ciannait76's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book. If you wanted a mindless read this is the book to go for. Not amazing but not boring either.
emilybooks's review against another edition
2.0
I think the characters had teleporting abilities. Either that or they had such boring travel plans between sites in the book that the author could find absolutely nothing to write about. I found this book on the floor at a friend's parents' house and, unfortunately, picked it up & started reading. I wish I had been busy that day.
bookishdea's review against another edition
2.0
I like this type of book, but I will remark that they get to be rather similar and that was part of my problem with this one. I also didn't find the mystery that amazing or engaging. All in all, I was a bit disappointed with the book. I didn't expect it to be amazing, but I did expect it to be an action/adventure novel with a big mystery that will CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE WORLD/CHRISTIANITY and I felt that the book lacked during the execution. The beginning sets it up well (and I think I will read the prequel if I can find it), but the ending didn't really do anything for me.
raven_pine's review against another edition
1.0
What on Earth did I just read!
For anyone hoping for a storyline similar to Angels and Demons by Dan Brown you will be sorely disappointed. Whilst this was also my hope going into it and clearly the intention of the author with government conspiracies, cover-ups and the Bible not being true, it badly missed the mark.
This book is a mess. The two main characters Finn and Hilts were repeatedly almost killed with assassination attempts which were left unexplained as to why they were attempted. They seemed to spend the entire book looking for 'Lucifer's gospel' and what this was, was never really explained. Their hunt saw them meeting up with random people that had the exact information they needed to point them in the right direction and they all listed a load of random names with no context which either ended up being referenced to later on or never spoken of again and with the lack of information given made the names easily forgotten.
There was also some issues with the authors writing style. When it got to an action scene the characters almost start to dissociate and it's like the action is occurring in a dream or being watched from far away leaving me very confused and having to reread it to try and figure out what actually happened. Also, Paul Christopher seemed to reference other popular books, movies and other such media in what I assume was an attempt to increase the reader's enjoyment of this book by making them associate it with better things (this is becoming a more frequent occurrence with many authors) but it just seemed to random especially when he is writing about The Da Vinci Code which he was clearly trying to mimic in the first place.
Sorry if this review is a bit of a rant but I had a lot of negative thoughts about this book.
Overall this seemed to be a boring and very confusing history lesson that was worthless in the end.
For anyone hoping for a storyline similar to Angels and Demons by Dan Brown you will be sorely disappointed. Whilst this was also my hope going into it and clearly the intention of the author with government conspiracies, cover-ups and the Bible not being true, it badly missed the mark.
This book is a mess. The two main characters Finn and Hilts were repeatedly almost killed with assassination attempts which were left unexplained as to why they were attempted. They seemed to spend the entire book looking for 'Lucifer's gospel' and what this was, was never really explained. Their hunt saw them meeting up with random people that had the exact information they needed to point them in the right direction and they all listed a load of random names with no context which either ended up being referenced to later on or never spoken of again and with the lack of information given made the names easily forgotten.
There was also some issues with the authors writing style. When it got to an action scene the characters almost start to dissociate and it's like the action is occurring in a dream or being watched from far away leaving me very confused and having to reread it to try and figure out what actually happened. Also, Paul Christopher seemed to reference other popular books, movies and other such media in what I assume was an attempt to increase the reader's enjoyment of this book by making them associate it with better things (this is becoming a more frequent occurrence with many authors) but it just seemed to random especially when he is writing about The Da Vinci Code which he was clearly trying to mimic in the first place.
Sorry if this review is a bit of a rant but I had a lot of negative thoughts about this book.
Overall this seemed to be a boring and very confusing history lesson that was worthless in the end.
speesh's review against another edition
2.0
Close, but no cigar.
The Lucifer Gospel really could have been good, but wasn't. It was like a Dan Brown wannabe-lite. I gave it every chance, but it failed to deliver and finally, I couldn't get Clive-bloody-Cussler out of my mind.
(A Clive Cussler book has got to be one of the worst things ever to have wasted ink and paper and, more importantly, my time).
The majority of the plot actually seems to do its best to avoid the front and back cover's set-up entirely and involves a race across the world to find something, we're not really sure of. Even the title, or the actual item the title seems to describe, turns out not to be what you think it 'should' be, it's almost a play on words and I couldn't help but feel a little cheated.
