The Avenger of Blood: A Plot Where Real Facts and Evidences Face Faith

by Miguel Batista

A shocking novel about a 14-year-old boy accused of brutal and remorseless serial murders where faith and reality collide, written by Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Miguel Batista.

344 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2006

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a not bad potboiler, which explores the possibility of an avenging angel taking possession of a person to deliver punishment to bad people, often people whose evil acts (e.g., wife beating, child molestation, murder) have not been discovered or the criminal justice system has not been able to prosecute them successfully. In many respects it is reminiscent of The DaVinci Code, with lots of references to biblical stories not found in the bible and other sources.
This actually reads like the screenplay for a TV movie, and likely could be transposed to that with very little adjustment. The entire story is told in dialogue, in short scenes, mostly from the perspective of a lawyer defending the possessed boy. I hope this has been optioned for a movie, because it would be a pretty good one.
Unfortunately there are some laughable lapses in the story that someone should have picked up on - where are the editors? The prosecuting attorney is named Morgan Stanley (often transposed to Stanley Morgan), a White House representative is Gary Owens (the name of the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, also Garry Owen is the marching song of the 7th Cavalry), Puerto Rico is identified as a foreign country, the priest brought in to investigate is Father Damien (there are other names for priests, even exorcists) and marines are guarding civilian prisons.

[Monty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never expected this book, written by a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, to be so engaging. It's one of the few books I have read recently that is written in chronological order. Parts of the book remind me of the Da Vinci code because of how clues are found in art work and Bible passages. The author starts off setting the stage with brief descriptions of people and events. Once the trial of a 14 year old accused of violently murdering 19 people over two years gets going, I had difficulty putting the book down. As it turns out, the 14 year old is possessed by an entity (the actual entity is revealed in the book)allowing him to go through walls, have incredible strength and to seek out those who have done bad deeds, all without the boy's awareness. A Roman Catholic priest is responsible for solving the mystery, but can he find a way to exorcise the entity?

[M! · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this book. I was disappointed. It was a quick read on a cross continent flight, but the descriptions seemed repetitive and bland and the ending seemed incomplete or ... just unsatisfying.

I had really wanted to read Batista's "Pensamientos en Blanco y Negro," which is a book of poetry but which seems to be out of print and widely unavailable. I'm still on the lookout for a copy.