Book Addicts Anonymous

For the treasure he has uncovered—the gleaming prize buried within the most clandestine structure on earth—is about to bring him face-to-face with an enemy more shocking, frightening, and insidious than anyone can guess....

Sounds like a pretty nail-biting thriller, wouldn't you say? I mean reading the back of the book you'd expect some high stakes game of a man being silenced by the all-powerful Church after he discovers some deep dark secret about the Church's past. After all, that's exactly what I was expecting when I picked up this book. But the blurb on the back of the book is a far cry from the reality of the words on the pages. Even the bit at the top on the front cover makes you think it's some big awesome secret, but it's not. It's rather something you'd expect a thousand year-old faith to possess.

I'd have to say that this is the first book I've ever simply quit reading because it was boring. The plot certainly did not live up to the hype on the back. It just fell flat. I'm even ashamed to admit that I actually lied to a friend when she asked if it was getting better. Well, it did for a short while... when the master thief was actually conducting the theft, but then it fell flat again. I kept trying to give the author the benefit of the doubt and kept reading, hoping for some redemption, but there was none. Last night I read until I got fed up and closed the book forever. I don't care how it ends, really.

While this book is Richard Doetsch's first book and should be spared a significant amount of criticism, I think he - like his publisher Dell - simply jumped onto the bandwagon of religious thrillers brought about by Dan Brown's wildly successful The DaVinci Code.