THE RETURN

Intellectually serious and absolutely riveting, this religious fiction challenges believers and nonbelievers alike.

Much of McNally’s bold new book takes place in a bleak future in which the continued rise of radical Islamic terrorism has endangered the fate of the Catholic Church and the basic bonds of civilization. In desperation, the Vatican conceives a radical plan–to encourage the Christian faithful and spur a worldwide religious revival, the Church will stage the second coming of Christ. Their manufactured savior–unironically named Christian–is a seemingly perfect candidate, and his handlers hope that he will grow into the role. It’s a last-ditch gamble, but one with fascinating narrative possibilities. The Return is a strong novel built from a very daring concept. The back cover compares the book to Dan Brown’s blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, and readers may initially expect another in a long line of frail wannabes. But while The Return lacks the taut excitement of Da Vinci–its narrative rope falls slack a bit too often– McNally bests Brown in her treatment of religion. Unlike Brown, McNally doesn’t seem to have an axe to grind with the Church (or with its detractors either), so her work with religious themes is thorough and objective. This is no faint praise, because the author isn’t pitching softballs–the book takes on a bevy of hot-button issues, such as Islamic extremism, human sexuality and church-state conflicts, to name a few. The politically sensitive will blanch at McNally’s cardboard-cutout Muslim fanatics (especially as they fire automatic weapons, screaming “Allaju Akbar”), and unfortunately, religious fundamentalists of all stripes are often little more than cardboard cutouts. However, the seriousness of her project more than compensates for such caricatures.

An engrossing novel.