The Paradise Prophecy by Robert Browne

This novel was sent to me by Penguin Publishers for a review.

Robert Browne’s novel is based on the story of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. To refresh your memory, Paradise Lost is Milton’s epic poem about the final war in Heaven when God casts Satan and his followers out of heaven.

Browne’s version focuses on Satan’s followers and their attempt to turn earth into a hell for Satan to come back and rule. With current events as a backdrop and ancient secrets as the momentum this story is a fast-paced fantasy-thriller.

This book is definitely not written with a Christian world-view in mind so it’s best not to try and figure it out theologically. He did a great job of keeping me guessing whether or not good would actually win over evil.

I don’t usually give the synopsis from the book jacket but it’s the best way to give you an idea of what the book is about. So here it is.

The Myth
When God cast the archangel Satan into Hell, ending the War in Heaven, peace prevailed on Earth. Until the fallen angels took revenge in the Garden of Eden. Ever since, mankind has been in a struggle between good and evil, paradise and apocalypse: the fall of Rome, The Crusades, World Wars, nuclear proliferation, the Middle East Crisis... The War in Heaven never really ended-it just changed venues. For millennia, God's angels have been fighting Satan's demons on Earth, all in hopes of bringing about Satan's greatest ambition, the Apocalypse.
The Reality
Satan has never been closer to his goal than right now.
Agent Bernadette Callahan is a talented investigator at a shadowy government organization known only as Section, on the trail of a serial killer with nearly supernatural abilities. Sebastian "Batty" LaLaurie is a religious historian who knows far too much about the other side- and that hard-earned knowledge is exactly what Callahan needs. This unlikely duo pair up for a race across the globe, decoding clues left in ancient texts from the Bible to Paradise Lost and beyond. In the process they stumble upon a vast conspiracy-one beyond the scope of mankind's darkest imagination.

I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the sequel. If you like paranormal/fantasy type writing and can remember that this is a story and not a theological essay then you will also enjoy this book.