REVIEWS: 'A Column of Fire,' by Ken Follett, and "The Deep Dark Descending," by Allen Eskens

By Ken Follett. (Viking, 928 pages, $36.)

Ken Follett, king of the epic historical novel, delivers another absorbing masterpiece with "A Column of Fire," the latest in his Kingsbridge series. The two previous books, "The Pillars of the Earth" (1989) and "World Without End" (2007), sold more than 38 million copies worldwide, and the new installment delivers exactly the same type of tale that has drawn so many readers in the past: fascinating characters and sweeping drama set against a backdrop of historical intrigue. "A Column of Fire" begins in the 16th century, the time of Queen Elizabeth I, when England and much of Europe were shifting allegiance between Catholicism and Protestantism. At the center of this drama are Ned Willard and Margery Fitzgerald, two young adults from the fictional town of Kingsbridge, who find themselves on opposing sides of the religious divide, one that will engulf the country in a world of spies, allegations of treason and horrific scenes of violence, including people being burned at the stake. Although "A Column of Fire" is part of the series, the story picks up years after action in the previous novels and the deeply satisfying tale can be read without knowledge of previous books — although many new readers will likely be inspired to try others in the series.

COLLEEN KELLY

How far will a good person go to avenge a death? That theme has been tested in countless movies and novels, not to mention in courts across the land. Now comes a fresh and invigorating Minnesota-laced take on revenge vs. salvation.

In award-winning author Allen Eskens' latest thriller, detective Max Rupert is still coping with the hit-and-run death a few years earlier of his wife, Jenni. Then evidence appears to make him think Jenni was murdered, and that people in his own department could be complicit.

His police partner, Niki, sees signs of Max's descent and tries to thrust herself into the picture, but her tormented friend knows he has to handle this alone.

Eskens' story has a split setting. He starts us in the horror of the present moment, on a frozen lake near the Minnesota-Canada border, where Max is on the verge of becoming just like one of the monsters he tracks down and arrests. Then the author takes us back to a few days previous, when life was simpler, even sadder, but something most humans could handle.

Will Max exact his revenge on the frozen surface of a Boundary Waters lake, or will he save his soul for another novel?

We never really know what we're capable of … do we?

GINNY GREENE