cover image Pure Vision: The Magdalene Revelation

Pure Vision: The Magdalene Revelation

Perri Birney. Pure Vision Communications, $28.95 trade paper (586p) ISBN 978-0-9817482-2-1

Birney’s overstuffed novel weaves together current global politics, neolithic energies, and religious artifacts to build a sprawling international conspiracy that ultimately strains credibility. When his mentor is poisoned, Michael Sonada, a cynical scholar of archaic texts, along with Maggie Seline, a strong-willed journalist, flee New York to embark on a journey spanning multiple countries in order to find the Spear of Longinus and the Holy Grail before an ancient order uses them to ignite worldwide turmoil. While the novel offers lush descriptions of Nepal and the Middle East, the writing borders on didactic, with far more attention paid to delivering cliché moral ideologies, Nazi and Middle Eastern political history lessons, and religious discourses than to developing well-rounded, memorable characters or a clear, compelling plot. Dozens of minor characters are given involved backstories, and most of them are never heard from again. Meanwhile, key characters are introduced too late or, as with Michael’s ex-girlfriend, who makes a pivotal discovery, are only discussed by others and never actually appear. The protagonists also have too few difficulties to overcome, as they know a helpful friend in every foreign city they visit or people with connections to the ever-widening mythology of the novel. Despite these shortcomings as a thriller, Birney’s expansive novel does showcase female empowerment and solidarity and explore provocative connections between the world’s most prominent religions. (BookLife)