Customer Reviews

The Departed: A Novel

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Kathryn Mackel's novel The Departed is the best new work I have read since I've been reviewing novels.
The Departed has a very large cast, but comes down principally to three people: Joshua Lazarus, a struggling magician who has either stumbled onto the greatest scam of all time or a doorway to unimaginable evil; his wife Maggie, a co-dependant survivor of abuse with serious trust issues; and Penn Roper, an ex-government operator who burns with a fire that seems to have been smoldering for a long time and is just fanned by the events of this book.
There are many more people in this book, which confused me a little at the beginning (but then I'm always a little slow with names). Not to give anything away, but so many of the characters (who I thought were going to be major players in the narrative) are killed off in the early going of the book that I began to wonder if Mackel was going to have anyone left to finish the story with. Not to worry; there's plenty of story for everyone.
As to story-line, The Departed is about an egocentric but struggling young magician (Lazarus) who hears a woman contemplating suicide on a pier one night. Realizing she is a famous but has-been movie star and guessing (correctly) at the source of her grief, when he sees her at his performance the next night he pretends to channel her ex-lover. The woman is moved by his performance and uses the remains of her clout in the entertainment industry to propel Joshua Lazarus to the forefront of the national stage as someone who can talk to the dead (she believes in him). While the core of his presentation is still sleight-of-hand, Joshua begins to believe he really does have a connection to "the other side".
As Joshua ascends the heights of fame, his wife-whose whole life has been centered on him-finds herself pushed out of the spotlight. When she befriends some Christians and begins to share their faith, she struggles to reconcile Christianity with her husband's profit from the occult. Meanwhile, a man who was trained by the government in the arts of covert ops suffers a horrible personal tragedy which he believes to be the fault of Joshua Lazarus. Using all his skills and resources, Penn Roper determines to make Joshua Lazarus suffer as much as possible.
The Departed is a book that treads where few Christian novels go. Most of the characters, especially in the early going, aren't just unsaved, they're warped-evil, even. (To the world, though, most of them will just seem like good folks with strange interests.) Mackel, through the course of the book, makes it clear what the Biblical point of view regarding these attitudes and pursuits is with great skill (i.e. without the heavy-handed moralizing it would have been so easy to inject). It becomes very clear who the "bad guys" are and where the only real source of good comes from.
The writing is excellent. Mackel keeps the story moving at a furious pace without resorting to the cheap literary trick of incomplete sentences which masquerades as taut pacing in so many current novels (especially Christian novels). Mackel reminds the reader that writing well need not mean writing fast.

Kathryn Mackel is a great writer. I read a lot, and expertise shows. I was pulled into this story and caught up in a heartbeat. The characters are engaging, the plot suspenseful, and the issues? All too real and very important. You won't want to miss this one!

From the opening line where Maggie clutches a note from her husband that declares, "It's finished..." until the final page, this book grips the reader's emotions. Labeled on the cover as "A Christian Chiller," Kathryn Mackel plunges her characters into desperation followed by deeper desperation. It makes for page-turning fiction.

Magician Joshua Lazarus, his young wife Maggie, and his sister Geneva have been struggling to make a living and travel in an old camper. The trio is nearly on their last dollar. Out on the beach late at night, Lazarus rescues a wealthy and depressed former actress, Julia Madsen, from committing suicide, through listening to the "spirits."

The magic show is transformed into a new television program called "The Other Side," where Joshua listens to the spirits and speaks for them. The show becomes an instant hit and a magazine called StarField interviews Lazarus and writes about the program. "StarField called 'The Other Side' a cultural phenomenon, another quest to answer what happens after death. What will happen to me after death? Joshua supplied a user-friendly answer. The departed forget the pain but not the love..." During the pilot program, Lazarus speaks to a young girl, Tanya Roper, wrestling with her recent abortion and the pressure from her mother. The generic "prophetic"-like speech propels Tayna to kill her mother and then herself the next day. Penn Roper, the father, vows revenge and takes up a secret identity as Ben Cord, a security expert working for Lazarus. Roper/Cord uses his security expertise to trap Lazarus. It's only one of several plot strands in this novel.

The well-crafted characters, intriguing plot and dialogue kept me turning the pages toward a chilling ending that rivals many secular fiction books in this genre. Reading a Mackel book is like riding a roller coaster blindfolded. You believe the ride is leveling off and almost finished, just as the characters are relatively safe. Then the plot plunges around another twist and the reader hangs on tight for another jolt.

In a realistic way, Maggie meets Jesus through the lifestyle evangelism of Amy Howland, who runs a ministry for children called Safe Haven in a poor neighborhood. The spiritual battle is full-blown between the spiritualists and the Christians, and the plot reminds us of our necessity to follow truth from the Bible --- not the false truth from mankind. Woven into the fabric of this book is solid biblical teaching about the occult and the necessity for each of us to cling in faith to Jesus. But the Bible teaching doesn't come in a contrived manner. For example, when Maggie, the new Christian, talks with her husband Joshua about his work in the spirit world, the worlds collide and he says, "So it's come down to this. Me against you, Maggie?"

