Customer Reviews

In His Image

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

The previous reviewer (a reader from Pennsauken, NY) quotes a line from IN HIS IMAGE. He even does it correctly. But he fails to notice that the book states that the narrative starts "20 years ago." Thus the "then-current method(s)" refers to dating methods available in 1983 not what was done in 1988. The reviewer also fails to notice that on the page BEFORE the quoted line, BeauSeigneur himself refers to the 1988 C-14 tests, both in the narrative AND in a footnote.

The Christ Clone Trilogy is fiction, but it is among the best researched an presented fiction written in any genre. Before the reader from Pennsauken slams a book, he should do more than skim the text.

In the first few pages of this book published in 2003,we are informed "Every type of nondestructive test that Decker could imagine was included. One experiment that had been rejected was carbon 14 dating, because the then-current method would have required that a large piece of the Shroud be destroyed to yield an accurate measurement."
And yet in the real world Samples were taken from the Shroud on 21 April, 1988, and given to laboratories in Arizona, Oxford and Zurich for testing where it has been proven beyond any reasonable
doubt (notice the word reasonable, not nutball), that the shroud was a fraud worked up around the 14th century.
That kind of kills my interest in this gibberish right at the start of the 'novel'. If Christian literature is ever going to escape the big-foot, UFO category, these folks are going to have to start paying attention to reality a little bit more.

I wrote this review hastily....and didn't really give the author the credit I was intending...so I have revised it....

I normally avoid modern thriller fiction....especially modern 'you can read this during in-flight service from Boston to D.C.' - and for some reason I keep feeling the need to remind myself why by reading modern thriller fiction.....

So here we go. Great Premise! That is what earned my three star rating of the book...just the premise. A journalist finds himself enlisted to a team of scientists who attempt to carbon-date the Shroud of Turin, the burial cloth said to be embossed with the image of Christ. One scientist removes dna samples (via fibers left on the shroud)and uses them to clone Christ....or so it would seem.

Flash forward years later, where the hot premise is dropped like a hot potato...and the book becomes little more than the average, dime-a-dozen political/war books...and many do it more effectively. The author is to be commended for going back and revising the book since the original publication to include such incidents as September 11th, the War on Terror, and the slaying of journalist Daniel Pearl....but after finishing the book....it seems like his effort is wasted in trying to put a shiny coating on a permanently dulled floor.

The characters are perhaps a bit more interesting than your usual Tom Clancy Rogues gallery, but are lost amidst the nuclear bombs, political maneuvering, and usurping of authority that comprise three quarters of this book.

Dull, dull, dull...except for those rare moments when Christopher Goodman, the 'clone' of Christ, displays his 'powers'. Other than that....the story loses grip on what interested me in the first place. Knowing that it is book one of a trilogy (and now knowing from the author himself that it was originally one large text) and knowing that the author has revised the story since initial publication....perhaps those revisions could have included more evidence of Christopher's powers being put to test/use, and a little more focus on what I assume is intended to be the main focus of the story, a clone of Christ??

Sorry to say, but (for me) this only served as a good reminder as to why I usually stick to the classics for a good story....with rare exception. The book is well written, I give it that....but I am a sucker for good in-depth characterization and this story just fails to deliver that for me. I have been encouraged to continue on in the trilogy, by the author, and perhaps some day I might. For anyone interested in a timely topic (cloning) and political/military/war intrigue, this will interest you.

I realize, given the tone of many reviews on this page, that this book is intended more for a Christian crowd. I was raised Christian, but I am of the agnostic bend of atheism; i.e., I believe that if there is a 'Greater Power', then no religion has managed to properly describe it.

That being said, I approached this novel with an open mind, knowing real well that a book about the clone of Jesus Christ would have a, shall we say, specifically Christian worldview. This is my biggest advice to any non-Christian picking up this book: take it as a fantasy with its own, fundamentalist Christian internal logic. Don't expect revelations about other religions.

Even with that in mind, some aspects of the book shocked me a little. For instance, there is quite a lot of wishful thinking on the part of the author when he describes a Rabbi converting to Jesus Christ from a passage in the Torah. It's also somewhat amusing to see how inoffensive USA is in the events that unfold, when compared to the omnious role the UN seems poised to undertake; it feels right out of a right-wing conspiracy theory. Finally, the distribution of people 'saved' by the Rapture (i.e., a lot of rural US, very few in Europe, a very low number in Israel) made me chuckle by how unabashedly it sticks to fundamentalist cliches. Oh, and did I mention that one of the 'bad guys' is French and most likely homosexual? (This was hinted at in a very subtle manner near the end of the book.)

But past all this, I found a lot to enjoy in this book. For starters, it's very well-researched. The expedition to Turin at the beginning of the book was gripping because it stuck so close to real events, and kept me reading when the book became less plausible. There's a lot of footnotes in this book, meant to underline Bible passages in many parts, that I didn't care about; they seemed to get in the way of the story. And the author's insistence in footnotes about reminding us not to assume characters say the truth when they contradict a statement from the Bible took a lot away from the suspense by making me guess, halfway through, what is supposed to be a big shock in Book 2.

All in all, In His Image was enjoyable for its strong premise and its deep research, but I needed to remind myself than the author and his target readership took things for granted than were a bit irritating to me. That's fine, I'm sure it's the same problem for Christians who read books more aligned with my worldview. I could have done with better writing all around, as BeauSeigneur tends to enumerate instead of describing, which made the whole book sound like a very amateur endeavor.

