The Doomsday Prophecy by Scott Mariani

The Doomsday Prophecy by Scott Mariani
Buy The Doomsday Prophecy by Scott Mariani at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: General Fiction
Reviewer: Kerry King
Summary: Ben Hope retires from his career as a kidnap victim rescuer to return to the Theology studies he gave up 20 years previously, until his old friend and Theology professor begs him to go in search of his daughter, Zoë Bradbury. From Greece to the American Deep South to Jerusalem, Ben soon discovers that it is not just Zoë's life that is on the line.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 472	Date: January 2009
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 978-1847560810
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In incredibly quick succession - less than nine months - Scott Mariani has fired out two incredibly good novels. The Doomsday Prophecy is number three and with the calendar still not having come around a full twelve months, that's quite a feat. Oh, and did I mention the fourth due out in July? Scott Mariani has been a busy boy.

Ben Hope, Mariani's hero is once again under the spotlight for his talent in the field of search and rescue as The Doomsday Prophecy is another in what I sincerely hope is a very long run of 'Ben Hope' novels. When ex-SAS operative Ben retires from his life as the rescuer of kidnap victims to return to the Theology studies he put aside some twenty years earlier he was not counting on a longtime friend and Theology Professor to come to him seeking his help in locating his wild child daughter, Zoë, whom he fears has been snatched. With understandable reluctance, Ben agrees to help Professor Bradbury and his wife and it is merely a matter of hours before Ben is dodging bullets and bombs as repeated attempts are inexplicably made on his life.

Ben suspects that the trail must now be getting warmer and as his investigation takes him around the globe, he meets some unusual and interesting people, raising some unusual and interesting questions about Zoë Bradbury's life. Known for her stubborn, wild streak, Ben is intrigued as to why a willful young thing like Zoë would be friends with the Octogenarian multi-millionaire Savannah-ite Miss Augusta Vale? What could have upset her so about Miss Vale's friendship with Televangelist and would-be Governor Clayton Cleaver? What does Skid McClusky know about Cleaver that has forced him to run for his life? With stakes as high as they get, Ben must try to prevent a disaster that may ultimately kick-start the Apocalypse. Yes, that's right; the one with the four horsemen, seven plagues and the End of Days.

Sound like a good read? Well you better believe it. I don't want to tell you any more about the story because I found it simply thrilling to pick it up and start reading it blind. As I have now seen in about a million reviews of Mariani's novels, I should tell you that fans of Dan Brown will love The Doomsday Prophecy. In fact, if you like Dan Brown you will like all of Scott Mariani's work – but you will like it better. This guy knows exactly how to bait his hook, cast his line and reel you in, nice and slow. The heart-stopping pace and clever, cunning and joyfully serpentine tale will have you frantic to reach the end of the book but at exactly the same time, reluctant to finish such a blindingly good read! It's definitely on a par with The Da Vinci Code in the convolution of the plot; there's a lot going on - but Ben Hope is a much more likeable character – he's a lot more 'Indiana Jones' for my money! I mean, when you are on the trail of murdering kidnappers, you've just got to be.

In summary, this is a terrific book. I am going to track down The Alchemist's Secret and The Mozart Conspiracy so that I can have the full Ben Hope picture. There are some who say that were these novels to receive the Hollywood Treatment, they'd be better than the Bourne series. That's food for thought, isn't it? If it's not already on your shopping list, go out and get this book. You'll love it.

Lastly, we at Bookbag are very grateful to the publishers, Avon, for sending this copy to us for review.

If this kind of novel is your thing, then you have probably already read The Da Vinci Code, but you may not have heard of Sam Bourne, who is quite simply brilliant, especially when you discover who Sam Bourne is a pen name for. The Last Testament is Bourne's second novel, the first being The Righteous Men, which was, frankly, a mind-blowing concept and in the same 'high-octane' vein as The Doomsday Prophecy and The Last Testament. You are also going to like The 13th Apostle by Richard and Rachael Heller which challenges the Bible stories in the same way as Mariani's book does. In fact, as far as I can see, these books are pretty much compulsory in the genre, so next time you are snowed in, you know what to do!

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Doomsday Prophecy by Scott Mariani at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Doomsday Prophecy by Scott Mariani at Amazon.com.

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