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The Shroud

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We have the technology to clone human beings. But do we have the right? We have the ability to play God. But what if we could clone God? We can... And already did. An ancient prophesy predicts a dire future as past and present intertwine into a deadly dance of power with mankind as the ultimate pawn.

294 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 2013

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David W. Moore III

6 books1 follower

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Marti.
88 reviews6 followers
February 19, 2014

1046 AD. Monks, an Abbot. I'm sucked in already because I love anything that starts off in medieval times, especially in monasteries. So what we've got here in the middle of the Middle Ages is a monk obviously possessed by some force, ranting and raving about golems and firefly rain, and on and on.

Next we have some priests in modern times sneaking into where the shroud is kept -- yeah, THAT shroud, the holy one with the alleged imprint of Christ's face. But they don't steal it -- they scrape off a little of the blood onto a small knife, replace it back in its container, and sneak out. Then they engage in some technological hanky panky hoping to bring goodness and peace back into the world and banish evil. Yeah, well, nice try. I don't think playing God ever works out too well, do you?

The rest of the book drives relentlessly on to its inevitable conclusion. Or IS it inevitable? The body count piles up, supernatural nasties multiply, the pace quickens, and you can't put the darn book down until you finish it!

Bottom line: well-written fast paced paranormal thriller with way more blood and gore than I like to contemplate, (which perhaps makes is a horror story as well?), great premise, and some wisdom thrown in about unintended consequences which we can all take to heart.
Profile Image for Derek White.
Author 5 books105 followers
April 13, 2014
*A Copy of this Book Was Given To Me By The Author In Exchange For An Honest Review*
This book was so interesting that I read it at one sitting of less than three hours which will tell you that it is worth the five stars I gave it, and I note that I am not the only reviewer to give five.
As you can tell from the synopsis it takes the fact that we have the technology to clone a human being and postulates that a group chooses to clone Jesus Christ. The hope, even expectation, of the priest leading the group was that the second coming would solve all humanity’s problems. That he was mistaken and the description of what happened as Christian grew up will keep you turning pages until the end.
This book is so well written that one can easily forget that it is not an account of actual happenings and I look forward to reading subsequent books in the series.

***Review has been done in conjunction with Nerd Girl Official.
For more information regarding our reviews please visit our Fansite: www.facebook.com/NerdGirl.ng ***
Profile Image for Trish Bedroom Bookworms.
390 reviews23 followers
March 20, 2014
Originally posted at www.bedroombookworms.com
http://bedroombookworms.com/2014/03/2...

I received a copy of The Shroud from David Moore in exchange for an honest review. To be honest, I was apprehensive about it because it's not my usual genre. I promised him I'd give it a few chapters and if I was really not into it, I'd let him know and scrap it. Turns out that wasn't a problem. By the second or third chapter, I was riveted, wondering where this was going. I wasn't just into it, I had to know what was going to happen next.

Overall Rating: 4 stars- Kept telling myself “just one more chapter.”

This book reads more like the plot to a movie than a novel. I mean that in mostly good ways. It's a book about priests who clone God. Say what, now? Seriously, my husband came to talk to me last night and I told him to go away because I needed to make sure we saved the world from the anti-Christ.

The book is not without flaw. It is very plot based so there is little to no character development. That's a lot of what gave it the action-movie feel, but I felt like it could have benefited from at least a little bit more personal connection with the characters. We get to see inside the character's heads, so it's not as though we don't care about them. I just would have liked to see a little bit more growth from them. Father Mike would have been an easy one to develop because we do see him have to accept the consequences of his actions. With a few more chapters we could have seen him move through those emotions.

Also, the action scenes are sometimes very complicated and I found them a little monotonous trying to keep track of who was falling where. They would be amazing in an action sequence in a movie, but in writing it was a little bit hard to follow sometimes.

That being said, even though horror action books are not my first choice of reading material, I really enjoyed the book. David writes very well and made what could have been a very boring foray into history an exciting adventure.

