Jan Cheal

High View Jan Cheal

Publisher Marketing: High View is a contemporary religious fictional novel with a plot that twists and turns. The story begins in England at Campion Hall in Oxford University's archaeological department and swiftly moves to Northern Spain and the town of Santillana del Mar in the region of Cantabria, home to the famous Altamira caves also known as The Altarmio de le Cueva. The caves belong to the Upper Palaeolithic period and a team of archaeologists are dating the paintings using the Uranium-thorium process. During the course of their work an accident occurs that reveals religious paintings hidden under the face of the cave walls. The storyline moves to Paris where an organization called the ARS (Anti-Religious Sect) have heard news of the hidden paintings in the Altamira caves. Events are followed closely on the internet by them and a plot concocted whereby the paintings are destroyed. The pace of the storyline quickens as the ARS travel to Spain and try to carry out their dare devil plan, will they succeed? A visit is also made to the Vatican City and his Holiness the Pope. The novel also poses questions and challenges the reader with religious, historical and philosophical scenarios that are woven into the storyline and a continual push towards the truth. It also on occasions acts as a mini travelogue with its delightful descriptions of various locations. The reader at the end of the story may well consider that they have not only been on a physical journey but also a moral one too.