This is a good thriller with a strong faith message.
The Last Christian: A Novel
by David Gregory
- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: WaterBrook Press; 1 edition (May 4, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400074975
- ASIN: B006J3W9UG
Genre: Christian Suspense
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0
Book Description
Publication Date: April 26, 2010
In the future, it’s possible to live forever—but at what cost?
A.D. 2088.
Missionary daughter Abigail Caldwell emerges from the jungle for the first time in her thirty-four years, the sole survivor of a mysterious disease that killed her village. Abby goes to America, only to discover a nation where Christianity has completely died out. A curious message from her grandfather assigns her a surprising mission: re-introduce the Christian faith in America, no matter how insurmountable the odds.
But a larger threat looms. The world's leading artificial intelligence industrialist has perfected a technique for downloading the human brain into a silicon form. Brain transplants have begun, and with them comes the potential of eliminating physical death altogether—but at what expense?
As Abby navigates a society grown more addicted to stimulating the body than nurturing the soul, she and Creighton Daniels, a historian troubled by his father's unexpected death, become unwitting targets of powerful men who will stop at nothing to further their nefarious goals. Hanging in the balance—the spiritual future of all humanity.
In this fast-paced thriller, startling near-future science collides with thought-provoking religious themes to create a spell-binding "what-if?" novel.
Review:
Abby has lived her thirty-four years with the Papua New Guinea village tribe her parents came to as missionaries. When her village suffers a strange decease she struggles through jungle and rivers to seek aid but returns with a doctor to discover everyone is dead. Abby receives a 16 year old message from her Christian grandparents telling her that she is to bring the Christian message to America, a country where Christianity died many years before.
Abby has never been on an airplane, ridden in a car or experienced normal house facilities. It is a major cultural shock to deal with the surroundings but it is even more difficult to face a society (in 2088) where the majority of people live their lives -school, work, recreation and even experience sex- in VR, virtual reality.
Abby is not particularly welcomed by her Aunt Lauren who is a politician in the active weeks of campaigning. Lauren sees Abby as an embarrassment but at least her partner, Sabin, is nice and tries to help Abby. Abby is interviewed on a global media program but feels that her message -- that Jesus is the only way to eternal life -- falls flat. This message is particularly difficult considering that Bryson Nichols, a technological genius who is funding Lauren’s campaign, has just announced that he has reached eternal life by transferring his brain system into a technology based brain.
Abby’s isolated upbringing captures the attention of Creighton who is the one to share this story. Creighton is a history professor who is fascinated by Abby’s strength, determination and commitment to her faith. Creighton and Abby discover a warning message from her grandfather, Ray. Abby doesn’t understand how her Christian grandfather, a brilliant neuroscientist, could have partnered with Nichols. Bit by bit Creighton and Abby uncover clues that someone killed the villagers and that someone is trying to kill Abby. Could Abby’s message threaten someone so much that they would kill to keep her quiet?
The characters are well developed and represent different perspectives from evil to good. The author presents an interesting history and message of Christianity through a story of ruthless manipulations and mystery. Creighton’s college lecture discusses causes for the demise of Christianity while there is argumentative discourse as Abby presents and defends her faith. Abby also discovers a greater message with the help of Creighton and her grandfather.
The ladies’ book club members agreed that this was a good story. One member, who spent years overseas, questioned the extent of Abby’s education learned while in the jungle. However she agreed that the cultural shock returning to a country like America would be extremely difficult. We all liked the message the story conveys. The story raised a good discussion too of faith as more than head knowledge but also more than feelings. If you enjoy mystery and a good faith message I recommend you try this thriller.
We enjoyed this as our Ladies' Book Club selection for November.
This fit in with my church messages this morning which I have sumarized in my Sunday Words post today.
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