Biblical thriller with compelling elements and characters, though it doesn’t fully deliver on its potential for mystery and...
A priest and a diplomat believe the antichrist will soon rise to power and that his forerunner is already among them.
Father Matthew Huntington, an exemplary priest, works with local youth and on missions abroad with U.S. Ambassador John Elias. However, nothing in his experience prepares him for a morning when the pages of his Bible start turning themselves. A supernatural presence guides him to read passages from Revelation to his congregation; Father Matthew believes it might be a miracle, maybe even a warning from God. At the same time, the priest’s friend and sometime diplomatic partner, John, has experienced a revelation of his own. An infamous Washington, D.C., psychic tells him that holy visions have shown her that the end is near, and it is just as the Bible says. A forerunner to the antichrist is already on Earth, gaining power as a messenger of peace, she says, and paving the way for apocalypse. “From the signs, he could be one of at least six people on my list” of possible evil forerunners, she tells John. “And of the six,” she says, “you are included.” Soon after, the president sends Father Matthew, John, and popular Olympic athlete Jason Armstrong on a diplomatic mission to Greece. Unsure of what these omens and prophecies mean, the priest and diplomat must work together to discover who among them is a forerunner of peace and who is working for the antichrist. Leodas, author of several mystery novels, knows how to build scenes with incredible tension, shifting character motives, and shocking bursts of violence. However, as a book about the forerunners to apocalypse rather than the main event, most of the story feels like exposition and buildup to more exciting possibilities. Several enticing ideas and characters, in particular a cocky Italian policeman, seem to disappear from the main story, which never achieves the same crescendo and excitement that Leodas produces in smaller, more intimate moments; a premature reveal of the true villain doesn’t help. However, readers intrigued by prophecy-based thrillers will appreciate Leodas’ characters and prophetic details.
Biblical thriller with compelling elements and characters, though it doesn’t fully deliver on its potential for mystery and excitement.Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5146-7184-9
Page Count: 370
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An illuminating read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the Catholic Church; for prelate-fiction superfans, it...
Harris, creator of grand, symphonic thrillers from Fatherland (1992) to An Officer and a Spy (2014), scores with a chamber piece of a novel set in the Vatican in the days after a fictional pope dies.
Fictional, yes, but the nameless pontiff has a lot in common with our own Francis: He’s famously humble, shunning the lavish Apostolic Palace for a small apartment, and he is committed to leading a church that engages with the world and its problems. In the aftermath of his sudden death, rumors circulate about the pope’s intention to fire certain cardinals. At the center of the action is Cardinal Lomeli, Dean of the College of Cardinals, whose job it is to manage the conclave that will elect a new pope. He believes it is also his duty to uncover what the pope knew before he died because some of the cardinals in question are in the running to succeed him. “In the running” is an apt phrase because, as described by Harris, the papal conclave is the ultimate political backroom—albeit a room, the Sistine Chapel, covered with Michelangelo frescoes. Vying for the papal crown are an African cardinal whom many want to see as the first black pope, a press-savvy Canadian, an Italian arch-conservative (think Cardinal Scalia), and an Italian liberal who wants to continue the late pope’s campaign to modernize the church. The novel glories in the ancient rituals that constitute the election process while still grounding that process in the real world: the Sistine Chapel is fitted with jamming devices to thwart electronic eavesdropping, and the pressure to act quickly is increased because “rumours that the pope is dead are already trending on social media.”
An illuminating read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the Catholic Church; for prelate-fiction superfans, it is pure temptation.Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-451-49344-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
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