Smut Factor : Zero - not so much as a kiss in the book
Character likability: 3 stars: Didn’t hate them.
Storytelling: 5 stars- I wake up thinking this really happened.
Writing and editing quality: 5 stars- Excellent!
Profile Image for Cynthia Rodrigues.
Author 1 book5 followers
August 5, 2014
For Full and detailed review, rush to http://cynthology.blogspot.in/2014/08...

I felt myself reeled into the plot of The Shroud right from the first page. The story begins in 1046 AD in Italy when Brother David, a monk, makes a prophecy about an evil that will plague mankind in the future. Centuries later, Roman Catholic priests Joseph, Anthony and Michael scrape blood shavings off the Shroud of Turin, a burial cloth revered for being the shroud of Jesus. They hire a German scientist, who creates a clone, a little baby born with the DNA of Christ.

The priests hope that their attempts to hasten the Coming of Christ will bring in peace on earth. The hope is a fallacy, and the priests soon realise that in trying to ‘create’ God, they have created the anti-Christ.

When Fathers Joseph and Anthony and nun Sister Mary Elizabeth are found brutally murdered, two sceptical cops from the New Orleans PD, detectives Danny and Stan, are called in to find the killer.
But how can mere humans stop Lucifer?

The book is an edge-of-the-seat thriller and because it is based on a screenplay, the structure gives one the impression of actually watching a film. Moore beats time to the original, with the added incentive of taking us into the minds of the characters, something film cannot do.

The scene with Fr Vincent in the archives at the Vatican is brilliant and causes your hair to stand on end. The one-sided conversations between Christian and God in the nave of St Michael’s Church, the descriptions of Christian’s office on the 42nd floor and the events that take place there, as also the freak series of accidents wreaked by Christian in the park, are all very well executed. The confrontations with Christian are well written, and serve to create the image of a man who is ruthless yet suave, sophisticated and thoroughly malevolent and evil.

The book raises questions about the ethics and the repercussions of trying to play God. For a self published novel, this one is very good. The dialogues are realistic and witty. The script also brings out the different personalities of the characters. The only place where Moore falters is when he begins to let us into the thoughts of characters. Setting them off in first person italics doesn’t quite achieve the purpose.

I suggest you pick this one up.
Profile Image for Theresa Needham fehse.
447 reviews16 followers
December 2, 2014
Free book for honest review. juliesbookreview.blogspot.com

The Shroud of Turin; the sacred burial cloth that covered Jesus after he was crucified.

1988 in a quiet vet office, Father Joseph, Father Anthony and Father Michael have decided its time to take matters into their own hands. . . . .
With the help of a scientist they will attempt to clone Jesus. This will be the first attempt of human cloning. A baby will is being boy is being delivered to Mary and his name is Christian. The priest have no doubt that GOD will walk among them once more. It will be the end of wars, no crime and will be heaven on earth. GOD will right the world . . .at least that is the plan.

As Christian is growing and maturing those closest to him will see that things are not right, not natural and just plain wrong. At an early age he began playing harmful pranks, he could even over power his eye color. At the age of 25 Christian was a millionaire and very powerful. Once several suicides started popping up detective Denny Hopper started to take notice along with the three priest. There were no miracles being performed like the priest had hoped, impossible things would happen but no miracles. When the priest finally admitted they put they put GOD's will into their own hands and made him NOT GOD, they knew they needed to fix it.

Christian told people he was an angel, the kind that clean ups GOD's messes. Many believed that if they died Christian would bring them back from the dead, but Christians real plan was something totally different . . . . .

The Shroud is an awesome read. I could not put this one down once I had it started. To think there are those that really think they can play GOD. I loved all the characters and they were so well written and easy to read. There is not alot of history that weighs this story down. There is just the right amount of good verses evil in this story. The horror part to me is that there is people out there today that would do something like this. GREAT READ ! ! !

