An ancient prophecy,
a deadly choice,
and two women who will rewrite the fate of humanity.
The Matriarch Messiah
Mystery of the Matriarchs Book 2
by Maxime Trencavel
Genre: Epic Science Fiction Suspense Thriller
Six months after the world-shattering events of The Matriarch Matrix, the search for salvation continues…
The Matriarch Messiah is a thrilling science fiction adventure that will leave you breathless. This sequel to The Matriarch Matrix picks up the story six months later, plunging you deeper into a world of conspiracies, forbidden love, and the fight for humanity’s future.
Zara Khatum, a woman haunted by ancient visions, finds herself drawn deeper into the heart of a perilous quest. Guided by a mysterious voice, she seeks to fulfill an ancient prophecy and find the cavern of blue light – a sanctuary rumored to hold the key to saving humanity. But the path to salvation is fraught with danger, and Zara is torn between her destiny and her heart.
A shadowy organization, known as NiQihs, seeks to exploit the power of the legendary black object, the source of Zara’s visions, for their own sinister ends. They are not alone. The world’s superpowers, driven by greed and ambition, race to control the artifact, threatening to unleash unimaginable devastation.
Joining Zara in this dangerous pursuit is Rachel Capsali, a brilliant Israeli archaeologist driven by a personal quest to uncover evidence of Asherah, a forgotten goddess who held a pivotal place in ancient Israelite faith. Unbeknownst to them, both women are bound by a shared destiny – a prophecy foretelling the cavern of blue light and a final, heartbreaking truth: two women will fight to the death, and only one will save us all.
Adding to the complexity, a passionate triangle forms as Rachel vies for Peter Gollinger‘s affection, a man deeply entangled in the ancient mystery. Zara, torn between fulfilling her destiny and her own feelings for Peter, finds herself caught in a web of conflicting desires.
As Zara and Rachel navigate a treacherous landscape of hidden agendas, betrayal, and relentless pursuit, their rivalry for Peter’s affections intensifies. Can love survive the forces that threaten to tear them apart? Will the quest for salvation lead to a heart-wrenching sacrifice?
Dive into a world where:
*Ancient prophecies clash with modern technology: Discover a world where ancient legends are woven into the fabric of a technologically advanced future.
*Intrigue and betrayal threaten to shatter everything: Uncover a web of conspiracies, hidden agendas, and deadly secrets.
*A passionate rivalry for love unfolds: Zara and Rachel’s destinies are intertwined, leading them to a final confrontation where only one will survive, but their struggle for Peter’s love adds another layer of complexity and tension.
*The stakes are higher than ever before: With the world teetering on the brink of nuclear war, Zara and Rachel must find the cavern of blue light, uncover the truth behind the black object, and face the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity.
The Matriarch Messiah is a must-read for fans of science fiction thrillers with a touch of romance and a dash of the mystical. Prepare to be swept away by a journey where ancient secrets, forbidden love, and the fate of humanity hang in the balance.
**Releases March 17th – Preorder Now for Only .99cents!**
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Another dewdrop hits her nose. But this time, she does not wipe it off as it mingles with the drops from her eyes while she searches inside for the strength to remember that which remains unresolved in her life, with her family, with her destiny. Is he really the one? Should she reveal what should only be revealed to the one man who will bring her to her destiny?
A purse of her lips and she finally says, “Sara, my great-grandmother, she was our link to the wisdom of generations of spiritually inspired women before her.”
Still facing away from Peter, she says, “Sara liked you. She saw something in you when she first met you at that first dinner at her ancestral house when we were staging for our mission to retrieve the object.”
Turning back to him, she says, “Sara said to my grandmother Roza, her daughter, that you harbor the same light her husband, a Sufi imam, my great-grandfather, had within him when they first met.”
She points to his eyes. Blue ones which naturally go with his once-blond and now-sandy-brown hair. “Sara said the light is blue. The light we should seek is blue. The world thinks the light is white. But the one we seek, we yearn for, we die for, is blue. She so feared dying before she could find the blue light. For in the blue light, we shall return”, she said.
Peter, who knows so much trivia because he is an editor of all sorts of topics, papers, and books, is speechless until he finally mutters, “Blue? Where did that come from? I’m not getting the connection to the mystery of the ancient matriarch we solved.”
“As you had with your grandfather, your pappy, who entrusted you with an ancient family oral tradition, passed from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, as far back in time as that temple, the world’s oldest temple, which our follies led to be destroyed, so there is a line of similar wisdom passed down in my family line. But through the women. Mother to daughter and to granddaughter.”
The Matriarch Matrix
Mystery of the Matriarchs Book 1
“The fate of the world hangs on their choices… The past foretells her future…”
Zara Khatum is a warrior, a survivor, and a woman fueled by a thirst for vengeance. Haunted by the horrors inflicted on her and her Kurdish people, she seeks only retribution. But a hidden legacy, a powerful artifact, and a destiny woven through millennia threaten to reshape her life and the fate of the world.
Enter Peter Gollinger, a troubled Californian whose family is bound by an ancient mystery. He’s plagued by dreams, visions of a dark-haired woman he must save. These visions lead him on a path that intertwines with Zara’s, pulling them together in a race against time to unearth a secret that could alter the course of history.
