Pentecost. An ARKANE Thriller. [Kindle Edition]

I am a HUGE fan of Joanna Penn's The Creative Penn website and have been looking forward to her debut thriller novel, Pentecost. I purchased both the paperback and Kindle editions and don't regret a single penny spent.

However, I have a few disclaimers to put out before I continue my review: I am an editor (so I notice mistakes a bit too easily, but inevitably there will be one in this review), and I am an aspiring novelist (which forces me to study other novels for plot, characterization, technique, etc. rather than simply reading for the enjoyability of it).

Pentecost is a solid fiction debut from Penn. It's supposed to be a religious thriller along the lines of Dan Brown's Da Vinci code, but I found the style and pacing had more in common with the Indiana Jones and National Treasure mystery adventure genre. Pentecost takes readers on a global trip from India to England, from Italy to Tunisia, from Iran to the US.

After the resurrection of Jesus, the 11 remaining Apostles took 12 stones (later used to cast lots for Judas's replacement) from the tomb of Jesus as a symbol of their brotherhood. After the ascension of Jesus into heaven, these stones were empowered by God through fire at the first Pentecost in which all manner of wonderful signs and miracles occurred. After Pentecost, the 12 Apostles scattered throughout the world, taking the stones with them and passing them on to Keepers for preservation.

Now some 2000 years later, the day of Pentecost is fast approaching along with a meteor shower that hasn't been seen on earth since the first Pentecost. A mysterious group named Thanatos (that may have some link to Nazis during Hitler's heyday) wants to gather all the stones together for evil and usher in a religious war. Joseph Everett, an Arizona politician who already possesses two stones, will stop at nothing to get all the stones in one place in time for Pentecost so he can heal his mentally ill twin brother, Michael. Even the British government agency ARKANE (Arcane Religious Knowledge And Numinous Experience Institute) is vested in getting the stones, and it has commissioned agent Jake Timber to find them.

Enter the Israeli Morgan Sierra, a psychologist interested in religious occurrences who has holed up in Oxford academia in order to get to know the twin sister (Faye) she was separated from shortly after birth. Unbeknownst to Morgan and Faye, they are each Keepers of an Apostle's stone. Everett, knowing Morgan's Keeper status and her academic research background, has Faye and Faye's daughter Gemma kidnapped so that Morgan is forced to recover the remaining stones in an effort to save her sister and niece from the flames of Pentecost. Morgan works in conjunction with Timber/ARKANE to access the worldwide resources needed to accomplish her quest of finding the stones and saving her family.

Pentecost starts off quickly in Chapter 1 and the reader keeps flipping the pages to the end of Chapter 44. If you're looking for a quick, easy read, I'd recommend Pentecost.

My recommendation of the book comes with small reservations. (See my disclaimers above.) As a reader, I had a few questions that still weren't answered by the time I read the final page. For example (and perhaps other readers/reviewers can chime in the comments if they've read the book):

1. How does Ben know Faye and Morgan's mother? What was their connection? What is the promise that he made to their mother (other than that he has to protect the twins)?
2. At the end of Chapter 14, it seems that Timber hides the stone somewhere but not even the reader knows where he hides it. If he does hide it, how does he get it back?

Another reviewer mentioned that the reader is able to sympathize better with Everett, something I discovered to be true as well. While I rooted for Morgan because she was the heroine, I felt like I wasn't able to identify with her and her foibles like I could with Everett and his deep love for his brother. It is mentioned that Morgan had a one-night drunken affair with Faye's husband, but Morgan immediately regrets it and I'm not sure it adds anything to her characterization or any of the plots. I wish I had been able to identify with Morgan more on a human level and not simply through her need to save her family.

I also noticed a few grammatical mistakes (most commonly "its" and "it's" were mixed up and sometimes the tenses switched to present instead of remaining past), but perhaps these are issues I noticed only because I have an editor's eye. These things may not matter to most readers.

Overall, the story is well told. Penn has a gift for describing the various cathedrals, basilicas, and lands that Morgan and Jake journey to, making the setting vibrant and alive throughout the book. Penn is also a master at weaving in religious information throughout the story that push the plot along. The pacing of the story is unparalleled and has me looking forward to Ms. Sierra's next adventure in Prophecy (to be released in 2012).

This book opened with a great scene. The vivid description really had me hooked. But in the end, there were just too many holes in this story to make this a good book.

Why is it that Morgan is able to figure out the one and only hiding place of nearly every stone, yet she is stumped by the only riddle most laymen can answer 3 pages before she does (Who is the father?)?
Why doesn't Morgan, at least once, have to deal with authorities when she's in the middle of mayhem?
Why doesn't Morgan INSIST that ARKANE (I'm supposed to take a name like ARCANE seriously?) and Marvin get Robert's cell phone location and sic the US authorities on this guy from the get-go?
Why does Morgan feel she can trust Jake, a total stranger who breaks a promise before they've known each other an hour?
And speaking of trust. Why do monks feel comfortable turning over holy relics they are charged with keeping safe to a total stranger, on the basis of a 2 minute conversation?
Why is it OK to kill strangers to save the lives of your own family?
Am I the only one who read this book that questions Morgan's possession of all the stones she finds? There was a loose explanation about this arrangement making Morgan more comfortable toward the end of the book. But she carries them around with her? This woman is supposed to be smart.
Why is David, and his alcohol struggle, so richly described, when he is then dropped from the story altogether?
Why does the author assume that the average reader is familiar enough with Biosphere construction and layout that it's safe to skimp on the description, making the finale difficult to follow?
Why doesn't the author find a better way for our heroes to escape than -SPOILER ALERT- the antagonist stops paying attention to them?

I can supply more why's. And I haven't even touched on the how's, what's or when's. But what's the point? The plot is not tight. The protagonist, although possibly clairvoyant when it comes to finding tiny stones in big cities, is not as smart as her resume makes her out to be. Jake is a cad. The other bad guys are conveniently not present when they would be inconvenient to the story. And we never do find out why they want the stones or what the connection is among the bad guys and Morgan's parents. The only reason I finished this book was that I thought we'd have a better explanation of the stones by the end.

Pentecost by Joanna Penn is a religious thriller and a damn good one. Penn is a non-fiction writer, blogger and public speaker who has turned her hand to fiction and this is her first novel. It's a great achievement. A long time fan of thrillers, you can see Penn's passion for the genre in every part of this book.

Morgan Sierra is a great character - a real female hero without being contrived or cliched. The ARKANE group is a great invention, with a solid history making them very believable. The novel races around the world and Penn's research in location and religious mythology is clear, with every aspect of the plot considered and fleshed out in fine detail. The pace is high, the stakes are higher and very quickly we care about Morgan, her family and whether or not she'll succeed.

This book has elements that will appeal to all thriller fans - there's a bit of Indiana Jones, a bit of Wilbur Smith, a bit of Dan Brown and a lot of Joanna Penn and I have no hesitation in recommending it. It's a rollicking good read and a cut above a lot of stuff out there. Penn tells us there are more Morgan Sierra books on the horizon and I'm glad. If she's started out this strong, I'm excited to see where she goes next.