Creed brings to the plate a
meticulously implemented series of events of our very near future upon the
basis of how things are going on in these current times, taking on a
biblical theme ala the Left Behind series, but taken away are the
stereotypical end times chronology of events that you’d find in the sermons
of many preachers…..you know, that point A to point B scenario of the
Rapture first, a succession of fulfilled prophecies second, the
Anti-Christ’s rise to power, that sort of thing. Here, as another reviewer
put it, is a more Matrix kind of premise that mixes political climate
with the computer age. That’s not to say the whole biblical apocalypse
isn’t part of the scheme…..after all, this is part of a series…..it’s
just that it’s not the case with this work.
This vision incorporates a
unified global government that outlaws radical religions such as
Christianity and sends Christians to places where they get their minds
corrected to where they can be placed back into conformed society again once
they’re rehabilitated. The ones keeping the faith have gone underground and
fight the establishment with its own technology and a extremely heightened
awareness of the one true God through a technological process that makes
their eyes gold in color. When they confront the establishment in very
action-packed gun-shooting all-balls-out episodes, the “Body of Christ,” as
the Christian terrorist underground movement calls itself, implements upon
their adversaries non-lethal firepower, putting their human foes to sleep
rather than killing them.
A young brother and sister
are catapulted into a situation where, after finding themselves immersed
with the underground Body of Christ, being Christians as well whose parents
end up getting captured by law enforcement and sent to brain-washing
establishments to become reformed, become prominent fixtures in their
militant pro-Christ movement to such an extent they become virtual legends
and make the government’s top-something most wanted list.
This sucker is way too
preachy for me, with scriptural insights inserted into the storyline that
could have been better integrated by Creed some other way…..I know not how,
because there’s almost no further room for preachiness and the book would
explode in your face and ooze all over your hands as you read it in regards
to its abundance of religious persuasion even if a majority of it was indeed
shrouded in some way. That aside, it’s impossible to see any other way
around Creed’s liberal dosage of expression of faith and its integration so
deep into this vision. Like I said, it gives it character, character like
you wouldn’t believe.
Isolating and addressing the author’s ability to tell a story though, Creed
has proved himself more than a capable writer by this work alone, and I
believe this piece of his that I’m reviewing here will be a signature book
for him in his blossoming career and forever. It’s executed with that
distinct sort of author personality that makes one able to tell it’s Frank
Creed who’s writing, versus multitudes of other authors who have yet to
achieve the distinction between one writer and another.
Being preachy about one’s
faith ain’t all that bad, however, this coming from a believer myself who
tends to metaphor everything with writing material less family-friendly.
The real deal here is that Frank Creed writes well, and two sets of readers
will really dig this work: both the Sci-fi die-hard and any single
church-going believer in the country. In this regard, Frank Creed has
potentially got it made, just gotta keep going at it, and he’ll get it, sure
as the end of the world.
