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Ben Cheng

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The Petrus Prophecy (Vatican Secret Archive #3)

by Gary McAvoy (Goodreads Author)

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Ben Cheng said: " Last summer I ordered Gary McAvoy's Magdalene Deception on a whim just because I saw an ad for the book on Facebook. I needed some reading material for a long car trip, so I figured what the hell. I ended up enjoying that first book so much that I or Last summer I ordered Gary McAvoy's Magdalene Deception on a whim just because I saw an ad for the book on Facebook. I needed some reading material for a long car trip, so I figured what the hell. I ended up enjoying that first book so much that I ordered all of the other books in the series and plowed through them in rapid succession. As of today, I've read all 6 books in the Vatican Secret Archives series, including The Petrus Prophecy, the latest entry. In my opinion, The Petrus Prophecy (along with The Vivaldi Cipher) are the two best books in the consistently strong series.

If you are a fan of Dan Brown's books, you should feel right at home with the Vatican Secret Archives series. Instead of Robert Langdon, we have Father Michael Dominic, an extremely hot priest who is lusted after by every woman (and a few men) he comes across. Dominic and a group of his friends manage to frequently find themselves working against one secret society or another with nefarious plans, and their adventures involve car chases, gunfights, and puzzle/riddle solving. Along the way, readers get to learn about architecture, history, and how to forge documents and crack codes.

In the Petrus Prophecy, an evil mastermind, motivated by both money and revenge, leads a secret society in a conspiracy to convince the public that the End Times are imminent. The plot manages to sow panic around the world, causing civil unrest and volatility in the financial markets. In furtherance of this conspiracy, the secret society offers evidence of various apocalyptic prophecies coming to fruition, including an assassination attempt on the Pope. It is basically up to Dominic and his friends to stop the villain in his attempt to commit massive financial fraud and mass murder (for which he tries to frame Dominic).

The Petrus Prophecy has elements that evoke both Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. We have Dominic solving riddles to find the locations of secret keystones that are in the custody of members of a benevolent secret society, while Dominic and his group are being pursued by goons employed by the villain. Everyone is after these keystones because they bear the keys to a vault in the Vatican that contains the Third Secret of Fatima, which is rumored to be apocalyptic in nature. One scene that takes place in a chapel that supposedly once housed the Holy Grail was so reminiscent of Da Vinci Code that you can almost hear Hans Zimmer's "Chevaliers De Sangreal" playing as Dominic works out a puzzle about how to open a secret compartment containing a key.

The fight and chase scenes in the book are very vividly described, almost to the point where it seems like McAvoy was choreographing them for a movie. The amount of historical and architectural research that went into the book is also quite impressive, especially given that McAvoy puts out multiple books a year (Dan Brown also heavily researches his books, which come out maybe once every 4-5 years). Throughout the book, it is often difficult to tell what is historical fact and what is fiction, but the book contains an appendix that helpfully saves us from having to Google everything to find out.

Overall, I strongly recommend giving The Petrus Prophecy a read. If you're into Dan Brown thrillers (which unfortunately don't come out very often), Gary McAvoy's Vatican Secret Archive books will be right up your alley. ...more "

Apr 11, 2022 10:41AM · see review