It all starts out alright, ticking all the right boxes for the historical/biblical mystery, thriller-genre (if there is one); there's a possibly world-changing lost treasure, a desert, a sympathetic heroine, a helpful, knowledgeable male co-lead character who can do just about everything, a mad millionaire...oh yeah, see; all going wrong, all going Clive Cussler on us already.
The story then takes us from Egypt to Libya, across half of Europe, to the Caribbean and finally, the USA. Luckily, for each tricky situation they find themselves in, or faced with, they have the necessary experience required. The most eyebrow-raising point for me, came when they were trying to figure out how long somewhere had been deserted. They found a Coca-Cola bottle without a ring-pull opening. Fortunately, the heroine's mother had been to school with the man who invented the ring-pull system and the heroine had written a thesis on it and was thus able to estimate how old the place was...I think I finally lost touch completely with the book at that point, just as well it was towards the end or I might not have persisted.
The Lucifer Gospel actually has some reasonably interesting characters and situations, problem is, they're mostly the supporting characters and situations that aren't the big set-pieces. It's nicely written, decently put together and generally a pleasant read. But that's the problem, it's all too slight, too inoffensive and too far from being one I can recommend.
The Lucifer Gospel really could have been good, but wasn't. It was like a Dan Brown wannabe-lite. I gave it every chance, but it failed to deliver and finally, I couldn't get Clive-bloody-Cussler out of my mind.
(A Clive Cussler book has got to be one of the worst things ever to have wasted ink and paper and, more importantly, my time).
The majority of the plot actually seems to do its best to avoid the front and back cover's set-up entirely and involves a race across the world to find something, we're not really sure of. Even the title, or the actual item the title seems to describe, turns out not to be what you think it 'should' be, it's almost a play on words and I couldn't help but feel a little cheated.
It all starts out alright, ticking all the right boxes for the historical/biblical mystery, thriller-genre (if there is one); there's a possibly world-changing lost treasure, a desert, a sympathetic heroine, a helpful, knowledgeable male co-lead character who can do just about everything, a mad millionaire...oh yeah, see; all going wrong, all going Clive Cussler on us already.
The story then takes us from Egypt to Libya, across half of Europe, to the Caribbean and finally, the USA. Luckily, for each tricky situation they find themselves in, or faced with, they have the necessary experience required. The most eyebrow-raising point for me, came when they were trying to figure out how long somewhere had been deserted. They found a Coca-Cola bottle without a ring-pull opening. Fortunately, the heroine's mother had been to school with the man who invented the ring-pull system and the heroine had written a thesis on it and was thus able to estimate how old the place was...I think I finally lost touch completely with the book at that point, just as well it was towards the end or I might not have persisted.
The Lucifer Gospel actually has some reasonably interesting characters and situations, problem is, they're mostly the supporting characters and situations that aren't the big set-pieces. It's nicely written, decently put together and generally a pleasant read. But that's the problem, it's all too slight, too inoffensive and too far from being one I can recommend.
scraps_n_needles's review against another edition
2.0
This was stupid. Don't bother. At least it was only 50 cents at a used book sale.
canada_matt's review against another edition
4.0
It was another good Finn book, but it began to drag a little. Christopher does try to make it a little Brown-ish (and admits to it when his main characters call their adventure something from the pages of Dan Brown), but it does not have the same provocative nature. I am not skimming through websites to see IF what I read is based on fact or fiction.
We get more of the action and racing across the globe with no real romance in this one. In fact, Christopher left Michael Valentine out entirely, save for a few one line mentions by Finn. I was curious as to why he would do that, but who am I to judge.
I have heard that the FINN series pales compared to the Templar series, which is on my list of must reads as well. Here's hoping Finn's remaining two novels keep my attention.
We get more of the action and racing across the globe with no real romance in this one. In fact, Christopher left Michael Valentine out entirely, save for a few one line mentions by Finn. I was curious as to why he would do that, but who am I to judge.
I have heard that the FINN series pales compared to the Templar series, which is on my list of must reads as well. Here's hoping Finn's remaining two novels keep my attention.
bookishdea's review
2.0
I like this type of book, but I will remark that they get to be rather similar and that was part of my problem with this one. I also didn't find the mystery that amazing or engaging. All in all, I was a bit disappointed with the book. I didn't expect it to be amazing, but I did expect it to be an action/adventure novel with a big mystery that will CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE WORLD/CHRISTIANITY and I felt that the book lacked during the execution. The beginning sets it up well (and I think I will read the prequel if I can find it), but the ending didn't really do anything for me.
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