For me, guilty escapist pleasures.
When you notice somebody neglecting their life and business, you think “addiction.” Meaning alcohol, gambling, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines. Well, there are other addictions.
Reading, for some of us, is a life-destroying addiction. “My name is Ieyasu, and I am a reading addict.” Funny, huh? But it happens. Has happened to me, but that is another story. I am here to talk about books, not addictions.
I like biblical thrillers, both on the screen and on paper.
I guess it started with flicks like “The Omen,” or “The Word” or “The Seventh Sign.” There is a whole genre of movies like that, just as there is a post-apocalyptic grunge genre, of which, being a fan, I may write about later.
What I love about the genre are the themes of lost ancient manuscripts that have the potential of revising viewpoints and combating long-nurtured superstitions, of digging into the earth on archaeological treasure hunts, spiced with authentic smidgeons of history, all in a wrapping of excitement and danger.
The first and one of the best biblical thriller novels may have been Irving Wallace’s The Word, published back in the 1960s, which remains a favorite of mine. I also like those written by Daniel Easterman, especially The Seventh Sanctuary.
Steve Berry has written several in the genre, such as The Alexandria Link and The Templar Legacy, as has David Morrell.
And yes, Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code is also in the genre. I was a little disappointed by Brown’s book, finding the villain more an object of pity than a scary wrong-doer. Not a favorite of mine, but an adequate read. Brown’s previous book, Angels and Demons, followed the landmarks of Rome so closely that it should be read with a Boedecker’s near at hand–but the plot had such over-the-top hard to be believed heroics (compare Clive Cussler’s novels) that my overall impression was negative.
Some books masquerading as nonfiction are really biblical thrillers. Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent. Michael Drosnin’s The Bible Code. Good reads, just misclassified.
And some, caveat reader, are really, really bad. From time to time I will try to revise this post and list the books I like.
LeHaye’s left-behind series I have never tried to read, and don’t expect I shall.
