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hldonavant's review against another edition
5.0
Ancient tombs, Catholic Church, Jesus, vampires, nazis, wolves, and now Rasputin. All they need is aliens!!!
papidoc's review against another edition
Meh. I read one of Rollins' other books (in the Sigma series, I think?), and felt the same way about it. Something about his writing style doesn't draw me in to the scene, the drama, or the thoughts and experiences of the characters the way other novelists do...Sandford, Koontz (early works), Child, Ludlum, Parker, and a few others. As others have noted, he and Cantrell seem to be trying to capitalize on the wave of interest in vampiric fantasy. I don't necessarily have anything against that, but if someone is going to come late to the game, they need to do it better than the others. This one really doesn't, though it was entertaining enough to get me through a few treadmill workouts.
book_worm_13's review against another edition
4.0
Action, mystery, a little romance, a cliffhanger... looking forward to the next book!
emd_reader's review against another edition
4.0
Weirdest series ever...like a fever dream that I couldn't put down
aemesserlie's review against another edition
3.0
The Blood Gospel is the debut novel of a new series by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell. After a mysterious earthquake uncovers unknown portions of the ancient fortress of Masada, three people: a priest, an archaeologist, and a member of the military embark on a dangerous quest to uncover a mystery over a thousand years old. So starts the Order of the Sanguines.
As a fan of Rollin's Sigma Force series, I was excited to see him branch out into slightly new territory. Although this book contains plenty of the action and historical mystery that fans of Rollin's love him for, this book also highlights a more interpersonal story as well. As cheesy as the plot was, I still really enjoyed this book. Just don't look for anything incredibly profound here. And don't pick it up if you are sick of the contemporary Biblical mystery action thriller trend.
As a fan of Rollin's Sigma Force series, I was excited to see him branch out into slightly new territory. Although this book contains plenty of the action and historical mystery that fans of Rollin's love him for, this book also highlights a more interpersonal story as well. As cheesy as the plot was, I still really enjoyed this book. Just don't look for anything incredibly profound here. And don't pick it up if you are sick of the contemporary Biblical mystery action thriller trend.
rosepup77's review against another edition
5.0
Fabulous book and left me wanting more when the book ended. Couldn't wait for book 2 to come out and for the story to continue. Fantastic and fast paced.
mxsallybend's review against another edition
3.0
An exceptionally fast-paced thriller (the entire novel takes place over a matter of days) The Blood Gospel merges the revisionist vampire sensibilities of Anne Rice with the pseudo-mystical adventurism of Dan Brown. It's an interesting mash-up of genres and themes, and one that takes definite liberties with history - sometimes a bit too obvious, but at other times truly inspired. The central mystery worked well to blend it all together, and the characters were surprisingly complex, keeping me engaged right through to the end.
While the novel was definitely heavier on Christian/Catholic mythology than I expected, with far more of a faith-fuelled story line than I'm generally comfortable with, it worked (for the most part) because of the secret history that James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell craft to blend the origins of vampire mythology with that of the Bible. As far-fetched this vampiric take on Catholicism may seem on the surface, when you look at each individual element - whether it be symbol, practice, or belief - it all makes a strange sort of sense. The insertion of authentic historical figures helps to ground the story, with Rasputin an absolute stand-out in terms of treacherous, self-serving villainy.
Where the religious theme fell short for me was in Rollins & Cantrell's reluctance to declare their agenda. They raise a lot of interesting questions regarding faith, most often through the character of Dr. Erin Granger, but then drop the larger issue without a even a promise of an answer. For me, the whole theme came to a head during the latter half of the novel, in a climactic scene where Erin questions whether wine has to be properly consecrated to save a life, or whether it's enough for the one in need to believe it's been consecrated. There's a halfhearted attempt to prove that unconsecrated wine lacks the same power on someone who knows it to be so, but Erin is denied the opportunity to prove whether the power of consecrated wine comes from a miracle itself, or simply a belief in that miracle.
Religious themes aside, this is a rollicking adventure yarn that moves across the world, and across time. The historical elements are fascinating on their own, and the new twist put upon the fates of Bathory, Rasputin, and others is thoroughly entertaining. Maybe it's because so much effort is put into justifying their existence, or maybe it's because of their newly Biblical origins, but I found the vampires lacked a certain something in the realm of malevolence, relegating them more to the role of monsters than characters. For the most part, the darker forces are mere trained lackeys to their human mistress, with the most villainous among them - their mysterious leader - existing mostly off the page for this first instalment.
