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sauvageloup's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
A complex and gripping book, clearly crafted with a lot of work.
Pros:
- the plot was intriguing and had lots of different strands to it, but not too many as to leave me confused. It's a huge topic for a book and I think James tackled it well, keeping enough action amidst the reflection so that it didn't drag at all. The action scenes themselves, in Egypt and at the well, were well-written and gripping.
- I liked the side characters, the monks, Jolene Thomas and Delaney especially.
- the ending was interesting, deciding to subscribe to there being a God and that Ross's investigation was true, which I don't think happened in the Di Vinci code, or at least not so definitively. It was good to have a 'good wins out' ending, with the fake faith leader and the pharmaceutical companies losing out big time.
- I liked the details on the forensics process, the police and MI5 bits involved, which all felt realistic and well researched (and were helpful with my books).
- I did like the variety of POVs, which kept things fresh.
Cons:
- I struggled to like Ross with the whole cheating aspect. If he couldn't properly forgive Imogen for cheating, he shouldn't have stayed with her. Having a baby brought into the relationship was even worse and she and him didn't seem able to communicate at all. And she's right that he didn't seem to care much for her safety, even though she ended up jumping on the money. Ross's actions with Sally were clearly emotional cheating if not anything else and he shouldn't have started with her before splitting with Imogen.
- so that was part of why I couldn't care for his character, but he also seemed pretty flat in general. He's very reactive, and the only choice he takes is to continue looking into it all. He's clearly determined, but I wasn't sure I believed the reasons why. He felt more like a plot device than a real person and I didn't like him much.
- there's a couple of points of nasty fatphobia, particularly with the security guard, who the narrative calls a 'slob' and is humiliated and ridiculed within the story because of a stomach upset. That felt cruel.
- It felt unrealistic when Ross challenges a number of faith leaders, Hussam, the Archbishop, the Prior, a monk, etc. about their faith. They all smile calmly in response to his aggravation and that didn't feel realistic. It was like they were all the same person and that because they were the 'good' guys, they took his respect lying down. Even the Vatican bloke was calm when Ross challenged him.
- Questions about why God would allow suffering and which God was actually showing his existence were never really answered. The idea is brought up that proof of God will cause untold strife, but we don't get to see that. I don't think it's unlikely that the dramatic rainbow eclipse might've kicked off a new war between factions disagreeing over whose God had sent it, but that wasn't addressed. James seems to have picked up the positives of religion but not the negatives. Also, Ross seems to think at the end that the monk still has his stuff but didn't it get lost from the train? That seemed unanswered.
- although nice, the happy ending felt a bit too neat and unrealistic, with all the nasty people dying like it was God's will. Why didn't He step in earlier then?
- there was a distinct lack of women barring Imogen (the unfaithful, chiding wife) and Sally (the love interest/temptress). Neither added anything much to the plot, except for Imogen trying to block him. None of the religious leaders, the government officials, police or scientists or any characters of use were women, except the brief pop-up of Jolene. It was very much a man's book, which suits the theme of Christianity down to the ground, I suppose.
- a fair bit of repetition of information, especially with the science with Jolene, and also with the religious leaders warning Ross. Ross recaps the science multiple times, and the religious leaders say almost exactly the same things to him. Bit annoying.
- lack of serious treatment over Imogen's miscarriage. Ross is relieved over this, because he didn't want to be tied to Imogen anymore and wasn't convinced the baby was his. So why was he going along with it before?? And there's no compassion in him for Imogen losing the child at all. Very cold.
- the chapters did feel too short at times, flicking from one thing to another and breaking off randomly. It made it a bit disjointed and felt like we were being jerked around.
- it was also pretty Eurocentric. Although other religions are mentioned, the presence of the new Jesus Christ, his DNA from the tooth and cup and the rainbow, specifically from the Bible, all seem to confirm that it's the Christian God that's returned. Ross talks to Christian religious leaders mostly, and we get the Christian monks' POVS. It tries not to rule out other faiths, but it's made clear that Christianity seems to be the "real" faith.
Overall, a good book that I enjoyed reading. It felt very close to being amazing but messed up at multiple points.
Pros:
- the plot was intriguing and had lots of different strands to it, but not too many as to leave me confused. It's a huge topic for a book and I think James tackled it well, keeping enough action amidst the reflection so that it didn't drag at all. The action scenes themselves, in Egypt and at the well, were well-written and gripping.
- I liked the side characters, the monks, Jolene Thomas and Delaney especially.
- I liked the details on the forensics process, the police and MI5 bits involved, which all felt realistic and well researched (and were helpful with my books).
- I did like the variety of POVs, which kept things fresh.
Cons:
- so that was part of why I couldn't care for his character, but he also seemed pretty flat in general. He's very reactive, and the only choice he takes is to continue looking into it all. He's clearly determined, but I wasn't sure I believed the reasons why. He felt more like a plot device than a real person and I didn't like him much.
- there's a couple of points of nasty fatphobia, particularly with the security guard, who the narrative calls a 'slob' and is humiliated and ridiculed within the story because of a stomach upset. That felt cruel.
- It felt unrealistic when Ross challenges a number of faith leaders, Hussam, the Archbishop, the Prior, a monk, etc. about their faith. They all smile calmly in response to his aggravation and that didn't feel realistic. It was like they were all the same person and that because they were the 'good' guys, they took his respect lying down. Even the Vatican bloke was calm when Ross challenged him.
- although nice, the happy ending felt a bit too neat and unrealistic, with all the nasty people dying like it was God's will. Why didn't He step in earlier then?
- there was a distinct lack of women barring Imogen (the unfaithful, chiding wife) and Sally (the love interest/temptress). Neither added anything much to the plot, except for Imogen trying to block him. None of the religious leaders, the government officials, police or scientists or any characters of use were women, except the brief pop-up of Jolene. It was very much a man's book, which suits the theme of Christianity down to the ground, I suppose.
- a fair bit of repetition of information, especially with the science with Jolene, and also with the religious leaders warning Ross. Ross recaps the science multiple times, and the religious leaders say almost exactly the same things to him. Bit annoying.
- the chapters did feel too short at times, flicking from one thing to another and breaking off randomly. It made it a bit disjointed and felt like we were being jerked around.
Overall, a good book that I enjoyed reading. It felt very close to being amazing but messed up at multiple points.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Islamophobia
Minor: Miscarriage, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, and Fatphobia
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