Mystical Paths (Hardcover)

I won't reiterate the plot here, since other reviewers have done it well. I will just say that this book has elements that many readers will likely find enjoyable for pure fun reading: demonic possession, exorcism, mystery, and suspense. There are also complex elements for the reader that likes more meat to a story:guilt, pride, vocation, growing up, and parental relation complexs.

My only very tiny complaint about this book is that in a few places it bogs down a bit, though it does tend to recover quickly. Overall, though, I highly recommend this book and will be seeking out the other titles in this series.

In spite of Nick's charms I wasn't entirely captivated by this book. I never really developed an interest in Christian and couldn't quite follow Nick's fascinationwith him. Also I found the psychic-occult element a little tedious this time around; it had been dealt with adequately in Glamorous Powers, I felt. Nevertheless it's an important part of the series and it was wonderful getting to know Nick, and witnessing the love between him and Jon.

Set in 1968, when the previous modern certainties of the stability of church and society were crumbling, the story of Nicholas Darrow shows us both the tearing conflicts within one man's life, where his faith is overshadowed by his intense tendency to use his psychic gifts for power and manipulation, and the overall despair of a world which seemed totally unstable. The popular crowd who form secondary characters deteriorate rapidly from a privileged and party-loving group into addiction, mental illness, suicide, murder, or desperate, even pathological, promiscuity.

The main characters, Nicholas and his father Jonathan Darrow, both possess rare psychic gifts, and their inability to see situations clearly in relation to one another stems from the mutual belief that the son is a replica of his father. The differences, which manage to pointedly reflect the times as well, are drastic. Where Jonathan, whose insight and wisdom are clear in the various novels of the series in which he appears, is grounded in Christian mysticism, Nicholas has fallen into a gnostic approach, which he sees as superior, and his manifestation of psychic power is frighteningly manipulative in its various plot depictions. Though father and son have certain common weaknesses, Jonathan is sustained by classic mystic theology and monastic experience, where Nicholas (until his own turning point) cannot except the elements of conversion, and, despite giving them a Christian flavour in his own mind, engages in displays of (mostly apparent) unusual powers that seem close to sorcery.

Lovers of the series will find that action in this book enlightens the portrayals of characters who appear elsewhere. For example, the full consequences of the tragedy involving Venetia Flaxton, which is set in 1963 in Scandalous Risks, are sadly clear in this 1968 setting. Readers who know Charles Ashworth from other novels undoubtedly will feel Nicholas's frustration keenly when, in his turning to Charles for assistance, one who might be expected to be comforting and wise is quite the contrary because he has decided what Nicholas is trying to say without giving him a chance to speak. The same Lewis Hall who, in other volumes, will be invaluable to Ashworth and, much later, rather exasperating in a joint healing ministry with Nick, is here "at his best," a strength for both Nicholas and Jonathan.

It is unfortunate that most of the action in this book involves elaborately staged dramatic, which can obscure the essential themes even if it delivers certain key messages powerfully. However, in the outcome it is an exceptional depiction of the hard path to self-knowledge (from which even wise spiritual guides of 88 find constant), resolution of internal conflict, providence and, ultimately, redemption.