The Matriarch Matrix is a whirlwind of adventure that spans centuries and continents. An archeological and mythical journey back to the world’s oldest temple, Gobekli Tepe, where a matriarch’s legacy lives on in a powerful artifact hidden. Then, leap forward to a near-future world teetering on the brink of war, where Zara and Peter must unlock the secrets of their shared past to prevent a devastating conflict. They’ll face ancient curses, dangerous adversaries, and the weight of a history they barely understand, all while navigating the treacherous landscape of modern politics and the struggle for peace in the Middle East.
This is a tale of love, loss, and the relentless pursuit of truth. Zara, a woman defined by her strength and resilience, finds herself drawn to Peter, a man who is both vulnerable and determined. They are two halves of a whole, destined to complete a quest that began long ago.
Maxime Trencavel’s masterful blend of historical fiction, science fiction, suspense, and romance will keep you on the edge of your seat. You’ll be captivated by Zara’s journey, challenged by the complex themes of faith and destiny, and enthralled by the romance that blossoms amidst the chaos.
Prepare to be transported to a world where ancient secrets and modern anxieties collide, where the lines between past and present blur, and where the power of love may be the only hope for salvation.
“This book is a must-read for fans of intricate, thought-provoking narratives filled with mystery, adventure, and the timeless power of love.”
“This is a different kind of love story… It’s a love story, but not a romantic love; it’s something deeper, a higher order love.”
“The Matriarch Matrix is a unique science fiction adventure that pushes the boundaries of the of the genre in more than one way.”
“It seems to me that very few authors in this genre can craft such interwoven, parallel plot lines with success, much less a debut author.”
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Chapter 3
A country can’t be free unless the women are free.
—Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the PKK, recognized as a terrorist
organization by the US, NATO, and the EU.
Mountains outside Siirt, Turkey
12:40 p.m. GMT−8, May 1, 2021
“He didn’t die in vain, Zara.”
Two dark-haired women stand high, overlooking a green valley, beyond which there is another mountain, and another behind that. These are the northernmost peaks of the Zagros Fold, a 1500-kilometer creation of the Arabic tectonic plate smashing into the Eurasian plate twenty million years ago. They form a crown around the lands known today as the Fertile Crescent, extending from southern Turkey through northern Iraq, along the border with Iran and down to the Red Sea.
But for these two women, the only importance of these mountains is the safe haven they have provided for the people known as Kurds, who have found shelter and safety in these alpines for thousands upon thousands of years. Who until two years ago were the largest ethnic group in the world without a country.
The taller of the two women wears a grey outer gown over a full-length purple dress, black belt, sandals, and headscarf, the latter decorated with colorful embroidered flowers and carefully wrapped around her oval face, tucking away her shoulder-length dark brown hair. On her wrist is a simple wind-up watch.
Her almond-shaped dark eyes are fixed on the horizon, where she still sees the village.
“Didn’t he? Die in vain?” replies Zara. “I told my little boy brother not to join the PKK. We needed him at home. He was the last man left in my family. And now, there is only me, my mother, my grandmother, and thank Xwedê, still my great-grandmother.”
Putting her hand around Zara to comfort her is Peri, who in contrast wears a formfitting red cotton top covered by a loose beige sweater, black cotton capri pants, and tan sandals with sequins matching the ones on her sweater. Her
shoulder-length dark brown hair is pulled into a ponytail, with two stylish twists on each side of her face. And on her wrist, at the adamant request of her friend, nothing. No MoxWorld devices at all.
“He died while trying to get the women and children of that village, the one you imagine seeing on the horizon, up into the mountains as government troops searched for the PKK,” Peri states calmly. “He died a hero.”
“And what good are heroes?” Zara laments. “Especially when they are dead.”
Zara walks along the mountainside through the lush green vegetation of spring. Patches of red, purple, blue, and yellow flowers litter the landscape. She bends over to pick a number of red ones.
“My mother lined his room with poppies of this color after his death. The color of the blood shed by the men of our family.”
Following her best friend as she walks, as she always has, Peri asks, “Then why did you insist we meet here, if his memory brings back such pain?”
“Because you want me to help the Anatolian Kurdish separatists. There is a price one pays. My little boy brother did,” the taller woman replies, her long earlobes peeking out from her headscarf in the gust of wind. “I don’t agree with separatism. I believe we should work out a peaceful solution. One that would better the lives of Kurdish women. Equality for all as we saw in Rojava. Women and men governed together as equals. I want you to think about the
consequences of what you ask of me now.”
“They only want your advice. You do not have to take up arms.”
“They want my connection to him,” Zara replies, pulling her silk scarf closer around her oval face. She throws her poppies with the wind gust, which sends them flying a hundred meters as if they were little balloons.
Silence as they walk by a more crimson-red set of poppies. Peri bends down and picks some and hands them to Zara.
“I do not like that shade of red,” Zara says as she drops the crimson reminders of “him” and crushes them under her sandal.
“Why do I follow you, Zara?” asks the disturbed Peri. “You are so complicated.
