Helen C Escott has written a moody and somewhat struggling police thriller about the Catholic Church and pedophiles. While topical and laced with understanding regarding the church, this book is flawed in a few ways.
First and most importantly, there is no resolution at the end of the book. Two of the main characters commit suicide as a result of their PTSD- this is,again, topical, but Sgt. Myra’s death was completely out of left field and the sudden last chapter discussion of his PTSD really seemed tacked on.
Escott throws accusations at everyone in this story- high level politicians, school principals, child psychologists, priests, archbishops. Everyone in the story gets sicker as their victims relive the abuse, but the only explanation for this is that God is punishing the perpetrators via a text from Revelations. Apparently God is inflicting this ‘disease’ on people from his heavenly throne. At the same time, the author seems to want us to return to church. We loves us a vengeful god, don’t we? And let’s not stop there- the doctor and nurse who are apparently the only ones willing to look after the sick people stop in the midst of a crisis to talk about drug companies and how they really could cure cancer if they wanted to, but they want to keep everyone sick and scared and taking their expensive medications...
The medical info in this book is also flawed in terms of how the people are treated- in isolation, out of isolation, no one wearing face masks despite the fact this is post HIV and the patients are haemorrhaging mightily in all directions. Everyone mopping spattered blood off their faces. Yuck. As a nurse I reject the entire idea of this treatment.
There is neither enough information to make the “wormwood” disease an act of God or a terrorist poisoning (as is usual with medical mysteries, no one tests anyone for poisons until several people die- I’d be firing that doctor and the nurse, too.)
The writer obviously didn’t know that wormwood is actually a plant, as someone asks what it was and the character denies it is one...
In short, the book could have used some good editing and a fact-checker- just because it is fiction, it can’t throw all facts into the air- unless it is clearly speculative fiction, which this doesn’t purport to be.
I was disappointed by this book because the premise was an interesting one, the setting clear (although the church was the main setting described and I did not know StJohn’s had the sculpture of the veiled virgin- it surprises me and makes me want to go see this wonderful sculpture ). There was such a good idea here it pains me to have it wobble so. The pacing works well, the characters are interesting, but the whole piece seems unresolved. As someone who ends her stories too rapidly, I can identify the temptation, but with a little more work this could have been a great thriller. ( )

This thriller is the product of 10 years. For the nature of this mystery, it's not so much a whodunit as a medical mystery with long-range ramifications.

Not to give too much away, the disease targets a very specific group of individuals, and no, it's not a targeted virus made by us. As a line in the novel says, "I'm not going to put out an arrest warrant for Jesus Christ."

So yes, it is also religious... to an interesting degree. Bad people are being punished. Everyone else in the novel is just trying to figure out what's going on and making do with the hand they're dealt. This includes the church, the police, victims of abuse, and the abusers.

Warning: this might be a trigger novel for victims of child abuse. Almost the entire novel deals with pedophilia.

On another level, the novel is also a total wish-fulfillment piece for the victims.

Either way, it's a very decent thriller that explores a ton of different angles, mainly relying on the church and a bit of the secular authority to drive the plot.

After ten years, it's obvious that this novel is quite polished. It's worth a look. ( )