This was a very interesting book! Based in the city of Petra it follows the story of Cassia and her six year old son. After her husband dies, Cassia flees to find her husbands family. Unbeknownst to her, their son is next in line for the throne. Alexander is held hostage by the cruel queen who plans to sacrifice him to appease her god. Cassie must befriend follows of Jesus so that she can save her son. She also learns to trust Jesus with her heart. ( )

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Petra: City of Stone by T. L. Higley
First, I would like to thank the author for the complimentary electronic version of the book, this is my first time to read T.L.Higley.
The book begins with Julian leaving Rome because of religious persecution and the next chapter is about Cassia who has left Damascus with her son Alexander because of the death of the father of her son, Aretas. Cassia knows that Aretas is from Petra and wants to find his family.
Julian and Cassia meet at the Nymphaeum Fountain in Petra where Alexander and Julian quickly become friends. Julian also meets Malik at the fountain; Malik plays an important part in the lives of Cassia and Julian.
Cassia is robbed and attacked the first night in Petra and awakens to find herself and Alexander under protective care of Malik and his followers. It is here she finds that her son is the grandson of the king, Rabbel and heir to the throne. Alexander's father was the estranged son of Rabbel. Rabbel's first wife, Gamilath, Aretas' mother died; King Rabbel remarried and had a son with Hagiru.
Cassia takes Alexander to the Royal House to see the King but his wife, Queen Hagiru, refuses to let them see him because she said the King was unavailable; later the King comes into the room and does acknowledge Alexander is his grandson. Hagiru is upset because she thought her son, Obadas, would be the heir to the throne. The King leaves the room and Hagiru tells Cassia her son would be raised by them and she should leave Petra.
Julian finds Cassia injured and takes her to Malik. From there the story is based on trying to get Alexander back to Cassia and the finding of Christianity for Cassia.
I liked this book and the history of Petra was evident. I thought it would be more on archaeology but found it is based on Christianity. My major is Anthropology/Archaeology and I always have an interest in this subject. I read somewhere that Petra:City of Stone is a book for adults but would highly recommend it for young Christian adults. This is a good book for a book club for a church group or one interested in history.
Some tag words I found are Jesus, one God, sandals, amphitheater, death, sacrifice, suffering, strength, stone sculptors, power of Jesus, figs, triclinium, incense, siq and gods which bring you into the time era of the book. Some historical names are Petra, Damascus, Jerusalem, Nymphaeum Fountain, Temple al-Uzza. Petra and Paul of Tarsus. Faith and love are two words used quite a bit. Jesus is very involved with the characters in the book and the reader could sense that with feelings. At one point the "faces" are described as peaceful and there was singing from the Christian group.
I found the last chapters of the book more powerful and emotional as Cassia and others try to rescue Alexander from the evil Hagiru.
The book definitely has history and encouraged me as the reader to do more research on Petra. Check out some sites on the Internet for more information. I did find T. L. Higley (Tracy) on Facebook. She has traveled through Greece,Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Italy to research. I look forward to reading more of her books. ( )

A beautifully written story, "Petra: City in Stone" takes place in Rome 106 AD. At this time, the apostle Paul has died, and Christians are being persecuted for their belief in Jesus Christ. This book follows two people's lives during this time, one a believer and one a non-believer creating a very interesting and well told story.

Julian is a Roman who watched his fiancee murdered for her belief. He was so distraught, that he left Rome and went to Petra to start over. Cassia lived in Damascus with her "husband" Aretas and child. Aretas was a thief and an abuser, and Cassia lived a life of fear and opression. When Aretas' scheme went wrong, he was murdered and Cassia ran with her child to Petra in search Aretas' family. What she found was heartbreak and again, a life of fear.

This book was an amazing and exciting read! It brought to life the days of early Christianity and the fear the early believer's had to live with just to practice their belief. It is a powerful story that will keep you in suspense all the way to the end.

I loved the book, but did struggle a bit with the power the "dark side" had. It made for a great story, but for me, it took away from instead of adding to a great storyline.

This is the first time I've read any of T.L. Higley's books. I will be looking for more as I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style and how she can present a story. ( )

What a wonderfully rich and descriptive book! Petra is nothing less than enthralling. T. L. Higley’s detailed description of the area of and around Petra was so vivid that I was compelled to Google some photographs. I found that her verbal illustrations were spot-on.

The writing is beautiful and the story is interesting. Cassia is a strong character as she faces a new land, new people and danger around every corner. She is not sure who to trust, but she forms strong bonds with the local Christians.There is a light romance with Julian. He has a difficult decision of whether to follow God’s leading or the woman he loves.

Queen Hagiru’s evil plans are truly frightening as she calls upon demonic powers to help her achieve her goal to present her son as King, but the awesome power of God is evident all through the book.

This one is certain to end of in my top ten favorite books this year. ( )