Customer Reviews

Molech Prophecy

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

"The Molech Prophecy" by Thomas Phillips grabs the reader's attention immediately. The mystery is in effect at the onset of the story. Tommy Cucinelle is a committed Christian who wants to live a righteous life. When the church he attends is vandalized, Tommy is approached by his Pastor. He believes that Pastor Ross is going to accuse him of the damage since the Pastor knows Tommy's past. Well, the meeting is definitely about Tommy's past, but Pastor Ross wants Tommy to use his former skills to investigate the disappearance of the church secretary.

Thomas Phillips takes his time to build a meticulously laid plot. His characters breathe and feel and think. The reader can taste what they taste and see what they see. Phillips masterfully entwines the present with flashbacks from the past and handles both poignant and controversial situations with frankness, truth and grit. I felt the tension building in the story, yet the escalation was so subtle that the story's finale took my breath away.

Tommy Cucinelle has worked hard to leave his former life as a gang member behind and live clean, so he faces a real dilemma when his pastor asks him to call up some of his old talent in order to find the missing church secretary. His investigations lead to more questions and dark forces that threaten not only Tommy but his friends as well. They also lead him to some characters that are suspicious at best, like the secretary's sister who continually hounds his path. And some other characters who are intent on keeping lots of secrets, even if it brings harm to Tommy and his friends.

The secretary disappeared at the same time as someone painted awful graffiti all over the church building. Who would have done such a thing? Why is the pastor so concerned about finding the secretary? Why was she such close friends with the son of the Satanist priest? Tommy really doesn't want to get in so deep with all the skeletons and intrigue, but it seems he has no choice. How will all of this affect his walk with Christ? And why do all these terrible memories fro his past assault him? Will he find peace over his younger brother and be able to rid himself of the nightmares that haunt him?

The Molech Prophecy is a skillful thriller/mystery full of intrigue and suspense. There are so many threads that may or may not be connected, giving mystery lovers just what they thrive on. Action abounds, yet it is thought-provoking and filled with spiritual intensity. It deals with the Church of Satan, spiritual warfare at several levels, possible scandals in the church, the change in a life after one becomes a Christian, gangs, friendship, love, faith, the power of God, walking the Christian walk, and many other motifs. The issues are quite modern, and yet the causes behind them and the answers are ageless.

I would recommend this novel for anyone over 13 or so, although it is essentially an adult book. Reluctant readers should enjoy it since it is so full of action and "guy stuff." While there are dark subjects and violence, it is deftly handled. At 259 pages, it is a fairly quick read, one you won't want to put down once you start it.

Becoming a Christian changed former gang member Tommy Cucinelle's life--and probably saved it. Now life is going well, until Tommy's pastor asks him to locate their missing church secretary. This request has Tommy walking a narrow line towards his old life and habits.

Stacy, the missing woman's sister, is also hunting for her, and neither Tommy nor Stacy is comfortable with the strange ties to the local Wiccan church they keep stumbling over. Then Stacy goes missing, Tommy discovers a Wiccan prophecy about sacrificing a child to the god Molech, and people from the Wiccan church have threatened Tommy and his friends. The Wiccan church members shouldn't have made this search personal for Tommy because now he won't stop until he finds answers!

The Molech Prophecy is a wonderful story about the life and struggles of Tommy as he seeks to remain a good Christian man under stressful conditions that put him back into contact with the life he left. The story includes peeks at Tommy's former life so that the reader can truly understand where he started. It appears this is the first time Tommy has encountered a real test to his beliefs since his conversion to a Christian life. Thankfully, Tommy has good Christian friends to help and support him and point out that God is the one in control. Tommy also struggles against his attraction to Stacy as she is not a Christian, and he isn't sure she would be able to accept what he used to be.

I think this book would be good inspirational read for teens or young adults who have come from harsh backgrounds and seek reassurance that God really loves people who have done bad things. But it is also a very good story for any Christian who enjoys reading about how God can work in a person's life to bring about real change and salvation.

Armchair Interviews says: Good message for all ages.

The back cover blurb of this book of this book literally tells the whole story. There is nothing left to the imagination--no suspense, no intrigue, nothing. Now, I don't know if all that has something to do with the fact that I read an advance copy, but I really doubt it.

In addition to this being such a straightforward story, the writing was really sub-par. The sentences were too direct and lacked the adjectives needed to really help a reader experience the setting and the characters, much less any chemistry between the characters. I also didn't care for the attempted romantic element between Tommy and Stacey; it never once felt natural.

All in all, this wouldn't be a book I could recommend.

" Very good book" I started reading and could not put it down. It grabbed my attention from the beginning and kept it throughout the story. I hope to read more from this author.

Tommy Cucinelle still has the ponytail, has the memories of a life gone off track, but has also accepted Jesus in his life and is living as a redeemed man. At least he thinks so, until the day his pastor asks him to turn back time. To apply principles Tommy learned as a gang member, finding people who don't want to found, and search for a missing person. Nancy Callahan, church secretary disappears and no one close to her knows why. Was her disappearance innocent--merely a move to another location or had she met with foul play? That's what Tommy is charged with finding out for Pastor Ross and soon for Nancy's sister Stacey as well.

