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The Testament
 
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The Testament (Mass Market Paperback)

by Eric Van Lustbader (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
List Price: CDN$ 10.99
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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Lustbader (The Bourne Legacy) jumps on the Da Vinci Code bandwagon with this high-octane but familiar tale of yet another lost gospel that would rock the Catholic world. This time, the secret for which the faithful are not prepared is that Jesus was restored to life by "The Quintessence," the mysterious fifth element, rather than by divine assistance. Competing secret factions, of course, pursue this substance, with its promise of eternal life, plus a fragment of the Testament of Jesus Christ, which confirms its existence. The cloak-and-dagger war draws in Bravo Shaw, a medieval scholar whose father was a secret member of the centuries-old Order of the Gnostic Observatines before the repressive Knights of St. Clement murdered him. With the help of Jenny Logan, another Gnostic Observatine agent, Bravo dodges death and betrayal every few pages. Dan Brown fans who like their thrillers dressed up with research and ingenious puzzles won't find much of that here, but the action-packed story will keep them turning the pages anyway. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


From AudioFile

Eric Conger does his best to make Van Lustbaders novel more than it is--yet another story about an ancient religious order that exists only to protect some dreadful secret that could bring down the modern Church. Conger goes through verbal gymnastics as he produces a United Nations of accents and gives each character a credible voice. But not even his efforts can disguise this boilerplate plot of a man who finds himself embroiled in conflict as he solves impossible puzzles that lead to a cache of secret stuff. Along the way, he falls in love with a beautiful woman. On the creepy side, the woman is his late fathers mistress, and they fall in love in 8.2 seconds. Yeah, sure. M.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Strong Page-Turning Beginning That Trails Off, April 11 2007
This review is from: The Testament (Hardcover)
Let me begin by commenting that I normally enjoy Mr. Lustbader's books more than I did this one and that I have never read any books by Dan Brown. So my perspective is on this story and this book in the context of having been a Lustbader fan for some time.

As the book opens with a prologue in which two Christian groups are battling over ancient secrets held by one of the two groups in 1442. Just as the action seems about to be resolved, the prologue ends leaving you hanging a bit. Then the book shifts to the present day in New York City where a father, Dexter Shaw, has a desperate need to reconcile with his estranged son, Braverman ("Bravo"). When the two meet, Bravo won't listen and the father goes off to his death. But Dexter leaves a legacy for Bravo in the form of his involvement with one of the two Christian groups and a puzzle hunt that extends over three continents. In the course of the search, Bravo comes to know his father better and sees those around him differently. You can think of Bravo's journey through this book as a modern-day quest for the metaphorical Holy Grail.

I had several problems with this book.

First, I thought that it was gratuitously obnoxious to come up with a plot built around alchemy being true while Christianity isn't. Had I fully appreciated that was the basis of the story, I wouldn't have opened the book. My assumption was that Mr. Lustbader was going to focus instead on some small doctrinal point about which many current Christian groups dispute. Wrong!

Second, there's a central flaw in the story that makes the plot seem senseless. Dexter was aware of all but one of his primary foes, yet in setting up the quest little was done to provide proof that would have better prepared Bravo.

Third, Mr. Lustbader turns the investment banking/biblical scholar Bravo into a fighting and killing machine. I don't think so. It didn't make sense.

Fourth, the story drags on much too long after the key elements have been revealed. I found myself yawning through about the last 100 pages to get to the conclusion. I wish I had skipped that material and just read the last few pages.

There are a number of good points about the story. There is a clear attempt to build on a sound historical basis for much of the potential conflict. There are lots of interesting escape routes. The puzzles are interesting at first, and aren't dwelt on too much even after they become boring. The parts of the story that I find obnoxious aren't mentioned very much.

I rated the book as a three, which to me meant about a four for the first 160 pages, a three for the next 160 pages, and a two for the last 160 pages.

If you are a committed Christian, I suggest that you skip the book in order to avoid seeing your faith treated scornfully in the story.
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