5 breathless stars
Profile Image for Jane Hunt.
Author 3 books114 followers
May 16, 2014
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A supernatural event occurs at an Italian monastery in 1046 which starts a chain of events destined to affect the future of humanity. 'The Shroud' is a fast paced apocalyptic thriller with strong elements of horror and suspense.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions and that is the premise behind this cautionary tale. Fast forward to the 20th century when the ability to clone a human being exists. A group of well meaning but sadly misguided priests and nuns persuade a genetic scientist with dubious morals to clone Jesus Christ.

'The Shroud' explores interesting themes. Full of plot twists and a cast of characters all with their unique parts to play in the drama that unfolds.

Historical flashbacks provide clues to the mystery which I liked. Well written supernatural elements ensure a unique take on a much written about theme it definitely brings something new to the table.
Full of vivid imagery and explosive action this is a recommended nail-biting read.

I received a copy of this e-book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

David Moore
David W. Moore III
Profile Image for Elise Abram.
Author 42 books12 followers
September 2, 2014
What if you could clone Jesus? Would you bring about the second coming, or unleash something more sinister?

"The Shroud" is a cautionary tale for the new millenium. In it, David Moore tackles the controversy behind human cloning, melding it with the basic human need for hope, in a world that seems to have none.

After scraping blood samples from The Shroud of Turin, priests clone Jesus Christ, naming him Christian, but the boy is born without a soul, leaving him open to possession by the devil. The earth soon becomes a battleground between good and evil. The stakes? The souls of every living person on the planet. Can Christian be defeated by mere mortals? Can he be defeated at all?

"The Shroud" is an interesting read, tackling the good vs. evil and world domination archetype head on. Some questions plagued me as I read (such as why the old couple commits suicide and how Christian becomes so powerful so quickly), and although they are satisfactorily addressed later in the story, I wanted to know sooner. The suspense carries forward momentum as the plot draws to a climax. The final battle has a clever approach, bringing the story to a believable full circle.

The message behind "The Shroud" is that men should not play God (as in the cloning of human beings) and that any of us could become a hero, given the right circumstance. Though there are quite a few errors--primarily in punctuation--throughout,one is able to forgive them due to the gripping story line. The Shroud is a fast-paced read, sure to entertain any of its readers.

Please note: I was gifted an eCopy of "The Shroud" in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Samaris Creech.
376 reviews7 followers
June 6, 2014
I was given a gift copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. In this day and age we take a lot of things for granted. We feel entitled and we believe that we have all the answers. We are not patient and we are not kind. The saying that the road to hell is paved with the best of intentions has never been truer than in this story. A small group of priests, nuns and others feel that the world has lost its faith in God and want to help to bring it back. They feel the best way to do this is to bring about the second coming of Christ. At first it seems that their plan is a success. However after years begin to pass what they have brought about seems to be not the second coming of Christ but something much more sinister. How does one stop something that they created? This story is a great twist on how people believe the End of Days will come about as well as how the second coming of Christ comes to fruition. I highly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone. If you loved books with Angels and Demons then this is definitely the book for you. Even if you are just looking for a different point of view on how the end of the world will come this is a great read no matter which way you spin it.
Profile Image for Andretta Schellinger.
Author 4 books44 followers
May 25, 2014
The ancient shroud of Turin, a shroud that is supposedly the death cloth for Jesus, the son of God is being used by Monks and Priests in a hope to regain the religious foothold in the World. The scientific world has progressed to such a point that cloning is not only possible, but available to those with enough money.

The problem with cloning is that no one really knows what will happen, especially when a being of such power and reverence as Jesus is cloned. When a child is raised it is not just nature but also nurture. Environment also plays a very large role. The world that the first Jesus grew up in was vastly different than the world where priests decided to clone the second coming.

Well a lot can go wrong, and in this book pretty much all of it went bad. Jesus reincarnate or Christian in this book is not what the Priests had hoped for, in fact he uses his power for much more nefarious deeds. Really Really nefarious deeds.

