Customer Reviews

Virgin

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

 

 

You don't have to be a practicing catholic to enjoy this novel. The plot is simple yet compelling. A priest and a nun (who are having a torrid affair) find the body of the the Virgin Mother. Not a skeleton, but the actual preserved body - so lifelike that people think it is a wax sculpture. They manage to spirit the "mother" out of Israel and hide her in a basement of a homeless shelter in New York City.

Of course, everyone is after the body - but the ending is a bit surprising and not everyone is who you think he is.

Quick read and hard to put down.

This is one of the first "modern" novels I dared to read, and somehow or other I really liked it. It is an excellent book with a very gripping tale. Even though Church authorities may not be too pleased with it (what with priests having sex with nuns, and the body of Our Lady still being on Earth instead of being assumed to heaven!), it still offers excellent literary entertainment. You get the lives of several people who do not know each other, but suddenly they find their lives interwoven because of the discovery of the body of the Mother of God, and because of all the consequences to that discovery. Some of the best depicted characters are (in my opinion): Kesev, Emilio, Dan and Arthur. I did not like Carrie a lot, because she thinks as a child but behaves as a woman. Her hard-headedness and her impulsive nature got somewhat on my nerves. The idea of the scrolls and the hunt and the guarding stuff what all very well plotted, even though the end was a teeny weeny bit far fetched. Still, I liked it very much. More please!

Just a small interesting tidbit of information.
VIRGIN was actually written by novelist F. Paul Wilson. At the time he wrote it in 1996, his career writing medical thrillers, as well as the Repairman Jack novels, had really taken off. So, to avoid confusing the hardcore fan, the decision was made to publish the book as a mass market paperback original under his wifes name.

I read recently that the book is to be republished under the authors own name in 2007

Not to heavy. Great beginning and great plot! However, the ending is somewhat weak!

very good story with lots of twists and turns especially with the characters of Kesev and Sister Carrie. Very enjoyable and can be appreciated by people of all faiths.