Book Review: The Paradise Prophecy
The Paradise Prophecy
By: Robert Browne
Published By: Dutton Adult
Publication Date: July 21, 2011
Buy it at Amazon or IndieBound
Source: Provided by Publisher
Audience: Adult
Review By: Patrick, a Guest Reviewer
I'm not one of the regular reviewers here at ReadingLark but I was asked by my wife Andrea to read and review The Paradise Prophecy by Robert Browne. If you've read the blurbs or other reviews and the book sounded like another DaVinci Code, you are partially right. Browne's novel is cut from the same cloth but maintains a unique perspective. This is a good read for anyone that enjoys espionage and intrigue with a heavy dose of the supernatural thrown in for good measure or anyone who happens to be my high school english teacher that loved John Milton.
Browne's novel is conceptually solid. The premise is unique enough that it doesn't read like a rehash of the other similar novels that have been floating around for the past 10 years. My biggest criticism is the pacing. The novel reads in a very uneven fashion. At times, Browne works hard to develop a cast of interesting characters and does an admirable job. At other times, the story felt rushed as if we were trying to quickly get somewhere else in the story that was more important to Browne.
Ultimately, Browne's care and feeding of his characters rescues the book from the uneven pace. The morally grey cast of pseudo-heroes keeps the reader engaged and wondering what chance they have to right cosmic events.
A spectacular thriller inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost in which the final chapter of the War in Heaven is about to play out on Earth, with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance.
The Myth
When God cast the archangel Satan into Hell, ending the War in Heaven, peace prevailed on Earth. Until the fallen angels took revenge in the Garden of Eden. Ever since, mankind has been in a struggle between good and evil, paradise and apocalypse: the fall of Rome, The Crusades, World Wars, nuclear proliferation, the Middle East Crisis... The War in Heaven never really ended-it just changed venues. For millennia, God's angels have been fighting Satan's demons on Earth, all in hopes of bringing about Satan's greatest ambition, the Apocalypse.
The Reality
Satan has never been closer to his goal than right now.
Agent Bernadette Callahan is a talented investigator at a shadowy government organization known only as Section, on the trail of a serial killer with nearly supernatural abilities. Sebastian "Batty" LaLaurie is a religious historian who knows far too much about the other side- and that hard-earned knowledge is exactly what Callahan needs. This unlikely duo pair up for a race across the globe, decoding clues left in ancient texts from the Bible to Paradise Lost and beyond. In the process they stumble upon a vast conspiracy-one beyond the scope of mankind's darkest imagination.
The Myth
When God cast the archangel Satan into Hell, ending the War in Heaven, peace prevailed on Earth. Until the fallen angels took revenge in the Garden of Eden. Ever since, mankind has been in a struggle between good and evil, paradise and apocalypse: the fall of Rome, The Crusades, World Wars, nuclear proliferation, the Middle East Crisis... The War in Heaven never really ended-it just changed venues. For millennia, God's angels have been fighting Satan's demons on Earth, all in hopes of bringing about Satan's greatest ambition, the Apocalypse.
The Reality
Satan has never been closer to his goal than right now.
Agent Bernadette Callahan is a talented investigator at a shadowy government organization known only as Section, on the trail of a serial killer with nearly supernatural abilities. Sebastian "Batty" LaLaurie is a religious historian who knows far too much about the other side- and that hard-earned knowledge is exactly what Callahan needs. This unlikely duo pair up for a race across the globe, decoding clues left in ancient texts from the Bible to Paradise Lost and beyond. In the process they stumble upon a vast conspiracy-one beyond the scope of mankind's darkest imagination.
Thanks for the review Patrick!
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