Douglas Preston is no stranger to my bookshelf. He is the co-writer with Lincoln Child in the Pentergast series (I will review Relic in the future.) Now he is ridin (or writing, which ever pun you prefer), solo, with "Blasphemy." "Blasphemy" is part of "The Wyman Ford Series" which I didn’t know was a series when I first got the book. Even though it’s the second book in the series, it’s the first book where Wyman Ford is a main character.

So here is what happens. In Arizona, a group of scientists, led by George Hazelius, have constructed a supercollider deemed the name “Isabella.” “Isabella” is supposed to recreate the materials that supposedly caused the Big Bang, thus creating the universe. However, they have shown no progress in their work, and have constantly pushed back there deadline. With money being drained, and an increase of disapproval by locals in a Navajo village near the project, the government hires ex-CIA agent turned private investigator, Wyman Ford, to go undercover posing as the team’s anthropologist, to discover what they are hiding. His role as the anthropologist would be to maintain relations with the locals. He takes up the job, reluctant at first to discover, George’s assistant is Kate Mercer, who is also Wyman’s ex-girlfriend from college.

Anyway, Ford, along with the rest of the team, discovers or at least believes, that “Isabella” is able to communicate directly to God. This is where the book takes a belly flop into controversial territory. In the Navajo village, a pastor, Eddy Russ, holds high resentment for the Isabella Project. He communicates with other Christian Fundamentalists in the country, believing that the project was an attempt to destroy Christianity, as the big bang is not really in their books, I’ll just say that. Then when news leaks out of the teams discovery, Eddy Russ becomes convinced that Armeggedon is coming and George Hazelius is the Antichrist. Soon he sends out a letter calling for “The Army of God,” to storm the compound, kill the antichrist and get ready for the second coming of Jesus. I would explain this in greater details but that requires additional spoilers.

The climax of the book is basically the second half of the book. While the Ford and company literally try talking to God, a massive mob bans together to storm the compound. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., government officials are scrambling to take action as the team of the Isabella project have mysteriously cut off communications. even with their man on the inside. Many subplots arise through-out the story, mainly the mysterious suicide of one of the scientists and Kate and Ford rekindling their long lost relationship. However, both of these don’t get much attention as I expected them to. There is a subtle, but in my mind, shocking and unsettling twist to the real intentions of “Isabella,” but you’ll have to read it to find out.

The book did have a few flaws. Other than the lack of actual substance between Kate and Ford’s romance. Some plot points came up once and were never mentioned or resolved. For example, one of the scientists show clear suspicion that Ford is not who is says he is, this is bought up and never mentioned again. Now, maybe the author was a genius for avoiding the “hero gets exposed cliché,” but I found it kind of odd. Ford also seems to loses character in the second half of the book. What I mean by that is he goes from a man investigating for the government to another regular member of the team. Granted, he still makes his contribution as a main character, but his original intentions for investigating the project are never mentioned again.

Now for the controversial subject. The book is very heavy on religious themes. Most of the time, the book was actually very thought provoking on thoughts such as; if religion has a purpose, does god exist, why do we exist, etc. I love a book that does that. Being a person who studies philosophy and theology, I live off these kinds of stories.

However, there was one thing about the book I found to be a little disturbing. Many Christians, primarily those who are fundamentalists, are depicted very negatively, feeling the need to resort to violence to stop the Isabella project. Granted, there are religious groups out there that have expressed hostility towards others, and being a devout Roman Catholic myself, I can understand why some of them felt threatened of the project, and the belief that the government’s intentions were to spread Secularism, but I did find it to be a tad unrealistic even by Christian standards.

But now that I think of it, Pastor Eddy Russ, was the only Christian character I hated in the book. First, he loathes anyone who doesn’t agree with him, this included saying Catholics aren’t true Christians. Then he kills a young man after accusing him of being a thief and for saying God’s name in vain. To pour salt in that wound, it’s revealed, the man he killed never stole anything, but yet the Pastor feels no guilt about it. Finally he becomes convinced that this project is the sign of Armageddon that he gets thousands of Christians to perform such a cruel act of violence on innocent people. But Wyman Ford is in fact a devout catholic, and that does play prominently to his character and to me, is what a “typical” catholic really is or at least should be.

Don’t be fooled by everything I said. I enjoyed this book... No... I loved this book. I wish the characters were more flushed out but I’m willing to forgive that since it was a page turner for me. I am willing to say it redeemed itself for being thought provoking and having a clever plot twist. Once again, you'll have to read the book to find out.

Regardless, if you are looking for an easy read, and a thought provoking techno-thriller, I recommend this book. But if you have strong religious beliefs, I’d proceed with caution.

But these are my opinions. Have you read the book? Comment below, read a book, and on to the next!