If you're a firm believer in Christ and find nothing offensive in a fantasy where Jews convert massively to Jesus when they read the proper passage from the Torah, then pick this book, the story and tone will please you. If you're atheist, you might enjoy it as a Christian fantasy, like I have. If you're Jewish or Buddhist or into New Age, don't pick up this book unless you have a strong sense of humor.

I was very impressed by these three books. I am not religious and read these out of curiosity. I enjoyed them very much. I cared a lot about Decker and I found that his character was well developped. I think that wether you are a believer or not, you will find this story fast-paced and well written.

Enjoy!

I just finished Acts of God (Book 3) last night. The Christ Clone Trilogy was the best set of books I have ever read. The way the author weaved fiction, prophecy and science together into a coherent and compelling story was absolutely brilliant. When I was going through The Birth of An Age (Book 2) and Christopher was presenting his case, I was truly troubled. My wife asked why I was reading a book like this. Christopher's case was so compelling. But, I told her that during any trial, you have to hear both sides of the case and this was only the prosecution's. I stuck it out and I am glad I did. If you decide to pick up this series, read the author's warning at the beginning and commit to stick it out until the end of the third book.

The books, while fictional, helped me with a lot of questions. Why does God allow this to continue? What is HaSatan's motivation for causing such misery? What will heaven be like? And on and on... I have been a Christian for 30 years and read tons of theology. These books helped me form a little better picture of what the world is really like and where we're all headed.

On the one hand, this book has a lot of flaws. I found it very hard to read, and had to take frequent breaks to get back with the game. But I read it, and I'm going to buy the next book. I don't understand that contradiction any more than you do.

The dialogue is written as though the author was still learning the craft. He has a tendency to bundle together punctuation marks as though he were writing a comic book script (?!). This People speak in well-wrought complete sentences, and at key moments, every line is heavy with portent. Dialogue-heavy sections are kind of hard to get through.

The narrative hopscotches over long periods of time. Chapter headings will begin with "Eight Years Later," like the title card in a Flash Gordon serial. And a lot of narrative is wrapped in long character monologues, the kind of speech science fiction editors deride as "Well, You See, Timmy..."

Author James BeauSeigneur knows a lot of facts regarding the Bible, exigetical research, Jewish national history, and scientific research regarding holy relics. He throws these facts in, but feels the need to footnote everything, as though this were his doctoral thesis. Unless BeauSeigneur doesn't trust his audience, why would he pepper his novel with source notes? There are sixty-six footnotes in the book, including no less than two that simply urge readers not to kill the messenger.

If this book weren't carried forward by the idea of a living clone of Jesus Christ from the Shroud of Turin, I doubt any respectable publisher would have touched it. Yet it IS about that idea. And the consideration is so thoroughly in keeping with contemporary social and political impetus that we can imagine a cloned Jesus might indeed behave in the way depicted if he came along in this day and age (though with more organic dialogue).

The viewpoint character is Decker Hawthorne, a sometime journalist turned political operative, who through a bizarre quirk of events comes to be the warden of Christopher Goodman, who was cloned from biological traces left on the Shroud of Turin. The plot is Gordian in its convolutions, and there's a strong sense that it's setting up for the next book rather than telling its own story. Yet the setup is complex enough that, if you take enough aspirin breaks, it will hold your attention just fine.

The book is somehow awful, yet it's compelling enough that I intend to buy the next book. I don't understand. Neither will you, but you'll read this one and go on to the next as well.

I came across this title as I was reading the mediocre reviews for the Left Behind series. For whatever reason I was in the mood to read an "End of Days" novel (who knows why?). I found the concept of "In His Image" intriguing so I ordered the book. After finishing it I can say it is a fantastic read; thoroughly researched, fast paced, and very suspenseful. In all honesty I was expecting an average piece of fundamentalist propaganda disguised as a fiction piece. Instead the book truly did read like a Tom Clancy novel but with a realistic science fiction edge to it. What impressed me with the story was how convincing the world politics parts of the story were handled. Everything in the book seems very plausible in today's geo-political climate. Even the theory/story behind the cloning of Jesus was somewhat believable.

After reading the first third of the book I went out and ordered books 2 and 3. That's how good I think it is. In fact I'll probably read them back-to-back. Highly recommended.

PS I'm not hardcore religious but I know that there are people who are. If those people are offended at the cloning concept of the book I respectfully request that you give the book a shot (even if you approach it as a pure science fiction novel). I think you'll be entertained.

All I can say is this beats everything out there to dust. Left Behind is nothing compared to Christ Clone Trilogy!

"In his Image" is by far the most entertaining book I've ever read. James BeauSeigneur does a marvelous job of creating a story that both maintains suspense and fulfills end time phophecy in an amazingly plausible way. Current day philosophical opinions, scientific theories, religions and world views are used perfectly together to weave a story that keeps you turning the pages. I even found myself reading the Bible to guess where the story might go next. After I finished reading all the books in "The Christ Clone Trilogy" I did my own research on some of the topics covered in the book and it's scary how some of the things the "bad guys" do/believe are based on actual people in positions of power. It's a highly entertaining book in the most chilling of ways.