Simply put, The Final Prophet: Book One of the Messiah Chronicles was a great read. Set in the Southwest United States, the book harkens back to the biblical "a voice cries out from the wilderness." But this voice isn't announcing a savior come unto the world as in the Bible. This voice is a warning call for human beings to clean up their acts, break away from the things that are turning them into automatons, and turn to the light. Prepare the way for the Tribulation yet to come! One can easily imagine the effect of that message upon established culture...


The book's pacing was excellent, and the characters well developed. And even though I felt the ending was somewhat predictable, Mr. Nottingham still managed to provoke some intriguing thoughts on the subject of a prophet announcing the end of an age. And based upon our recent traverse into a new millenium, the subject matter is completely apropos to our time.


On a personal level though, the book struck a deep chord within me, and that is what compelled me to write a review about it. Having been intimately involved in organized religion for most of my life, and even to the present, I have had a growing frustration with what I call a loss of mysticism and adherence to rote memorization being passed off as "being a good Christian." And while it may seem on the surface that Mr. Nottingham might lean towards the stereotypical, and perhaps mingling in a little triteness in his depiction of some of the antagonists in this work, he addressed that "blandness" issue quite well. For it is certainly the danger of any religion to so mesmerize the masses that they cannot or will not choose to seek a more enlightened path to their spirituality; that is, a path of true , unconditional love.


But as much as I might have liked the story, the book was not without its flaws. Several blatant spelling errors are scattered throughout the book - it really needed some thorough copy-editing before being put to print. And that made the quality of the writing diminish a little in my eyes. Also, as I mentioned previously, the ending was somewhat predictable, and being book one of the series, it would have been nice to see a more developed ending that segues nicely into the next book; adding that bit of anticipation to compel readers to get the next one.


But all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and recommend it to others.


You can see its synopsis here at AuthorsDen.com!