The Final Crossing

<p><strong style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>2024 International Impact Book Award - Historical Fiction</strong></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>In this tale of self-discovery and adventure we are connected with a history we've come to know as the cradle of civilization.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Nenshi an Egyptian house servant raised in nobility is well-schooled a master huntsman and hungers to be free. His master agrees to grant his freedom but while the petition is set to be heard Nenshi's indiscretion gets in the way. He is caught in a secret love affair with a woman above his social status.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>As punishment he is exiled to labour in the Nubian gold mines. His life turns upside down as he is thrust into a world for which he had been ill prepared. He escapes from the mines and vows to return to Thebes but his attempts push him farther and farther away on a journey that redefines him - a journey mired with cruelty bloodshed and the discovery of a new deity.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>In the end Nenshi learns his freedom has been granted and must decide whether to return to his homeland or start a new life.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>I greatly enjoyed this well written story by Vince Santoro. He takes us across the Ancient World</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>through the protagonist Nenshi an exiled Egyptian servant who struggles with class structure both around and within himself. Santoro weaves a story of ideas - a sense of belonging monotheism and the human soul - told through Nenshi's rite of passage through to his final crossing. The setting is visually evocative of spirit of place as the novelist and travel writer Lawrence Durrell called it. It's a story worth reading.</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>- Terry Stanfill</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Award winning historical fiction author of The Gift from Fortuny Realms of Gold The Blood Remembers and other works.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Vince Santoro is a gifted storyteller. I found The Final Crossing difficult to put down because it is</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>well written. As an historian and author of non-fiction books I am impressed with the amount of research that Santoro has done to prepare this story of adventure and romance set in the ancient Middle East. The customs the beliefs and even the character names are all authentic to that region and era. With so many plot twists and turns Santoro will keep you guessing about what might happen next to the protagonist until the very end!</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>- John Charles Corrigan</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(249 249 249 1); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Author of The Red Knight and Love Always.</span></p>