Exile of the King
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“This book does not disappoint!”
The award-winning second novel in the “Age of the Kingdom” series begins where Quest for a King left off.
When David, whom many believe will be the next king, is forced into exile, will Azel desert his post and follow? Will Jeriah continue to loyally serve Saul? How can the young nation survive the forces of jealousy and violence that threaten to rip it apart?
God’s curse still hangs over the house of Eli. After one of the priests, a son of Ahitub, helps David, Saul orders a massacre of the whole town of Nob, which once again leaves the Tent of Meeting without priests to serve there. History repeats itself when again a single young priest survives.
Saul is intent on killing David, the primary threat to his dynasty. In desperation, David and his band of 600 men and their families flee from one hiding place to another, then finally to the haven of Philistine Gath, of all places. Achish, king of Gath, is just as taken with David as anyone and so is blind to David’s divided loyalties. How will David and his men avoid fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with the Philistines against the army of Israel?
Faced with another Philistine war, Saul is desperate to hear from the Lord, but Samuel is dead, so he seeks out a witch he once tried to kill. Jeriah is with him when a voice from the grave predicts death on the mountain for Saul and his sons. Can Jeriah avoid being caught up in the king’s self-destructive obsessions?
Exile has been honored with the Gold Medal in Adult Fiction by the Christian Book Awards.
What People Say About Exile of the King
“After reading Quest for a King, I couldn’t wait to continue the riveting sequel in Exile of the King. If you love to read well-researched historical books that bring scripture alive, this book does not disappoint! I didn’t want to put Exile of the King down ‘til I’d read the whole book!” R. A.
“I loved this second installment in the Age of the Kingdom series. Gary Ivey takes the Biblical narrative of the emerging Kingdom of Israel and makes it come to life with a book that’s hard to put down. Can’t wait for the next volume of this saga!” B. B.
“In Exile of the King, Gary Ivey once more shows us the difference between reading the Bible and living the Bible. The author has an uncanny ability to bring the Bible’s outsize characters to life by surrounding them with credible characters and interactions that we can recognize from our own lives.
“The Bible’s tales have always been timeless, but now they are made both timeless and immediate through the unswerving use of vivid detail. David’s years in the wilderness, while spanning a few chapters in the Bible, are here given their due as the backbone of an entire novel.
“The brotherhood of Jonathan and David, Saul’s erratic temper, the sacking of Ziklag by the Amalekites, and the final battle with the Philistines in the Jezreel Valley, are all well-known biblical events that we can now remember as if we had lived through them. The details in Exile even extend to the day-to-day details of the characters’ lives: the food they prepare, how they dress, and the chores they perform as part of their day. All of this draws the reader in and makes this book extremely hard…if not impossible…to put down.” B. G.