The Molech Prophecy
When Pastor Ross asks Tommy, an ex-gang member turned church member, to use his old gang skills to find a missing church secretary, things in Tommy’s life go from mediocre to maddeningly suspicious to mind-blowingly frightful. Thomas Phillips captures this interesting twist in Tommy’s life, in his first Christian novel The Molech Prophecy.” This 259-page paperback will be a pleasure for many older teenagers, while capturing the hearts of adults as well.
Phillips develops his main character gradually with reflective ‘flash-backs’ into his scarred and not-so-pretty past. These flash-backs help to explain much of the personal baggage Tommy wants to leave behind now that he has become born again. But they also describe the significant moments in his life that shaped his outlook on people and circumstances.
Throughout “The Molech Prophecy” Phillips addresses loads of true-to-life struggles that many new Christians face, without being ‘preachy’ or sanctimonious. The desire to leave their past lifestyles and move forward in a new and fresh way, as well as striving to be honorable in work and relationships, maybe for the first time. It also explores the disappointments in failed Christian leadership, stereotyping, and how jumping to judgmental conclusions can be harmful. But no one in “The Molech Prophecy” is spotless, which keeps the book in the real world. Even the Christian characters slip up, lie, hack a computer, and get involved in breaking into a Wiccan Church, all of which they confess they were wrong to do.
Phillips’ approach in the book is almost an upside-down Christianized version of Dan Brown’s fanciful “The Da Vinci Code.” But in “The Molech Prophecy” the bad people are not Catholic clerics trying to hide the truth, but Wiccans who have been hijacked by their priest’s sincere belief in the Molech Prophecy he has been receiving. Still there is conspiracy, dark cover-up, kidnapping, and what almost turns out to be a ritual human sacrifice.
Stylistically, “The Molech Prophecy” is very well written. Thomas Phillips has a great gift for drawing the reader into the story. I found myself excitedly looking forward to each chapter to see how things turned out. The way Phillips writes is fluid, which is seen in the way he expertly develops his story in a seamless fashion. For a first novel, Phillips has set the bar high for himself, and seems to have a promising future ahead of him.
The Molech Prophecy
Whitaker House (2008)
ISBN 9781603740555
Reviewed by for Reader Views (6/08)
Comments