Today’s book, Obscurists, is “The Secret of Heaven” by Felix Alexander, a historical religious thriller that revolves around theological controversies that span thousands of years.
***The Non-Spoiler part of this review***
What I love about this book:
Despite not being a religious person myself, I enjoy theological lore, albeit from a strictly literary and historical perspective. Right off the bat with his writing, it’s easy to tell that Alexander is well versed in this subject—more so than I am, at least. Which is one of the chief things I liked about this book because, even though it’s fiction, I got to learn new things.
Undoubtedly a bit of Dan Brown in this book’s DNA, with even a sly nod and wink at Brown’s titular protagonist. Typically, I’m not the biggest fan of that kind of thriller/historical fiction and have to be in an odd humor to pick up such a book. Still, though, I’m glad I picked up “The Secret of Heaven” because it managed to surprise me by grabbing my attention early on and holding it all the way to the end.
There is no denying that it’s an exciting book. The characters are almost always on the move, and even in the rare moments they aren’t, the tension gets ramped up with every scene as more-and-more revelations come to light. This only makes the antagonists of this story even more deadly as they become increasingly desperate to find the lost bible.
Supernatural elements are present in this book, but I really liked how Alexander primarily played them off stage from the main plot.
What I don’t love about this book:
This world is lousy with secret societies doing—whatever secret societies do with their endless amount of free time and resources. I’m skeptical of secret societies in fiction that control the whole worldwide economy because—to put it delicately—people suck at keeping anything secret. So skeptical, in fact, that I find a secret society that has been masterfully kept to the shadows for centuries to be more fantastical than angels or dragons. That’s how little of an opinion I have of people being able to keep a secret.
At the beginning of this novel, which sort of just trails off, amnesia is introduced as a story element, and, yeah, like I said in my “Project Hail Mary” review, it isn’t one of my favorite story devices. In “The Secret of Heaven,” other than obscuring the details of how precisely Aiden’s mentor Lazzaro de Medici died, it doesn’t add much to the story. Basically, it goes, “ugh, who am I?” “You’re Aiden Leonardo, respected Professor of Biblical Studies, and this is your fiancé, who is also a doctor of archaeology, is incredibly beautiful, incredibly talented, incredibly smart, and incredibly fit with martial arts training.” “Oh, yeah, I guess I am Aiden Leonardo.”
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Author’s Website: https://felixalexanderwriter.com/
***The Spoiler part of this review***
***Ye be warned to turn back now***
The quick and dirty synopsis:
Our story begins with the aforementioned amnesia-riddled Aiden finding out from his fiancé that he is the prime suspect in the murder of Lazzaro de Medici, Aiden’s mentor, and adoptive father.