Remote Control

Sean McKenna has been lingering in Jerusalem too long. Sean, an ex-soldier cryptographer who maintains ties to the United States intelligence community, has been toying with the idea of permanent retirement on a tropical island when he meets Faith Foley, a beautiful academic working on an archaeological dig in the ancient city. And then the world around them descends into chaos. It starts with the unexpected death of one of Faith’s workers, a man who believed that he was being hunted, a man who presses some incredible documents into Sean’s hands as he slips away. These documents offer an alternative to the version of Jesus’s life and teachings that the world believes, and the Others who hunted this man will do anything in their power to destroy the documents and the family that has protected them for so long. Sean and Faith find themselves drawn into a fast-paced hunt to find the keepers of the truth and discover who is trying to kill them.

Author Chris McGrath has hit upon an interesting premise with Remote Control. With a story steeped in conspiracy theories about religion, this novel is an attention-grabber. The characters of Sean and Faith are a bit stereotyped: the aging expatriate with a shaded past and unbelievable amounts of money at his disposal, and the brilliant archeology scholar with an incredible body and a heart of gold. Some readers may love them; others may find it hard to identify with either. While the story may be a bit farfetched in some respects, McGrath’s writing is good, if a bit in need of copy editing, and he seems to have a pretty solid grasp on his story. It is clear through his writing style and choice of subject that McGrath was deeply inspired by The DaVinci Code, and readers who enjoyed that novel may enjoy this one as well.