[.uk] A Skeleton in God's Closet (ISBN 1595543317)

Very condescending:
I will give this book one plus. It made me ask myself the obvious question -- what would I do if science "disproved" my faith? A friend of mine pointed out that science stands in the way of faith everyday -- virgin birth, creation of the world, the miracles of the Bible. The writing in this book was poor, very condescending, and very melodramatic. The author seemed to love showing off some bit of knowledge that the average person could never understand and then explaining it to us. --Nodding in courtesy, he said "Shalom aleichem. Bo itti, bevakasha, ten li leharol lecha et hakevarim." Then in case his biblical Hebrew proved inadequate, he turned to the Hasicid scholar who had spoken English and said slowly, " Peace be with you...." The book is full of this kind of writing. It is also condescending in its view of how the world would accept the premise of Christ's bones being found. If that were the case most people would assume it was a hoax, or realize we had interpreted the Bible wrong. This is not what happened in the book. In the book the world lives and breathes the plot of the book. Good news on the resurrection, the world rejoices! Bad news, the world trembles in fear...people even commit suicide! Is there no one rational in all the world? Even after multiple back and forths with the resurrection news, the author does it one more time in the last pages of the book...and the crowd overreacts on cue. Christians I guess are just dumb robots with shallow faiths. The book presents itself as "a fast paced thriller". I did not get that. Lots and lots of talking. People have said this would make a great movie. Perhaps, but there was one seen of action, if you don't include the "climax" of the book where we have 15 pages of "Scooby-Doo" explanation. -- No exaggeration. I am a born again Christian, but am frequently turned off by Christian fiction. The Bible is full of violence and sex. Why can't Christian writers at least show the world as it really is. Do I have to endure "for goshsakes!" ? Bad guys swear once in a while. and the vomit inducing love scenes! I don't want anything gratuitous, but any sane person who actually reads books sees "Christian fiction" on the first page, because the writing is so bad, people don't act the way they are potrayed in these books. Only Peretti comes close, as far as I've seen. The book is very preachy, the author likes to share every bit of knowledge pertaining to the topic...including the half that was completely unnecessary.

Well Written Novel about Faith and Doubt:
"A Skeleton in God's Closet" was no disappoinment. Although the beginning was a little slow, the plot took me and didn't let go. Maier presents readers with an archaelogical find that will either destroy Christianity or prove to be the most diabolical fraud in history. The protagonists must race against time to find the truth of the matter as the world changes around them. Maier was generally excellent at exploring issuses of faith, doubt, religious fanaticism, and anti-religious fanaticism. The novel deals with a serious subject but doesn't abandon humor. In fact, there is some pretty decent satire (especially directed against a fictional televangelist). The novel's romantic plot is somewhat cheesy but not enough to really hurt the plot. Overall, an interesting and at times thought provoking novel.

Interesting Premise but Weak Writing and Predictable Ending:
I really wanted to like this book. It was highly recommended to me by a close friend. I was fascinated by the premise of the book, but I found the writing to be weak and the ending was easily predictable less than half way through the short book.

I enjoyed it:
I just finished this book about 10 minutes ago. It took me about 4 intense reading sessions to complete. I'm by no means a critic. I don't normally read fiction novels, but I had read so many philosophy books I needed something a little lighter. I, enjoyed this book, ALOT! What I specifically liked about it were the refrences to historic areas with in the holy land, for example St. Catherine's @ Mt Sinai. Take into consideration Paul Maier's background and the idea that you might learn some non-fiction from it and it'll be a great read! Good times 5 stars.

Finding Jesus:
Intriguing premise examines the world's reaction to news of the findings of the bones of Jesus in an archaeological dig in Israel. Part adventure novel, part theological treatise, the best part of the book is that it works well enough to stand on its own as a novel outside of that central plot premise. And the writing is far superior to that of Clive Cussler in the one of his books that I read (Atlantis Found (Dirk Pitt Novel)--the comparison comes to mind as the two books might compete in the action-adventure genre).