The Return [Advance Reading Copy Uncorrected Proofs]

When a man claiming to be Jesus Christ gains national attention, a disaffected priest and a sexy journalist join forces to prevent his assassination by agents of the Roman Catholic Church. 75,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo.

From recent novels, you'd think the Vatican was in the business of slaying souls, not saving them. Like Dan Cushman's Visitation (Forecasts, Jan. 18, 1995), this pseudonymous thriller?the 16th by the author but the first to be published under this pen name?depicts powers in Rome sending an assassin to deal with a troublesome problem. The problem here is a whopper: a man who claims to be "Jesus Returned," and who seems to be performing miracles, including a modified version of the fish and the loaves and a resurrection of the dead, to prove it. When word of the new Jesus begins to spread, the Vatican hires a Sicilian hit man to halt his rising popularity and to end his diatribes against church corruption. In the U.S., meanwhile, some Catholics employ Brian Sheridan, a religious scholar working in a New York bookstore while on sabbatical from the priesthood, to trace the origins of the mysterious messiah. Sheridan hooks up professionally, then romantically, with Marie Olivier, a freelance journalist; together, the two slowly uncover the conspiracy behind Jesus Returned. De Mers's storytelling is competent, but a proliferation of subplots diffuses some of the suspense, and credibility is strained to the breaking point not only by the overwrought scenes of Vatican intrigue but also by the nature of the conspiracy.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the pseudonymous de Mers (author of ``fifteen previous novels, several of which were bought for Hollywood''): a gripping, sometimes thoughtful hardcover debut about the Second Coming, though not one to make Catholics happy. De Mers makes the disheartening choice to cross a seemingly serious work like, say, Lloyd C. Douglas's The Robe with Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate. Here, in Tennessee backcountry, a huge cloud and lightning transfigure the sky as perhaps a hundred fieldworkers and others witness the slowly floating descent of Jesus from heaven. Soon Jehsu, simply dressed, cures a sick horse, heals a lame man, walks out of a locked jail cell, fills an empty shrimp boat with an overflowing catch, and begins his second ministry with two shrimp fishermen and a streetcorner Bible thumper good for drawing crowds. Then he raises the dead daughter of vastly respected televangelist Don Bagley. Bagley sees that he has been chosen to reveal Jesus to the multitudes, which he does at a tremendous outdoor rally where Jehsu preaches against the Latin bureaucracy that has usurped his name. In Rome, the Vatican is under fire as American Catholics leave the church in droves to join with Jehsu down among the southern fundamentalists. A Sicilian priest is dispatched to assemble a hit team to end this false miracle worker's crusade. Meanwhile, in Greenwich Village, Father Brian Sheridan, a priest of wavering faith who's been given a year off to find himself again, joins with beautiful freelance journalist Marie Olivier to track down the heavies promoting the ``fake Jesus.'' The reader, however, is not certain that Jehsu isn't who he says he is, since he sure spins a golden message, aside from his anticlericalism. The heart faints, though, as the story shades into car-chase action and loony Pulp Fiction hit men. A bag of pearls for a thriller audience. But Hollywood should let this cup pass. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

De Mers possesses a gift for writing gripping, if oddball, page-turners. Priest Brian Sheridan, on leave from the pulpit to recoup his shaken faith, is working as a bookstore clerk when he meets journalist Marie Olivier. While their uncertain romance percolates on the back burner, Brian is asked to investigate a strange report from deep in the hills of Tennessee: a band of shepherds claims to have seen a man descend from the sky in a glow of fire; the man claims to be Jesus, looks the part, and even performs a pretty-fair miracle. But can he be real? And can Brian and Marie discover the truth before Jesus Returned, as the stranger is dubbed, becomes the victim of a plot to kill him? While de Mers' story strains credibility just a bit, the book still rates high for peak action, unexpected twists, likable heroes, and an eye-opening (and not always positive) look at modern-day religion. Emily Melton

A man claiming to be Jesus returned to Earth appears in Beaufort, Georgia, mesmerizing a local evangelist by performing miracles and displaying an uncanny knowledge of biblical history and archaic languages. Appearing on TV and at revival sessions with the good reverend, "Jesus Returned" lashes out against organized religion, specifically the Catholic Church, sending shock waves deep into Rome. His death is immediately ordered. Enter Brian Sheridan, who has taken a leave from the priesthood to reexamine his calling. He is charged by his mentor to use his clerical contacts to learn the truth about this amazing and suspicious man. With the aid of a lovely young journalist, Brian systematically uncovers the truth about "Jesus Returned," as two separate assassination plots threaten to wreck havoc upon modern Christianity, unleashing spiritual chaos. Sure to provoke controversy, this is a unique and highly suspenseful story written under a pseudonym by an obviously skilled and seasoned novelist. Clearly not for every community's fiction collection, it is nonetheless a taut and polished thriller.?Susan Clifford, Hughes Aircraft Co. Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.