Just to be clear, the religious overtones and overall plot of the story was good, and this did not affect my negativity. I say this because some may consider this book blasphemous, but I am not one of those people.
Profile Image for N. Kuhn.
Author 66 books410 followers
August 28, 2016
This book was ok. It didn't blow me away, but it wasn't awful. The premise sounded interesting. It said they were going to clone God. Well, they cloned Jesus, so maybe that needs to be changed.
Yes, I understood there may be a little religious undertone to the book, but at times there was more than I'm comfortable with. I don't read religious fiction.

My main downfall with the book, is if it's about Christian and how he's this prophecy fulfilled, why don't we have more about him? Instead, we follow the cops, the priests, everyone else. I wanted to see more of what Christian was and could do. It was interesting to watch the cops follow the clues to connect the dots. I think the flash backs to history were a little drawn out, but they helped you understand the story and where things were going. I think if you're into a "davinci code"-esque book, you should certainly pick this one up.
Profile Image for Leigh Lane.
Author 26 books98 followers
August 28, 2014
A small group within the Catholic Church has taken the Second Coming into its own hands, and the result is disastrous. While the concept of cloning Jesus using DNA obtained from the Shroud of Turin is nothing new, the direction this novel takes—and how the author executes it—is well done.

The writing style is excellent, with fluid prose and a great pace. Had it been more carefully copy edited, I likely would have rated this story 5 stars. There are a few places in which unrelated characters in unrelated scenes either assume the same information or come to the same conclusions when such information should have been restricted to limited characters and the reader. There were also a number of typos and errors in punctuation/capitalization, and a couple of improperly used references. Still, this novel is a beautiful read, filled with suspense and interesting ideas. I recommend THE SHROUD to thriller fans who enjoy well-crafted prose.
Profile Image for J.V. Stanley.
Author 27 books97 followers
October 21, 2013
David has proven himself a master of the written word. This story catapults you into a dark world with hidden secrets that linger in the shadows. The macabre horror element within it is heart-stopping and with each chapter you will find yourself engulfed further. Christian, our deviously clever antagonist is one who will drive you mad with the urge to embrace him for his fragile humanity all the while admonishing yourself for it. Although you may try to guess what happens next, you will be thrilled to find that you were wrong in all of your assumptions as this work keeps you guessing. This is not a book you can read a piece at a time; you'll be burning the midnight oil and find that your eyes cannot move fast enough through the pages to find out what happens next. An absolutely BRILLIANT write.
Profile Image for Rhoda D'Ettore.
Author 19 books36 followers
May 30, 2014
This is a MUST READ!
The story: A group of priests get together to clone Jesus from the Shroud of Turin, but things so disastrously wrong! Its a combination of Boys From Brazil meets The Omen.


The flow is great, the characters are dynamically true to life. The villain is the evil Anti-Christ, but I loved him! He has a wit and sarcasm that will make you laugh. There are two detectives that are investigating murders which lead them to Christian, Lucifer on earth. I was so mad that time constraints kept me from reading this in one sitting, or trust me I would have done so!

I quite enjoy religious story lines, but had trouble getting through Dan Browne's DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons. I'm not even sure I ever finished them. THIS, I read in two days. Kudos to this author! and I truly hope to see the movie someday!

Profile Image for Jada Ryker.
Author 29 books51 followers
August 30, 2016
Christian Thriller

"'Am I worthy, oh Lord? I go into battle against your greatest enemy armed with a cloth that once witnessed your rebirth. For once, all my worldly weapons are worth nothing. I will approach the beast, naked but for your raiment.'

"Carlo knelt at the foot of his bed, eyes closed and hands folded together resting on the mattress. Dozens of weapons from the exotic to the mundane were strewn across the room, emptied from the trunk on the floor. On the bed before him rested the Shroud of Turin, folded so that only the image of Christ's face was visible.