"'She grabbed him, 'Not you against me. I'm so afraid that you're setting yourself up so it's you against God.'"

"He closed his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was faint. 'Maggie, can't you just be a good wife and let me get about my business?'"

"She leaned into him. The body that had minutes ago molded so perfectly to hers was not rigid, unyielding. 'I don't know what a good wife is supposed to do when her husband is talking to dead people. I have to pray and find out.'"

"So your God is the final authority now, huh? Not me?"

I recommend THE DEPARTED as a page-turner --- but probably something you want to read in the daylight.

--- Reviewed by W. Terry Whalin, writer and editor in Scottsdale, Arizona. (...)

Kathryn Mackel continues to breathe new life into an old form. Back in my days at Boy Scout summer camp, we'd often entertain (and scare) ourselves with campfire tales, spooky stories we called chillers. I'd forgotten the term until I picked up "The Departed". As I read, turning the pages with growing speed, I felt that old familiar tingle along my spine. I love the concept--a TV medium con-man, who begins to discover there are forces at work in this world that one shouldn't mess with. Ghosts, witchcraft, plain old human evil, and a full range of emotions--you've got it all in this smoothly crafted work of Christian fiction. I await Mackel's next!

The Departed grabbed me immediately and drew me into it's tangled web. A tightly woven plot developed by constantly moving dialogue kept me turning pages to learn what came next.

With wonderful twists and turns, the story builds to a Chilling climax. Extremely well written and fast paced, this roller coaster of a book was a great ride.

Usually it takes me a week or two to get through a novel. I had this one finished in a few days. It was well written, fast paced, and exciting. The biblical theme was woven in seamlessly and you won't find any pollyanna Christianity here.

The antagonists are truly frightening and believable.

Absolutely wonderful! This author is now one of my favorites.
The Departed was a thriller that lived up to its genre.

Kathryn Mackel's _The Departed_ offers fast-paced suspense and well-rounded characters' loves and losses--and death. A teenager misunderstands a message from the departed. A father seeks revenge on the medium. As Marshall McCluhan said long ago in another context, "The medium is the message." In this case, the message is: Don't! Exciting.

A Christian Chiller should be just that - Christian and chilling... Mackel succeeds tremendously on both counts. The occult luring the husband, a devilish Satanist plaguing the evangelist, the wife finding God and working out a solution, and the innocents caught in the middle; I was never bored and very pleased with the plot resolution.

Side bar. My sixteen year old daughter also read this novel and enjoyed it immensely. I recommend it for teens and up, because of the message of redemption throughout, and the fact that the author lets the reader know that there is one Truth... and finding Him is the greatest pleasure of all.

Ellen C Maze, author

Kathryn Mackel's novel The Departed is described as a Christian Chiller. At first glance it seems like these two words are an oxymoron. What could be scary about a Christian novel? This novel will change your mind! This book will definitely make you aware playing around in the spiritual realm can result in some scary results. With a contemporary storyline set in Raven, Massachusetts, Kathryn draws readers into the lives of a couple and the evil that threatens to destroy them.

Due to recent experiences with the spiritual world, Joshua Lazarus has become a well-known medium with a popular television program. While his show is popular among the masses, Joshua's methods are quite fake and misleading. In the midst of Joshua's success, his wife Maggie lingers out of the spotlight in order to give her handsome husband the appearance of being single for an adoring audience. Maggie eventually finds her own niche at Safe Haven, a day care center. Through Safe Haven's owner, Amy Howland, Maggie discovers and accepts the Christian faith. Unfortunately, the new believer is caught between her husband's success and the destructive forces that Joshua has unknowingly unleashed.

Not only does Maggie have to contend with her husband's bizarre experiences with hearing voices, she also comes in contact with the occult where the ringleader wants to take over Safe Haven. Meanwhile, Joshua's lack of understanding for Maggie's new faith causes a larger strain in their already fragile marriage. Joshua becomes increasingly involved with what he deems to be the spirit world actually trying to communicate with him.

Mackel has written a very believable plot that introduces subjects that are prevalent right now. Their currently is a popular TV show on ABC called the "Medium." Being an entertainer in Hollywood pits people in unrealistic situations. Readers can easily see how Maggie would be pushed to the side as a spouse and later how her faith would crash with her husband's career. There are a lot more aspect to this book such as the tale of a father's revenge and the real existence of occults that make this novel an eye opening, but entertaining read.

Now if you are new to this genre, it actually has been around a while. I think any avid Christian reader who likes to read books that are not considered your normal pat and nice Christian fiction will agree Frank Peretti is the "king" of this genre. After reading The Departed, I have to say Kathryn Mackel is the "queen." After reading The Departed, don't miss Mackel's The Surrogate, an equally entertaining Christian Chiller.
--Tyora Moody