Genre fiction used to be pretty simple to figure out. These days with so many niche genres, its hard to categorize something that simply does not fit neatly. This can be both a boon and a source of frustration: a boon because writers are deliberately seeking out new ways to express old ideas; frustration because they can be harder to find in the context of overwhelming available choice. Never in the history of humankind have there been so many writers, books, and sources for entertainment.

Act of the Saints goes beyond the usual 'sit back and enjoy' mode of entertainment. This book draws you in, makes you cringe, cry, and even gasp in horror. Not the horror of slashes and massacres, the horror of devious mental games that can be played upon humanity.

What if the United States did become a Theocracy? A very ultraconservative one? A country bent on echoing the Inquisition Wars of centuries past into modern times, determined to bring the 'end days' upon us? A way of forcing the hand of God to appear? What would it be like, who would do this, why would they, and what if anything could there be to stop it and should it be stopped?

Let Catherine, a divorced woman, and Theo, her alcoholic parish priest, take you on a journey through the "Devil's Railroad" of resistance groups as they try to change the course of history. Can a couple of broken people normally scorned by more pious people, be the very ones who bring their own form of salvation and what it means to love God? Read this book and decide for yourself.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© October 2007