Heavy-handed preaching gratuitously embedded in an uncompelling novelistic drama.
An American soldier wrestles with his faith in God as catastrophe suddenly envelops the world.
Maj. Christopher Barrett is a soldier in the Army, part of an elite team called the Omega Group. He’s tasked with recusing a French journalist held prisoner by ISIS in Iraq, but the mission goes terribly wrong, and the journalist dies in the process. That reporter turns out to be the niece of the French prime minister, and as a result, the Omega Group, and Barrett’s future career, is imperiled. Meanwhile, Barrett struggles with his lack of connection to God, an absence of faith that has led to an estrangement from his deeply religious wife, Erin. He’s compelled to reconsider his commitment to God when Russia and Iran jointly attack Israel, an assault apparently biblically foretold, one of many opportunities for didactic sermonizing in debut author Phillips’ novelistic turn at proselytization. The aggressors are crushed inexplicably—they’re pulverized by massive hailstones and “rolling waves of lightning sweeping the skies, engulfing the enemy planes”—which leads some, including Israeli Gen. Benjamin Havid, to believe that the defensive response was executed by God. Absolute chaos ensues when millions of people suddenly disappear and die and fire engulfs the planet, signs that the rapture has arrived. Barrett continues to lead the Omega Group on dangerous missions, while the president of the European Union, Draven Cross, assumes the role of the Antichrist and, under the spiritual guidance of Satan, attempts to convince the world that it’s on its way toward lasting peace rather than final judgment. The plot is mostly formulaic and shopworn—Christian eschatology grafted onto contemporary geopolitics. Israel and the United States are unambiguously the forces of good, Iran and Russia emissaries of evil, and the European Union a conduit of Satan. The plot itself seems like an afterthought or a device meant to deliver an instructive religious message about faith in a Christian God. Barrett reads long sermons from a religious soldier’s journal that are shared by the author at great length, and characters frequently share their own tales of spiritual devotion with aching earnestness. Phillips’ knowledge of the Bible is impressive—especially anything related to end times—and his work is a genuinely illuminating fount of information regarding the scriptural foundation of Christian final judgment. The novel, however, is more catechism than narrative, and the writing, especially the dialogue, is wooden and inauthentic. For example, here the president of the United States shares his own conversion experience: “God is easy to understand, Gabriella, once you allow yourself to see His presence all around you. I could have been the leader of the show-me-and-I-will-believe-it thought brand. It only took two minutes of being briefed on what the world was facing a few days ago for me to realize I just needed to see the world as it was, instead of how I wanted it to be.”
Heavy-handed preaching gratuitously embedded in an uncompelling novelistic drama.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4003-2571-9
Page Count: 324
Publisher: Elm Hill
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
This first novel, ostensibly about the friendship between two boys, Reuven and Danny, from the time when they are fourteen on opposing yeshiva ball clubs, is actually a gently didactic differentiation between two aspects of the Jewish faith, the Hasidic and the Orthodox. Primarily the Hasidic, the little known mystics with their beards, earlocks and stringently reclusive way of life. According to Reuven's father who is a Zionist, an activist, they are fanatics; according to Danny's, other Jews are apostates and Zionists "goyim." The schisms here are reflected through discussions, between fathers and sons, and through the separation imposed on the two boys for two years which still does not affect their lasting friendship or enduring hopes: Danny goes on to become a psychiatrist refusing his inherited position of "tzaddik"; Reuven a rabbi.... The explanation, in fact exegesis, of Jewish culture and learning, of the special dedication of the Hasidic with its emphasis on mind and soul, is done in sufficiently facile form to engage one's interest and sentiment. The publishers however see a much wider audience for The Chosen. If they "rub their tzitzis for good luck,"—perhaps—although we doubt it.
Pub Date: April 28, 1967
ISBN: 0449911543
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1967
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
