Review: Lots of Action; Improbable Story
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 11 11, 2012
SPOILER ALERTS APLENTY!!!I realize this book is a work of fiction, but if this author is a Catholic, he's a poorly educated one, insofar as what he proposes about the Church.  For example, he apparently has no clue what the Immaculate Conception is (it is a title applied to a person, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and it refers to the doctrine that she was conceived without original sin in order to be a fitting living Tabernacle for God in the flesh--Jesus).  Instead, he implies that it has something to do with not having sexual relations in order to become pregnant--but then strangely sequesters his heroine, Sam, within a sealed room with a man possessed by a ghost, after which she is pregnant, so that doesn't really make sense, either.  The hero, Tobias, appears to be the last of a military order of sorts, except that membership in it seems to be genetically-driven, rather than the individual's spiritual fitness--a matter of seeking God's will for one's life, then consciously choosing it.  He appears to have had absolutely no spiritual preparation for his role, whatsoever, which would be unthinkable, if this were a real scenario.  Likewise, the other hero, John, who, like Tobias, is the last of the Brotherhood of the Sealed, the membership of which is also apparently based strictly on biological DNA, rather than spiritual integrity.  (I never figured out who or what this brotherhood was actually sealed TO--God, the Church, each other, all humanity?  Perhaps, I simply missed that detail.)Also disturbing is that while the devil--a mere creature, albeit a powerful one--was much in evidence in this story, God--the Creator--was not, especially.  None of the "good guys" seemed to pay Him much attention, ask His guidance, etc.  (A couple of the secondary characters WERE shown to pray, however.)  He simply didn't seem to really be part of the picture, at all.  In other words, He is not presented to the reader as LORD...which should be the point of this sort of story.  None of the main characters seem to have a vibrant, personal relationship with God, to Whom the Church belongs.  Instead, we are told early on that TOBIAS is "the Vatican's most valuable asset," soon followed by a snarky comment that it is "in the Vatican's best interest to make sure God was only accessible through them."  John--not Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity--is later referred to as the salvation of humanity, and Easter Island, not Jerusalem, is "the epicenter of man's salvation."  (Our salvation doesn't depend on anything we human beings do on our own; it depends solely on what God has already done, and on our cooperation with HIS plan for us.)Perhaps oddly, one detail I did like was the revealing of a Vatican official's betrayal.  This well illustrates that ANY of us, no matter who he or she is, or how "holy" or "enlightened" he or she believes him- or herself to be, is constantly susceptible to sin--ANY of us may choose to turn away from God and His will for his or her life at any time.  That is what free will ultimately means.  The only way one may hope to stand firm against such temptation is to be in a constant, growing, personal relationship with God, and trust always in His love and mercy.  This necessarily requires prayer--communication with God.  If this book happens to lead you into such a relationship, then so much the better!To the author, I recommend he obtain copies of the BIBLE (for example,The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic EditionandIgnatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament), the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (Catechism of the Catholic Church), and CATHOLICISM FOR DUMMIES (Catholicism For Dummies (For Dummies (Religion & Spirituality))) for reference, if he's going to foray further into writing stories involving the Catholic Church.