End of Grace
By K. Thomas Murphy
MC2 Inc.
ISBN: 9780578020624
385 Pages
"Somebody's trying to kill us. My Church is trying to kill us." (p.352)
Just finished End of Grace by K. Thomas Murphy...Wow! What a great thriller!
Rick Macey had once been in love with a young woman whose parents refused to acknowledge him as a possible suitor for their daughter. Actually the couple had been dating secretly for quite some time, so when Ashley received their response, she hurriedly decided to leave home to go and be with Rick. On the way, she was killed in a car accident.
Many years later, Rick has nothing that keeps him more involved than the revenge he seeks for losing the woman he loved so much. No, he doesn't go after her parents; he goes after the church that had created such a restrictive environment that rules prevented his obtaining her parents' blessing.
Rick's best friend stood by him and listened to his angry rants and when Rick announced his plan, Clay agree to participate. His plan was quite simple:
Become a licensed pastor and create a church that opposed and spoke against Ashley's church!
Actually, the plan was very good and because of Rick's expertise, he was able to move forward quickly once the scam had been conceived.
The method:
Whenever a church member died, Rick's church would send the grieving family a letter, notifying them that his church had baptized the family member into...the Church of the Disciples of Moroni...
Kay Summers who was a personal assistant for one of the high-ranking leaders of the church was sent to investigate. She was surprised to be chosen, as a single woman she was one of the few who actually worked in the church administration and most of the others were in clerical functions. Brian, a somewhat irreverent friend known as "computer man" worked along with her trying to find anything and everything about this new church. A web site was found; the church had been in existence since the late 1800's and well over a million had visited the site! Finally, it was discovered that M & A publishing company was handling the letters. Kay went to meet with representatives of that company first. And that's when everything started to happen!
Caught in the avalanche of a large corporation whose only goal was to make this new group go away, Kay finds that she has not only become attracted to one of the employees of the publishing company, she is beginning to question the actions of her own church!
If you're looking for a new book, with new ideas about "old" rules and regulations, this book may be just what you are looking for! I have no idea how much of the church information was factual; but I did check the hierarchical structure online and it seemed to follow it closely with a change of a few words, and the addition of a group called the Danite Knights. It is obvious that the author did significant research in order to support the establishment and credibility of the Church of the Disciples of Moroni. The book was a page turner for me; a technothriller with exciting action that captures readers immediately. I hope to see more from this author; fiction readers, frankly, I loved End of Grace by K. Thomas Murphy!
G. A. Bixler
Books, Reviews, Short Stories, Authors, Publicity, a little poetry, music to complement...and other stuff including politics, about life... "Books, Cats: Life is Sweet..."
From the Author:
ReplyDeleteGlenda,
Thank you for your kind words. I can't tell you how gratifying it is to hear that people enjoy my first serious writing effort. I had the idea rolling around in my head for years and decided to just sit down and put it on paper. It took me about three months working on it evenings and weekends around a busy work and recreation schedule. What you read was pretty much how it came out of my head.
Here's an idea of how ignorant I am though.I thought writing a good book would be the hard part. The proofreading, the entire query-letter process, and the whole get-my-foot-in-the-door process is pretty defeating. I'd love to write more, but the stage I'm in now involves an overwhelming amount of time and effort. I am however continually encouraged and motivated by positive reviews and gracious compliments.
I'd love to be a writer and produce two or three books a year. Its very rewarding and enjoyable.
Once again, I thank you for your flattering comments.
Kelly Thomas Murphy