Michael O'Brien presents a thrilling apocalyptic novel about the condition of the Roman Catholic Church at the end of time. It explores the state of the modern world, and the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary religious scene, by taking his central character, Father Elijah Schafer, a Carmelite priest, on a secret mission for the Vatican which embroils him in a series of crises and subterfuges affecting the ultimate destiny of the Church.
Father Elijah is a convert from Judaism, a survivor of the Holocaust, a man once powerful in Israel. For twenty years he has been "buried in the dark night of Carmel" on the mountain of the prophet Elijah. The Pope and the Cardinal Secretary of State call him out of obscurity and give him a task of the highest sensitivity: to penetrate into the inner circles of a man whom they believe may be the Antichrist. Their purpose: to call the Man of Sin to repentance, and thus to postpone the great tribulation long enough to preach the Gospel to the whole world.

In this richly textured tale, Father Elijah crosses Europe and the Middle East, moves through the echelons of world power, meets saints and sinners, presidents, judges, mystics, embattled Catholic journalists, faithful priests and a conspiracy of traitors within the very House of God. This is an apocalypse in the old literary sense, but one that was written in the light of Christian revelation.

El Padre Elías, ahora obispo, se ve asediado bajo la acusación de un asesinato del que es inocente. Su misión, sin embargo, no ha concluido. El hombre a quien considera el Anticristo continúa acumulando poder, fama y halagos. El anciano religioso ya fracasó una vez en el intento de reconducirle a Dios, pero el encargo que le hizo el Papa ha de ser cumplido, aunque sea en circunstancias angustiosas. Enterado de que su antagonista va a viajar a Jerusalén, se desplaza hasta allí para desenmascararle. En el lugar donde murió y resucitó Jesucristo, debe enfrentarse a él y señalarle como la peor amenaza espiritual para la humanidad.

This was an interesting read for me. As a spiritualist atheist (and therefore the Bad Guy in the story), I found it fascinating to find more similarities than differences between my belief system and Catholicism. O'Brien is adroit in showing the reader his world view. Sometimes discussions did linger too much on the philosophical, theological side but generally there was good balance between plot, characters and religious debate. Although I'm unlikely to read the trilogy, I would definitely recommend this read. ( )

Wonderful. Full disclosure, I am very familiar with the spiritual elements of the story. That said, I really enjoyed it. ( )

This was a very interesting book. I've never read anything like it--part political thriller, part philosophical treatise, part spirituality, part apocalyptic vision, part exploration of ecclesiastical issues. It brings in all these different elements and somehow still works as a cohesive story. I can't say that everyone would enjoy it--it does contain a good deal of introspection and philosophizing, and as the main character is a priest (as are many of the side characters), there are multiple points where it toes the line of preachy. For some, it will probably go a little too far over that line. I, however, felt that the themes and ideas were so well integrated into the book, and into the character of the titular Father Elijah, that it never seemed like I was being preached to. Everything seemed to flow straight from the convictions of the characters. There were dozens of portions that I felt the urge to quote on Facebook, and I will be thinking about this book for a long time. The worldview presented is unabashedly Catholic, unabashedly orthodox, and that is refreshing in a world where so many seem intent on watering down the Faith. ( )