Poppies are poppies.”
Maxime has been scribbling stories since grade school, from adventure epics to morality plays. Blessed with living in multicultural pluralistic settings and having earned degrees in science and marketing, Maxime has worked in business and sports, traveling to countries across five continents and learning about cultures, traditions, and the importance of tolerance and understanding. Maxime’s second novel, The Matriarch Messiah, was conceived, outlined, written, and edited in different locations in Belgium, including the Turkish and Kurdish neighborhoods of Brussels, in various islands of the Caribbean, in Colombia, in Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Spain, London, UK, and on the two coasts of the United States.
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What inspired you to write this book?
At a certain point in life when you have achieved most of the worldly objectives you set out to conquer in your youth, you reach a point where you seek “significance”. What have you done to contribute to the betterment of society as a whole?
Once liberated of corporate obligations, my mind turned to “significance”. An ancestor’s story rang in my head for years. He had been a significant religious leader in his time. He wrote several books which those of that faith studied in countries far from where he preached. Inspiration in the divine.
I pondered for weeks on what story I could write that provided significance—contributing to betterment of readers seeking to be enlightened. The biblical archeology thriller genre provided an establish platform for building out such an idea. So born was The Matriarch Matrix. At its heart is the hypothetic story of how humanity evolved from believing in animal and nature spirits, gods, and goddesses, into a deeper faith in one voice. The birth of monotheism. A few reviewers caught this premise, and it provided either validation or inspiration. If one could help only one other human being, then it is significance.
Along the way in creating the cast of characters a Kurdish soldier arose. As the storyline moved from patriarchy to matriarchy, Zara was born. As I researched the Kurds, a tragic, deeply disturbing history of oppression, torture, rape spanned centuries into the past. Using the savagery committed against her people, and herself, another more tangible point of significance arose in this book. Highlighting the tragic systematic use of genocidal violence against women throughout history, not only of the Kurds. This theme played deep in her character, in Father Jean-Paul’s history, and in the story of the ancient matriarchs.
However, only a few readers embraced the significance of the oppression of women since the agricultural age began. My family, my peer group, my alpha readers, all had loved ones who lived through occupation. They empathized with Zara and the Kurds’ plight, as portrayed in this book. But I found the hard way, much of the American readership has no direct emotional connection to occupation, for the USA here-to-date, has never been occupied. Well, one might think those in the Confederacy might have thought otherwise, as would indigenous people. But the vast majority of reviewers of my first book likely did not have an occupation family and friends history. The positive reviews mentioning the Kurds’ plight imply limited, select significance.
Let’s see how The Matriarch Messiah’s story brings about significance. The moral of the story is the dire need for us as a species to find ways of overcoming our cultural, religious, political differences to craft a better future for humanity.
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Sounds great, and I hope to have the pleasure of reading your novel.
This sounds like a really good story. The cover looks great.
Sounds like my kind of read! Thank you for the giveaway as well!
Looks like a good read
Love the title – draws me right in…..
Looks a good read
I like the cover!
I like everything about this – genre title and cover!
Thank you for sharing the excerpt.
I look forward to reading this.
This sounds like a super good book and the cover is epic!
Thanks for the great blurb/excerpt. The book sounds fascinating.
Sounds like a great thriller.
the excerpt sounds really g ood
looks like a great book!
A new series to add to my TBR pile.
Looks and sounds like a good series. Thanks for sharing.
Love the cover and genre. I enjoyed reading the excerpt.
This sounds like a great science fiction suspense thriller. I like the cover.
Great cover
Looks very exciting Do you write in a daily journal?
Sounds intriguing.
The cover picture would compel me to read the book description, very intriguing.
Sounds like a great book. I’m looking forward to reading it.
This sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover.
looks like a fun one
Sounds like a great Sci Fi read
I really like the excerpts and the covers. Looks like a book I would really enjoy reading.
Sounds like a really exciting book.
Hope it does well!
intriguing
Looks like a great series! I loved the trailer! Thanks for the excerpts & guest post too. :)
Would definitely put this book on my to be read list.
Great cover!
I enjoyed the excerpts
Thank you for sharing the excerpts. They are interesting.
loved the excerpt. What a great read.
I like the book details.
Sounds good!
Looking forward to reading this
This looks like a great read
I like the detail with the red poppies. This looks like an exotic read- taking the reader to Turkey and the fantasy that lies there. I look forward to it!
It looks like a good read.
It sounds good and the cover gives me a science fiction vibe or space vibe.
This is an exciting combination of flavors of genres! The covers add to the appeal of the series!
Looks like a very interesting read! The details make me want it to be my next read. No questions for the author.
Sounds really great.
I want to read this book!
Intriguing story
I enjoyed the excerpt for The Matriarch Messiah. Thanks for the giveaway!
Sounds like another great page turner!
Sounds good.
I love the cover
It sounds like an interesting duo of books.
Really liked the excerpts. I think these books sound fascinating!
The moral of the story is the dire need for us as a species to find ways of overcoming our cultural, religious, political differences to craft a better future for humanity. TOUCHE!!!
Sounds like a great book!