"'Give me the strength to do your will. The beast was never meant to wear our skin. Your will, Your strength, Your blood will cast him from this plane, never to return, unless foolish men invite him once again. Idiots, the lot of them. What were they thinking?'"
Profile Image for Paula Howard.
845 reviews11 followers
January 19, 2014
The Shroud by David Moore is a roller coaster ride from the first page to the last. The story goes back and forth in time so the reader is given previous history when needed. Mr. Moore does this with ease and the story flows.

The story is about the cloning of Christ to cause the 2nd coming. This is where the shroud comes in to play. At the heart of the plan is a Priest, who does recognize his error. Christian, the clone, is not at all what was expected.

The Shroud takes us on a journey that opens up man's temptation, fears and the concept of hell. Christian also tells the reader why he does what he does.

You will be left hanging until the last minute to find out what happens. Can't wait to read the second book.

Excellent read!
Profile Image for Hannah.
1 review
April 10, 2014
Science has never been more clever at figuring out how to "perfect" and mimic truths. In this crashing age, David journeys into this dark arena of thought and delivers to us a compellingly enigmatic story on the cloning of Christ and the cause of religious downfall and ironically, the death of human evolution.

The Shroud is intriguing in the sense that every page is a turn to hell and yet marked with good intent. Although this is a fictional read, the underlying elements at work are very much real and reflect human inevitabilities.

I would recommend this book to anyone whose fallen, is falling - fell. To anyone who's tried on wings and rose with hope only to find one's self a part, the ash taking the lead.
Profile Image for Reeda Booke.
414 reviews27 followers
September 8, 2016
This story has been done many times before, so unfortunately for me, I found it very predictable. The world is in a terrible state so some priests decide to steal some of the blood from the Shroud of Turin in hopes of cloning Christ and bring about His second coming, but instead they get the antichrist. Now they have to find a way to destroy him.
Ah, the hubris of man to think that they can circumvent the will of God.

Anyway, the story itself was entertaining, but nothing really new here. My biggest complaint was that the author makes the devil and Jesus, brothers. Totally unbiblical.
Otherwise, I give this book 3 stars.
Profile Image for Anthony Ebenrick.
Author 3 books2 followers
May 18, 2014
Epic tale of science meets religion which asked the question when is playing God gone too far, perhaps when we clone God. The Shroud takes you on a fast paced, smart, and insatiable ride. It is well written and just really fucking good.

David Moore, in my humble opinion, is a must read author from his poetry to novels. The Shroud is a masterpiece Paranormal Thriller, that takes a bit of influence from the dark side of horror and I love. You will not be able to put this book down and it will leave a lasting impression. Well Done David, well Done!
Profile Image for Reen Graham.
110 reviews
June 9, 2014
This was a must-read for me. The book description grabbed my curiosity. What a fascinating idea to clone Jesus. Amazingly these priests did that successfully. A long story of fiction yet I could not put it down. A few editing slips throughout, but they didn't interrupt or stop me from charging through this story. Well written with attention to details. The reader feels and sees everything as it happens in the story. The supernatural events are chilling and believable. I would read more books by this author.
Profile Image for Boundless Book Reviews.
2,242 reviews77 followers
February 17, 2015
Let me start off with the fact that this book is a great book. It was written very well and it had a great storyline. From beginning to end it had me sucked in. It was scary and really made me think. I grew up in the south and so that means I grew up in the church. I know this is a work of fiction, but it still made me think. What if? I would recommend this book but its not a light read. Be warned!....Stormi


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Profile Image for Malinda.
80 reviews4 followers
April 25, 2014
This is not my typical read. I love the paranormal But not so much Thrillers. However The Shroud definitely caught my attention and I could not put it down! Its so fast paced and smart. The only bad thing I can say about it is It was over too quickly for me. The story and the characters are very well written. Its almost believable! Its so hard to sit here and write this review because I WANT to give away spoilers! All I can say is, it is a worthy read!! I recommend that everyone should read The Shroud!!
Profile Image for Kathy Floyd.
581 reviews1 follower
December 25, 2014
Very good!

Exciting up to the last page. Kept you in suspense, never giving any idea as to how it would end. Looking forward to the next book.
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