Christendom

by Neil Cross

(Former soldier and smuggler Malachi Thorndyke has drifted into alcoholism and, when approached by a couple who want him to undertake the most crucial smuggling trip of his life, travels to New Jerusalem, capital of the Christian fundamentalist state that the USA has become. He is to carry a document that will change the course of history. Cross seems determined to break across every possible thriller sub-genre with this dazzling and elaborate tale. As in his first, much-acclaimed, novel Mister in Between, there is some subtle and arresting writing on offer here. (Kirkus UK)

Paperback

First published June 3, 1999

About the author

Neil was born in Bristol in 1969. He lived in Edinburgh, Brighton, Leeds and London before settling down. He is the author of several novels including Always the Sun, Burial and Captured as well as the bestselling memoir Heartland. He was lead scriptwriter for the acclaimed series 6 and series 7 of the BBC spy drama series Spooks and is the creator of the forthcoming BBC crime thriller Luther, which is scheduled to appear on BBC1 in 2010, starring Idris Elba. Following the British publication of Captured in January 2010, he is working on his next novel and continues to write for the screen. He lives in New Zealand with his wife and two sons.

Reviews

[Robert Fenske · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ambitious sophomore novel from Neil Cross that stumbles out of the gates but slowly gains momentum with an explosive ending (that saved the story).

Malachi is tasked with smuggling a disc that will shake the very foundations of the international theocratic empire to its core. Despite the epic proportions of the premise it reveals itself at a deliberate pace - Cross using the story mostly to explore his ideas of faith and predestination. These moments can outshine the story itself at times but are interesting takes that I've rarely heard.

[Kingfan30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I'm a big fan of the tv series Luther, so I had a look into the writer, to find not only had he written some episodes of Spooks and The Fixer (another couple of favourites in our house) but also some books too. Now this needed investigating. I'm not sure this lived quite up to expectation, but then I'm not religious and I don't know the bible stories, so I think some of this went over my head. However it was still readable and I will give another book of his a go.

[Barry Bridges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a while to start to understand what was going on in this future world but once you push through it certainly has a lot to say.

[Susan Brown]

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