In terms of plot, the exceptionally fast-pace nature of the story is a bit of a mixed blessing. While it keeps things moving, leaving the reader anxious to turn the page, it does demand that the mystery of the Blood Gospel be resolved a bit too quickly. Given the thousands of years it's remained a secret, and the futile efforts by the Catholic Church, Nazi Germany, and the Russians to uncover the truth of its existence, it just seemed a bit too easy. Even Indiana Jones generally takes a few weeks, at least, to make his discoveries. Yes, there's an element of prophecy to explain away that speed, but it only works if you have faith in it.
While it wasn't quite the book I was expecting, I enjoyed it more than I expected once the faith-fuelled heart became evident. I can't say for sure whether my interested could be sustained through subsequent volumes - a lot of that depends on what is to be done with the issue of faith, how Erin's character is developed, and how long it takes for the villain to come out of the shadows - but there's enough ingenuity and entertainment here to recommend this first instalment.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
While the novel was definitely heavier on Christian/Catholic mythology than I expected, with far more of a faith-fuelled story line than I'm generally comfortable with, it worked (for the most part) because of the secret history that James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell craft to blend the origins of vampire mythology with that of the Bible. As far-fetched this vampiric take on Catholicism may seem on the surface, when you look at each individual element - whether it be symbol, practice, or belief - it all makes a strange sort of sense. The insertion of authentic historical figures helps to ground the story, with Rasputin an absolute stand-out in terms of treacherous, self-serving villainy.
Where the religious theme fell short for me was in Rollins & Cantrell's reluctance to declare their agenda. They raise a lot of interesting questions regarding faith, most often through the character of Dr. Erin Granger, but then drop the larger issue without a even a promise of an answer. For me, the whole theme came to a head during the latter half of the novel, in a climactic scene where Erin questions whether wine has to be properly consecrated to save a life, or whether it's enough for the one in need to believe it's been consecrated. There's a halfhearted attempt to prove that unconsecrated wine lacks the same power on someone who knows it to be so, but Erin is denied the opportunity to prove whether the power of consecrated wine comes from a miracle itself, or simply a belief in that miracle.
Religious themes aside, this is a rollicking adventure yarn that moves across the world, and across time. The historical elements are fascinating on their own, and the new twist put upon the fates of Bathory, Rasputin, and others is thoroughly entertaining. Maybe it's because so much effort is put into justifying their existence, or maybe it's because of their newly Biblical origins, but I found the vampires lacked a certain something in the realm of malevolence, relegating them more to the role of monsters than characters. For the most part, the darker forces are mere trained lackeys to their human mistress, with the most villainous among them - their mysterious leader - existing mostly off the page for this first instalment.
In terms of plot, the exceptionally fast-pace nature of the story is a bit of a mixed blessing. While it keeps things moving, leaving the reader anxious to turn the page, it does demand that the mystery of the Blood Gospel be resolved a bit too quickly. Given the thousands of years it's remained a secret, and the futile efforts by the Catholic Church, Nazi Germany, and the Russians to uncover the truth of its existence, it just seemed a bit too easy. Even Indiana Jones generally takes a few weeks, at least, to make his discoveries. Yes, there's an element of prophecy to explain away that speed, but it only works if you have faith in it.
While it wasn't quite the book I was expecting, I enjoyed it more than I expected once the faith-fuelled heart became evident. I can't say for sure whether my interested could be sustained through subsequent volumes - a lot of that depends on what is to be done with the issue of faith, how Erin's character is developed, and how long it takes for the villain to come out of the shadows - but there's enough ingenuity and entertainment here to recommend this first instalment.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
mjwerts's review against another edition
5.0
Interesting, layered characters. Multiple POVs. Adventure and intrigue. Compelling mythology. A dash of romance. Basically, everything I love in a book was contained within The Blood Gospel. I greatly appreciated the novel's pacing, as the authors recognized the need for pauses in the action to develop and illuminate the characters and their motives. I flew through this book, anxious for the resolution, but never wanting it to end. I'm glad I have a sequel to which I can look forward to reason.