Revelation

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Revelation

The greatest religious novel of our time

Category:	Fiction
Author:	W. A. Harbinson
Publisher:	Booksurge
Price:	£15.59
ISBN:	1-419630-98-9
Pages:	488
Reviewed in issue:	2

Revelation is a huge story. It takes a theme and setting that, thanks to the constant news stories that file in from the Middle East, are familiar to us all.

Palestine and Israel have been fighting over the West Bank for decades and the horribly bloody war continues as the book opens. Despite various efforts, no peace agreement has yet been reached. Major-General Moshe Eitan is one of the men trying to help cease the bloodshed, whilst Kate Hirschfield is an American doctor attending to the wounded and dying that arrive day after day for treatment.

Kate’s apparently loose morals – and those of her country – mean that the two main protagonists are initially at odds with each other. However, during a night which sees both terrible violence and extraordinary events, their perceptions change – not only of each other, but also of the world around them.

Harbinson has taken one familiar setting and created an incredibly encompassing story from it. Everything is here; the politics and horror of war, supernatural occurrences, opposing religious beliefs, not forgetting a love story.

This really is an unusual book in that it doesn’t fall into any particular genre. Instead it takes parts from many and enmeshes them seamlessly into one whole. The result is an intriguing, powerful story with a particular resonance in today’s world.

My only criticism is that, occasionally, the characters can be a little prone to exposition, but this is a minor quibble.

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