identify a genuine potential historical conundrum and play with it, which is what Howard Allan has done with this.

The historical bones are that the Mayans created a number of codices. We don’t know what they contained (which begets the necessary what-if possibilities) because when the Spanish invaded they destroyed them, concurrently suppressing the Mayan religion and imposing their own Roman Catholicism. Allan develops a lucid and plausible reason for the content and destruction of the codices. One more is found. Word gets out. The hunters gather.

The book begins with murder in the Yucatan of modern Mexico – which is an amazingly violent place, according to this book. I warn you that the methods Allan permits his local drug lord to use to dispose of those who cross him may turn your stomach. They did mine.

However, I persevered because not only is the McGuffin good, the plotting and characters are also well above the usual standard for this genre, and the tension is ratcheted up admirably as the story unfolds. The lapsed rabbi, who is the main narrator, is a delight of wit and quirks, courage and cowardice, love and lust. The doctor who runs a local women’s clinic is another narrator from whom one is always pleased to hear. The local policeman tries valiantly to do an honest job in the face of systemic corruption – which may be a cliché, but in this case seems both accurate and well-drawn. Even that local drug lord has an internal logic.

By the way – I see this book has been reported for typos on amazon. I did not find as many as I have had to wade through this year in other books self-published, from small press publishers, and from mainstream publishers. Perhaps they have been fixed. Perhaps the complainer has an even lower tolerance for such irritants than I do myself. The last sub-editor seems to have expired and proof readers are as rare as cuckoos. Sadly, I have also seen work published which has apparently had an editor’s input but which might have been better without it. Sigh. If you are a writer, you absolutely have to teach yourself to edit these days.

One person found this helpful

Claire Wilde

An enjoyable and provocative read

Reviewed in Australia on October 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

Given the number of fictional books dealing with biblical history this book stands out as offering something new. The central characters while well developed seemed to me to to be a little at arms length from the reader. This aspect, while not diminishing the story or the storytelling is really the only reason why the book did mot rate 5 stars. Its worth a read.

Ken Hobbs

Ending to abrupt.

Reviewed in Canada on May 3, 2019

Verified Purchase

Fairly interesting Novel.

One person found this helpful

pdk2

Excellent read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

Fast-paced and economical in expression, the story and the thought processes make it my best read for ages. More, please.

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the authors

Image Unavailable

MAYAN STAR Kindle Edition

Customers who read this book also read

Product details

Videos

About the authors

Howard Allan

Howard Allan

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries