In His Image: Book One of the Christ Clone Trilogy [Mass Market Paperback]

It's the end of life on earth as we know it in this page-turning apocalyptic novel In His Image, the first installment of the Christ Clone Trilogy. Newspaper editor Decker wangles his way onto a scientific expedition that examines the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ. When body cells stuck to the shroud are found to be "alive," they are cloned, and the resulting baby, Christopher, changes the course of history. The book is an interesting mix of fact and fiction (when was the last time you read a novel with footnotes?). There are nice touches of humor, and a dollop of prophetic scripture. It's difficult to peg who's "good" and who's "evil," which admirably sustains the suspense. A good edit might have smoothed some of the rough spots, and the use of bold type for emphasis is distracting. However, those less interested in the nuances of fine literature than in a fast-paced thriller will find that this novel covers all the bases. --Cindy Crosby --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

*Starred Review* BeauSeigneur's In His Image is the first installment of his Christ Clone trilogy, an End Times series that was all but privately published in the late 1990s but that developed a considerable underground following. This is mostly because BeauSeigneur knows how to write, deploying a tough, driving style in perfect cadence. He generates suspense by withholding details. Like a historian of the future, he goes out of his way to show every viewpoint. And, like Tom Clancy, BeauSeigneur throws in technical details about how systems and organizations operate, and since he was formerly a CIA operative, he's persuasive.In His Image begins as an almost scholarly account of scientific examinations of the shroud of Turin in the1970s, all to dissuade you of your disbelief for the cloning of Christopher Goodman from the blood of Christ. Christopher is a bright, lonely kid, entirely sympathetic. You will like this Antichrist. The odd events on the international scene have nothing to do with him, and what happens at the United Nations is entirely reasonable given the circumstances. The sequels are Birth of an Age (terrifying plagues, each given detailed, almost dispassionate, scientifically plausible explanations) and Acts of God (the reign of the Antichrist and the Battle of Armageddon). It's a shame BeauSeigneur had to wait so long for the kind of exposure publication by Warner Books will give him, but on the other hand, the paranoia he evokes is a perfect fit for these times of religious hatred and political terror.

John Mort
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"...a lively three-part novel dramatizing the end times events...BeauSeigneur livens things up with a sci-fi premise" -- The New York Times, December 27, 1998

"...engrossing and ingenious...BeauSeigneur brings a fine mix of scientific, political, and religious knowledge to illuminate this powerful tale." -- Charles Sheffield, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning sci-fi author

"...grabbed me by the throat and never let go...C.S. Lewis couldn't have done it better!" -- Larry Lindner, Editor, Tickled by Thunder --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Based on events surrounding efforts to authenticate the Shroud of Turin, BeauSeigneur takes readers on a brilliantly researched and vividly imagined journey to find whether a forbidden experiment will lead to the Triumph of Man--or the Wrath of God.

I was born in Waltham, MA in 1953. My father was career Army so we moved every two or three years. The first house I remember was Silver Spring, MD, coincidentally, only a dozen miles from where I live now. The most interesting place we lived was Hawaii—1960-1963. When my father retired, we moved to Tennessee, which was my mother's home state. I graduated from high school in Shelbyville, TN in 1971 and began hitch-hiking around the country, mainly for the adventure. In Buffalo, NY and later in Kansas City I ran into "Jesus Freaks," former hippies who had become Christians—they were everywhere back in the early '70s. I met my wife, Geri, in 1972 at a "Christian house" and we were married the following year; we were both 19 years old. I worked in miscellaneous jobs including as a telephone lineman and as a machinist with no real plans for the future. In 1976 I joined the U.S. Army and after a year of intensive language training in Monterey, CA, was assigned to the National Security Agency. While in the Army I completed my B.A. with majors in political science and teaching. I also decided to pursue a political career and in 1980, while still in the Army, I ran for U.S. Congress against incumbent Congressman Albert Gore, Jr. (better known these days as Al Gore). There's a photo of me during that campaign with Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush on the web site at christclonetrilogy.com After leaving the Army in Jan. 1981, I went on to graduate studies at Middle Tennessee State University and then at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where I also taught political science. I stayed active in politics for a few more years as a campaign manager and lobbyist, which is why I ended up back in the Washington, D.C. area. By 1987 I decided that politics was putting too much strain on my family, so I turned my attention to technical writing to pay the bills and started work on The Christ Clone Trilogy to satisfy my creative drives. "The real me:" A broken vessel who is thankful to have, and be bound for far better than I deserve. Favorite books: The first book I ever read—and have reread several times—is 1984 by George Orwell. I also like anything by C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens. Of contemporary authors I tend toward Frank Peretti, Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton. JAMES BEAUSEIGNEUR has been a newspaper publisher, political science teacher at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency. He is the author of numerous newspaper and magazine articles and strategic defense manuals.