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Get ready for a journey of epic
proportions--rather, cosmic proportions. This book is a little treasure, a
marvel. This is an adventure, a comedy, a tragedy, a turbulent odyssey and
a peaceful stroll. Most of all, this is a love story like no other I have
ever read. A new kind of love story. I'll see you inside...
--Michael O'Brien
Author of Father Elijah
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They're Both Right
***
Both those who loved this book and
those who hated it are right.
This book is not Dante, it is not Dostoevsky, it is not Dickens, it is not
even John Grisham on a bad day. I'm guessing that the writing is probably
on a level with a lot of the trashy novels that you see around the airport
(though I have to confess that I've never read any of them--one novel by
Grisham or Mitchener every decade or so is about as much time as I can
stand to waste).
That being said, a lot of people LOVED this book. I read it when a fellow
Catholic pressed it into my hands and told me that it was the best novel
she had ever read and that I HAD to read it. Even though I winced at some
of the writing, I did find the book to be a page turner, and it was
exhilarating for me, and I'm sure for many others, to read an action
adventure story that is based on an overtly Catholic view of both the
spiritual and material realms.
Vincent DiCarlo
(from amazon.com) |
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...refreshingly different approach...
End time and apocalyptic thrillers are
all the rage these days. Most of them are focused on various Rapture
scenarios or the imminent rise of an Anti-Christ. The phenomenal
popularity of the Left Behind series has many other writers, agents and
publishers scrambling to capture lightning in a bottle.
The refreshingly different approach of Pierced by a Sword, by Bud
MacFarlane Jr. (Saint Jude Media) is all the more enhanced because of
this. This is a near-future thriller with prophetic implications coming
from a different direction. The author is unabashedly Catholic and the
plot revolves around visions and messages from Heaven based on the
revelations from the Virgin Mary. It would be a mistake to reduce it to
just a Marian theme, however. It’s also wrong to write off the storyline
as appealing only to Roman Catholics. On the contrary, the story is
riveting and the characters come from a variety of backgrounds, some
grounded in a strong faith, others caught up in the events and grappling
with the meaning of it all while struggling with personal, spiritual and
materialistic quests.
All the heroes of the story are not immediately apparent. Several have a
great deal of conflict to resolve and redemption comes in different ways.
A hard drinking and smoking financial trader, a high-rolling drug dealer
about to crash, a wise-cracking priest with a penchant for rubbing his
superiors the wrong way, a beautiful unwed pregnant woman, a high ranking
Mormon official, an Irish Pope who drives his own car and travels in
disguise, a cigar chomping tycoon, a former NFL great, and a college
professor from Notre Dame and expert on Marian apparitions: these are some
of the characters involved in the unfolding plot of cosmic proportions.
You may find yourself identifying specifically with one or more key
players.
All good fiction is a combination of characters so real you identify with
them and a story thick with conflict and trouble. This book delivers both
and makes for a page turner. Anticipation at every chapter end kept me
enthralled. It’s also difficult to predict what will happen so I found
myself thinking about the book and its characters when I was away from the
reading. This had the combined impact of keeping me caring about those
characters and also thinking about the themes of the book. This is how
evangelistic fiction becomes truly effective.
-- Tom Gilbert
from
www.livingthesolution.com
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This is my all-time, number one favorite
book in the world!
*****
I have little if any time to read.
Someone left this book in a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament was
exposed. I started to read it, and suddenly I was finding time to read. I
couldn't stop. I was up most nights unable to put it down. The story is
wonderfully told, rock solid, unpredictable, human, with characters very
easy to relate to. This book changed my life. It's as simple as that. I'm
giving copies to everyone I know (I don't share mine because I keep
rereading it and it is getting quite worn). I believe Bud McFarlane, Jr.
did such a phenomenal job with his first novel because he allowed the Holy
Spirit to work through him. I also have read "Conceived Without Sin" and
loved it. Now I can't wait for Bud McFarlane, Jr. to write a third book!
Jeff Matthews
(from amazon.com) |
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