Patrick Ross's Reviews > Jesus and John

The newest speculative fiction novel by Adam McOmber contains not just the “weird” characters and events woven through artful prose that one would expect from this imaginative author, it also provides a tender love story of vulnerability and loss. The story moves along at a page-turning pace. One might describe it as The Odyssey meets Alien, in that like Odysseus, John must overcome an increasing series of challenges, and he must do so while trapped in a mysterious (and deceptively large) house, just as Ripley was trapped in a space ship. Fans of McOmber’s The White Forest will also like throwbacks to that book (including an indoor forest).

What this book is not is treatise poking fun at Christian beliefs. The premise of John and Jesus as lovers is not new. The story, however, quickly leaves the familiar world of biblical settings and characters. Those seeking speculative novels that take shots at organized religion (think Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series) won’t find much of that here, but they will find a gripping love story complete with mysterious dangers and lovely storytelling.