The Jesus Thief [Hardcover]

From the "hook" to the "ending," what an incredibly wonderful and entertaining read. The kind of book one doesn't want to put down. Indepth character development. The reader truly gets to feel and visualize all of the characters and reader empathy for the characters flows throughout. Praise to Ms. Lankford for gradually building the feeling of suspense in the story and for keeping the scientific technicalities to a level that most readers can easily negotiate.

The cloning of Christ has seen many resurrections in recent popular fiction ranging from the purely suspenseful with John Case's Genesis Code to the apocalyptic with Beauseigneur's Christ Clone Trilogy. The "Jesus Thief" crosses the thriller boundary with a predictable story line where the emphasis is on faith and sacrifice rather than dodging the bullets created by a temporarily mad scientist's desire to vanquish the guilt of the Jews with regard to the killing of Christ.

Felix Rossi is the angst-ridden microbiologist and member of a team of international scientists commissioned to study the Shroud of Turin. When he discovers that his late beloved parents were actually Jews who had renounced their heritage to escape Hitler's Europe, Felix runs emotionally amok. Although, he debates the ethical consequences of his actions, he, nevertheless, steals threads from the Shroud, harvests the DNA from dried blood and implants it within the willing body of his loyal yet out-spoken New York maid.

In this regard, Lankford seems to know her stuff, and if all the details are simply imagined, she does a thorough job of specifying procedures and examinations, so much so that I found myself wincing and cringing more than once. However, if Lankford intended her story to be primarily a thriller, this necessity for technical perfection, at times muddles the pace of the book, as do the exacting manifestations of the devout faith all the main characters possess. Felix, his sister and cohort, Frances and Maggie, the modern-day Mary enviably begin each activity however mundane with communications with the Almighty, causing me to wonder whether the story line was meant to convey the power of such simple yet perfect faith rather than masquerade as a vehicle that has possibilities of becoming a feature film or a television movie.

If so, the real strength of Lankford's power as a storyteller does not lie in recreating a Christmas story for the 21st century with themes of racial acceptance (Maggie as an African American contributes a percentage of her gene material to the holy clone), identity crisis (Felix's uncomfortable feelings about his unknown heritage) and scientific ethics (the cloning question is looked at from a variety of aspects in general), but in her uncanny ability to demonstrate love between two unlikely people. The scenes between Sam, the Irish doorman, and Maggie sparkle with honesty, affection and mutual respect yet are infused with so much sexual heat, their passion glows from the page into the reader's soul as if by magic. Brava and encore, Ms. Lankford!

Because the story does border on perfection in these instances, the reader is ultimately let down by the events of the story, revolving around the sacrifice necessary to preserve the life of the great experiment at the expense of all four of the main characters. Instead of triggering an uplifting sense of the future where the knowledge of Christ's 'second coming' should exact some jubilation, the reader empathizes with the resigned attitudes of all the major players. A feeling of doom presages a repeat performance of the first coming 2000 years earlier, as augured by the symbolic usage of the thorns and dogwood cited in the very last paragraph.

The novel's villain, a King Herod-wannabe outwitted by Joseph (Sam the doorman) and guided by a magi of his own fears the birth of the child foretold in an astrological chart, remains a viable threat. Although trounced, he seems ready play a big part in a sequel perhaps currently in the workings where further confrontations with the growing child will prove challenging in a sort of reverse Omen type trilogy.

Recommended to all those who love a retelling of the Nativity story. Subtract a star if you dislike too many pages devoted to medical how-to or if you are a romantic at heart and would have liked a happier ending involving two of the most deserving characters.

Dr. Felix Rossi is a devout Catholic and as this amazing novel opens, about to examine the holy Shroud of Turin. While science has been unable to prove that the ancient burial cloth wrapped his body at death, Dr. Rossi has always believed that it covered the body of Jesus Christ. He has contemplated trying to take a sample from the cloth and using his experience and skills, attempting to clone Jesus Christ. Theoretically it is possible and as he stares at the burial cloth he knows that given the opportunity he would be successful. With the knowledge of a painful family secret having just been revealed to him moments earlier, he makes the impetus move to steal two blood stained threads from the holy cloth.

While he is successful with the theft, he soon discovers that the theft was the easy part. Not only does he have to culture the DNA to the point where he can use it, he also must begin a search for his very own Virgin Mary. At the same time, he must fend off a nosy reporter who suspects the truth from the beginning and deal with powerful forces here and abroad that want to put a stop to his cloning efforts. Along the tumultuous journey, he must also confront his own belief system as well as the repercussion his action set into motion as it shatters those closest to him.

Following up on her novel "The Crowning Circle," J. R. Lankford brings another novel where deeply intense character development moves the work forward. This is an intellectual novel which will bore those looking for a quick read. This is an intriguing novel that repeatedly raises questions of faith and humanity while providing suspense and complicated plotting. How does one define God, the point that life begins, cloning, and what it means to be human are just a few of the many questions raised with no easy answers. There are numerous themes and parallel storylines running throughout the work, which leads to a remarkable ending. This is not a simple work and not easily put down or dismissed after reading it.