Customer Reviews

F. Paul Wilson's Virgin

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

F. Paul Wilson has written a number of apocalyptic thrillers over the years, but he has not really done much with the Christian end-of-the-world ideas that come from Revelations and have been done, for better or worse (often worse) in such stories as the Left Behind books. Wilson's Virgin is his venture into this genre, combining Christian mythology and his own writing style to make a book that can be entertaining to readers of many different religious backgrounds.

The story opens during the Gulf War in 1991. An errant Scud missile exposes a cave that has some unusual artifacts: some scrolls that are found by a pair of young Arab shepherds who see a gold mine in the ancient documents. Years later, a forged version of these writings makes it way to Father Dan Fitzpatrick, a homeless advocate in New York City.

For all his good deeds, Fitzpatrick does have one sin: he is secretly lovers with the nun Carrie Ferris. While Fitzpatrick treats the translated scroll as merely entertaining, Ferris takes it seriously and drags her lover to Israel in search of the body of the Virgin Mary herself. They are successful, setting up a series of events that are beyond either of their control.

If you are expecting a truly Christian novel, you will be disappointed. The ideas expressed herein, while reasonably respectful of Christianity, are more plot devices than reverent messages. In fact, by the end of the book, it is clear that this is not a promotion of any faith. Instead, this is a supernatural thriller, with Wilson's usual flair for creating page-turning fare. If you are a Wilson fan, you may not find this his best work, but it is still a fun read.

F.Paul Wilsons foray into the "Religion Thriller" genre came way before said genre even existed. And like all of Wilsons work it is a bona fide page turner. I read it in two days and recommend it, and all of Wilsons books, highly. Plus it is published by Borderlands Press, whose name is synonymous with quality. How could you go wrong??

To all of the ignorant folk who don't listen to others that VIRGIN was published LONG before Dan Brown's snoozer, get a clue.
Wilson has been a talented, successful writer for far longer than the other authors who ventured into the religious thriller vein. He did it on a whim, under a different name - not like the horders of hacks who are just aching to cash in on the wake of Davinci's success.

If you want a novel that has a plot, real characters, and substance, rather than a ton of non-fiction info stuffed into a write-by-numbers two dimensional efforts, read this.

I consider this to be one of F. Paul Wilson's finest books. And, for the record, it was originally published in 1996, which was quite a bit before Map of Bones and The Da Vinci Code came out.

I started reading F. Paul Wilson with one of the Repairman Jack books and I was hooked! I've now read all of them that I could find!! He is fantastic and I couldn't wait for the newest one..."Ground Zero". Got it and read it the same day!! But "Virgin" is written in a different vein and totally held me to the love seat until I finished reading it. It is an awesome read and he is an awesome writer. Try him...you WILL like him LOL. Five stars all the way!

I love F. Paul Wilson's stuff, so all I can say is another good read.

This is one of the best of Wilson's books. I'm a big Repairman Jack fan, but this is so far out from his usual. Great!

After finishing this book, I'm left with the impression that Wilson had a very worthy commentary on the state of religion in the world that he wanted to offer, and thought he would do it in book form rather than posting it on a blog like everybody else does. Then end result is a book that is a rather direct build up to "THE MESSAGE". This book does not have the clever plot twisting and turning you expect from a novel which leaves it feeling rather more like a short story. Basically, its a short story with well developed characters; if it was longer, it would probably be considered "too slow" by most readers. Fortunately its on the short side and is reasonably paced as a result. I gave it 3 instead of 5 stars mostly because its not what most Wilson fans would expect on the epic-ness scale, and it doesn't leave you anxious to go buy the sequel.

i found this book in a used book store, it looked intresting,i took it home and read it and liked it. i liked the message and redemption of judas. i later found out that f paul wilson wrote this book under this pen name. how cool is that?

There is a speech at the end of this book by the Virgin Mary. Those 2 or 3 pages should be read by man, woman, and child, in the world. Maybe there would be more good in the world and less violence and hatred!!!