The Messiah Secret [Paperback]

I really enjoyed this book, I thought from the reviews that it was a mistake to read it but I was pleasantly surprised. It started off very intriguing and then moved to more modern times. I was hooked most the time. I am not a big reader of books but for me this was an easy read- and I wanted to read more and more I did not anticipate or predict the ending I was just happy to have a book that was enjoyable. I liked the references to Egypt and then to India. I feel that the end was a bit strange but I figured it was something along those lines. I would recommend this book if you are open minded religiously and just want an easy going read. I am glad I read it very enjoyable and I good little plot.

This was the first book by this author that I have read. The story is a kind of archaeological detective story and moves at a brisk pace . My attention was held and the book is well written . The two heroes on the search for the secret of the title are a divorced couple , a worker for the British Museum and her ex husband ,a detective in the Kent Police . A thing that irritated me somewhat and began to grate was the big part the woman plays in the story ,although she has hardly any experience unlike the detective who is well used to investigations of the kind here . However, it is her that has all the say and she comes across as a real know-all !
There have been a lot of novels of this kind and they all follow the same course of having a go at Christianity.
That is fair enough and it sells books . However the secret revealed at the conclusion of this book made me wince as I am a Christian and if I believed this I would not be able to believe or have any faith at all.
Nevertheless I recommend the book as a good read even if the end of the book left me somewhat dispirited .

I actually enjoyed reading this book despite the many flaws, and found it hard to put down; but there are so many flaws I feel I need to defend my own beliefs. If you are going to bash a religion - the at least get the details right!

Firstly the red herring that is through most of the book is useless as the title makes you guess the secret from near the beginning; so the author lost any suspense through trying to gain readers. This did spoil the book for me as there was no suspense... but I kept reading.

Secondly I agree with other reviewers that the woman knew far more than was reasonable and to keep the plot we had to trawl through so much information. And why would a loyal mercenary suddenly turn on his long-term employer just because he suddenly gets a bit squeamish of violence... not sure.

Thirdly, and most importantly for me was the Christian context. Anyone who has a strong faith can cope with challenges to it so I don't mind reading anti-Christian books as long as they are reasonable. but there are so many flaws that people who don't know much about this will not realise.

The negative portrayal of the passionately religious priest did not tally with his love of violence - to murder people to keep a vital secret is one thing but to use and archaic form of torture for no real reason seems only Catholic-bashing; however - I also found it a bit pointless about the Priest as if this secret was true and he believed it then the foundation of faith crumbles and his faith would shatter rather than him trying to just keep the secret for the sake of the religion. It doesn't make sense.

Furthermore, the notes at the end justifying the author's point of view were crucially selective and inaccurate. Everyone now accepts that Christmas was not in December but using a local pagan celebration; most people know that the modern image of Jesus is just fantasy, and he was a small Jewish man of no particular looks - as it already says in the bible; the loss of the years as he grew up are attributed to the fact that he took a parental role in his family until they were of an age to look after the mother and younger children himself - why does he need to be away travelling; lots of stories in the bible include mundane things like raising families and sheep herding.

Most importantly about Jesus' death/resurrection: As this is the foundation stone of Christianity - why would anyone follow him if he had just been partially crucified. The whole point was that the disciples were terrified of being caught themselves and hid - but suddenly something changed them and they became assertive and unafraid. What might do this? The selective texts - believing in the miracles but not the death and resurrection is a little far-fetched - the bible says clearly that he was tortured by the soldiers, so it is unsurprising that he did not last long on the cross - people even died just through the scourging; and the bible clearly says that there was proof that he was dead because the soldier speared him and his blood had already separated into water and blood, proving his death. Also because of the Sabbath the next day - the soldiers were hurrying up the deaths by breaking the legs of the victims - and the bible clearly says this was not done to Jesus as it fulfilled one of the prophesises about him from the Old Testament; so this is an important detail for Christians.

Selective belief seems strange - either you believe in the miracles of the bible - in which case rising from the dead is only one more; or you think Jesus was only a good preacher and a fraud. You can't have it both ways.

Shame it is a trendy thing to religion-bash; but if you are going to do it to sell books - then at least do it knowledgably!