In Diane M. Johnson’s PROPHET REBORN, a sequel to PERFECT PROPHET, Alec Lowell is a former heavy metal superstar who survives an assassination attempt by his brother (or rather, is resurrected after being murdered by his brother) and is “blessed” with divine healing powers. But Alec isn’t happy about being God’s chosen instrument. He’s dragged around as the highlight (and cash cow) of Reverend Joshua Light’s Healing Tour. Alec’s touch is enough to transform the diseased, destitute, and downtrodden, but carrying out God’s plan is exhausting work that distances Alec from his wife and son–and even his mistresses.
Alec’s brother, Lucas, is on his own troubled spiritual journey. Seeking redemption for attacking his brother, Lucas finds his way to a cult-like commune run by Reverend Jonas Adonis. Adonis tells Lucas that in order to save himself, he needs to save someone else. So Lucas decides to kidnap Alec’s son, Jake, and whisk him away to the commune for spiritual cleansing.
The plot is twisty, but Johnson keeps everything on track with deft plotting and strong characterization. The premise of PROPHET REBORN could easily get silly, but it never does in Johnson’s capable hands. She delivers a detailed portrait of two brothers in spiritual crisis. Lucas struggles to redeem his past, while Alec is crushed by responsibilities (both divine and earthly). Even rock stars need to grow up and take responsibility for their actions, the hearts they break, the children they’ve sired but never parented. Both brothers ultimately get what they need, but not without great personal sacrifice and bodily harm (correction: bodily loss).
Spiritual questions abound in PROPHET REBORN, from Reverend Light’s religion-for-profit to Reverend Adonis’s religion-for-power. Alec and Lucas may be sinners, but they don’t deserve the existential torment heaped upon them. Johnson’s God can be cruel, and, at times, as terrifyingly indifferent as any of Lovecraft’s unholy deities. “The Lord works in mysterious ways,” is a familiar phrase in this novel, but it’s just another way of saying, “I don’t know why a terrible, evil thing has occurred…again.” The heavens pass down buckets of wormy mud, and it is up to the recipient to make mud pies, sand castles, or sift through it carefully, searching for flecks of precious metal.
Sympathetic characters and strong pacing make PROPHET REBORN, the sequel to PERFECT PROPHET, a white-knuckle thrill ride.
~Rob Errera for IndieReader