Tommy surges ahead to locate Nancy, no matter the cost. His longtime friend and former gang member, Tay pledges his support and hangs in there even when the search leads to a local Wiccan church. Even when they learn that the Wiccan group is planning a child sacrifice devoted to Molech, a pagan god. The hunt becomes personal when the group abducts Stacey and when Tommy begins to suspect his pastor's involvement.

Author Thomas Phillips has created a unique character in Tommy Cucinelle. Tommy is full of flaws and questions. He's lived a hard life and though he's become a Christian he is still paying for his past and holding on to the intense pain his memories evoke. He keeps his feelings bottled up and keeps most people at arms length. In The Molech Prophecy, we watch Tommy change, learn to open up and let go of his pain. In all of this we find a believable character faced with a challenge that will test the strength of his faith.

Phillips' writing is straightforward and the story fast moving. The plot is believable and keeps you reading until it is resolved. The faith elements in the story are natural and totally in keeping with the character's personalities and past experiences. I read a galley issue so the story may have changed since I read it, but all in all this is a strong first effort for the debut author.

In this exciting well-crafted debut novel, Thomas Phillips takes readers into territory few have explored before: gangs and a Wiccan Church. Through a spine-tingling tale that merges both topics in an engaging, suspenseful yarn, Phillips particularly shines in exploring the street-wise main character, Tommy Cucinelle. We get to know Tommy well, mainly through the first-person viewpoint but also through the clever use of flashbacks that give readers an inside look at his gritty gang background before he came to Christ.

Because of Tommy's past, he is particularly good at finding people, contributing well to his pivotal role in the story. But because of his past, he also struggles with coming to terms with who he is in Christ in spite of memories and related personal baggage. This struggle will resonate well with readers, particularly with those who struggle with remembering a sinful past and understanding how God's grace can help them rise above.

I was touched by the struggle Tommy's brother faced with leukemia and his resulting death. I also liked how Phillips painted Tommy's struggle with forgiving his mother. We don't find any cookie-cutter answers to life's complexities here. I really like how Phillips kept the people and their problems real and didn't make Tommy the perfect Christian who made the right choices all the time. He struggles in a big way. It's important to see a character's flaws yet his desire to do the right thing.

Merge this well-done characterization with a creepy tale about a possible child sacrifice ritual, and you have a winning combination. Phillips's prose is engaging and well-crafted, his dialogue crisp and realistic, his chapters ending with just the right hook to keep the story moving forward. I also greatly appreciated the gospel presentation in this novel. Without being preachy, Phillips does an excellent job of weaving in the most important message of all (the salvation God offers) through Tommy's personal testimony. I found this aspect of the novel particularly refreshing.

This is a terrific debut novel from the beginning all the way through the hair-raising conclusion. I look forward to reading what this author produces next.

When he became a Christian, Tommy Cucinelle thought he'd left his old life
as a gang member behind. But not so fast -- his pastor enlists him to find a
missing secretary, a mission that quickly leads Tommy, his friend Tay, and the
missing woman's sister Stacey, to a disturbing link with the Wiccan church
nearby. Can the secretary's disappearance be linked with the mysterious
group meeting in the woods at midnight? Why has Stacey also disappeared so
mysteriously?

And then, Tommy and Tay find a Wiccan spellbook that describes child
sacrifices...

I found myself compulsively turning pages to get to the end of this fast-paced
novel! This book is not the plain-vanilla fare often served in Christian
fiction. Tommy is a complex character who struggled with horrific events before
becoming a Christian, and still wonders sometimes if God can forgive him.
Throughout the book, Phillips' theology is sound, and certainly inspiring
as he shows good ways to deal with real problems. The importance of friendship
and sticking to Scripture is emphasized, as is forgiveness and not rushing to
judgment.

Altogether this is an exciting debut novel! I look forward to the next book..

This book and it's ignorant portrayal of the Wiccan religion is disgusting. First of all "molech" is a god from Hebrew (thus Christian)history. Molech was known by several names throughout the Middle East before, during, and after the time of Christ. NO ONE of the Wiccan faith believes in nor whorships these Judeo-Christian gods. Wicca is based on the native EARTH BASED religions of Britin and Western Europe. Second of all, Wicca would NEVER support human sacrifice, or any other wrong doing for that matter, because they have a little thing called the Rule Of Three. Anything that you do or send out into the universe comes back to you three-fold, good and bad. So why would any Wiccan want that kind of karma coming back to them? Authors like this that decide to throw around the name of a religion needs to do some serious research before defacing it and accusing it's members of crimes they would NEVER commit. That would be like writing a bokk about a Christian church that goes around burning single mothers at the stake for being adulters, or torturing Buddhists until they remounce their belief in Buddah and accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. Now THAT novel would have some historical evidence to back it up!