Überraschend gelungener Thriller im Wander- und TV-Prediger-Milieu, angenehm trocken und auf den Punkt. Sean Chercover werde ich im Auge behalten! ( )

Daniel Byrne is a priest attached to the Office of the Devil's Advocate at the Vatican. That's the office that argues the negative case in the process of approving a new Catholic saint. (Christopher Hitchens most famously was a Devil's Advocate in the examination of Mother Theresa.)

Father Byrne is charged with investigating reports of miracles around the globe. It is completely unclear how he came to be in this job after only four years in the priesthood, if we are to believe the math in the book, but that's the story. Father Byrne is one of the Church's best investigators, cleverly tracking down false claims wherever they arise, but he keeps an open mind, always hoping against hope that some day he will find a miracle that will prove that God acts in our world.

Well, one day he finds one. The uncle who raised him, Tim Trinity, now the leader of a Pentecostal mega church, is delivering prophesies on TV. Father Byrne is sent to investigate and is knocked for a loop by the power of memory as he is thrown back into his childhood following his con artist uncle from revival to revival extracting cash from sinners. But when he meets his uncle he finds a changed man. One who really seems to be speaking prophesies. What is going on? How is he managing the con? Why would God's chosen predict horse races?

The mob, understandably upset at the prospect of gambling losses, blows up Tim's church and Daniel hits the road with uncle Tim in tow. But the mob isn't the most dangerous foe, the church doesn't want Tim's story told either.

I think the book would have been pretty good if Mr. Chercover had left it at that but he brings in another thread, two opposing secret organizations (think Masons or Templars), one seeming good, one seeming evil, to carry us into the trilogy. I think this thread drags the book down unnecessarily.

I received a review copy of "The Trinity Game: The Daniel Byrne Trilogy, Book 1" by Sean Chercover (Thomas & Mercer) through NetGalley.com. ( )

Non mi ha preso, non è brutto ma non è il mio genere. ( )

Daniel Byrne is a priest, used by the Vatican to investigate miracles.
Unfortunately for him, he's a bit too honest when it doesn't pay to do so, so it looks like he will be sidelined, until he gets a chance to redeem himself by exposing his uncle, a TV evangelist who has been exhibiting some very strange characteristics.
The closer he looks at the things, the more it seems that his uncle's miraculous characteristics might just be real. Unfortunately, this does not suit anyone--government or church. ( )

100% over the top thriller, but hugely entertaining. There is need to suspend disbelief to gain maximum enjoyment. Starts as if it is an updated "Devil's Advocate' but then revs up and veers off into a well researched tale of TV evangelist who may become a tool of God, or not. Lots about the impact, then & now, of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, which grabbed my sympathy. I will certainly look for Sean Chercover, both his backlist and what comes next. ( )