In His Image

Starred review from January 1, 2003
BeauSeigneur's "In His Image "is the first installment of his Christ Clone trilogy, an End Times series that was all but privately published in the late 1990s but that developed a considerable underground following. This is mostly because BeauSeigneur knows how to write, deploying a tough, driving style in perfect cadence. He generates suspense by withholding details. Like a historian of the future, he goes out of his way to show every viewpoint. And, like Tom Clancy, BeauSeigneur throws in technical details about how systems and organizations operate, and since he was formerly a CIA operative, he's persuasive."In His Image "begins as an almost scholarly account of scientific examinations of the shroud of Turin in the1970s, all to dissuade you of your disbelief for the cloning of Christopher Goodman from the blood of Christ. Christopher is a bright, lonely kid, entirely sympathetic. You will" like "this Antichrist. The odd events on the international scene have nothing to do with him, and what happens at the United Nations is entirely reasonable given the circumstances. The sequels are "Birth of an Age "(terrifying plagues, each given detailed, almost dispassionate, scientifically plausible explanations) and "Acts of God "(the reign of the Antichrist and the Battle of Armageddon). It's a shame BeauSeigneur had to wait so long for the kind of exposure publication by Warner Books will give him, but on the other hand, the paranoia he evokes is a perfect fit for these times of religious hatred and political terror.

(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)