Well I suppose I should start with the book that started me off.
Mid-1970s onwards I had a friend called Ed. We’d met at university, didn’t get on to begin with—like many great friendships—but one Easter break he invited me to his home (my own folks were far away in the Middle East).
It was the beginning of a closeness that was to last until his death. Plus the family were special folks too, in particular his Croatian mother Nada.
Well, one day she slapped a book on the table and said “here, read that, it might interest you . . . “
The book was Patrick Tilley’s Mission, and she wasn’t kidding—it was where my journey began. 40 years on I’m still delving . . .
The plot set-up is simple enough: smart-ass New York lawyer Leo Resnick, late for a date, meets up with his casualty-nurse girlfriend Miriam at the hospital where she works.
She’s down in the morgue, documenting a recent arrival—an unidentified 30-something-year-old male with a strangely familiar pattern of bruises, lesions and wounds.
Leo takes a look, turns away, and turns back to find the erstwhile corpse sitting up and looking at him. Looks away again, and when he looks back the body is gone . . . Only to turn up again a couple of days later at Leo’s upstate cottage.
Leo starts getting down ‘The Man’s’ story. Which takes in the simultaneity of time, humanity’s origins and destiny, the battles above, 1980s New York in the eyes of a man from nearly two thousand years previously, oh, all sorts of stuff.
In the process it makes sense of all sorts of bits of the sometimes puzzling biblical story (like John 8:59 and 10:39, the lost years, the Resurrection, plenty others).
All sorts of complications meanwhile arise—police, security services, work dilemmas, medical conundrums etc. etc. For as well as all the revelations, it’s a cracking good plotline . . .
Well, I’ve said about all I can without spoiling it for you.
I cannot recommend Mission too highly.
Like many others, I’ve several times bought an extra copy to give to friends.
It’s that good . . .
Patrick Tilley’s Mission at Amazon UK; Amazon.com; Barnes & Noble; Waterstones; Abe Books.