Questioning God in Absolute Proof || BOOK REVIEW

Absolute Proof by Peter James

5/5 STARS

Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Author: Peter James
Published: September 2018
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 553 {paperback}

Review on Goodreads

Thanks to Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Initial Thoughts Upon Finishing

Oh my GOD this book was insane. I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’m so impressed with how good that story was! You just HAVE to know how it’s going to end and it’s so good!!! Not to mention how the main bones of this story are inspired by very similar events that happened to Peter James himself. Mind. Blown.

Absolute Proof

Absolute Proof is the story of a reporter who is approached by a man, Mr. Cook, who claims to have absolute proof that god exists. Ross, the reporter, isn’t atheist but he sure isn’t actively religious either, and he’s very on the fence about this potential story.

But the more he hears, learns and sees from what Cook says, the more difficult it becomes to walk away. What if there is proof? The challenge is set. Ross is to go to three sets of co-ordinates somewhere on earth (and is given the next after finding the first) to find three items of proof that god exists.

Along the way we flip between multiple perspectives. Some include a big pharmaceutical company, a phony religious leader and the Pope. All of which get wind of the story Ross is hunting and was in – they offer huge sums of money and constant make attempts on his life or try to scare him off.

All the while his unfaithful wife constantly tells him to give it up after getting scared by these threats (totally fair man, I’d be freaking out too) and is carrying his unborn child. Well, we *think* its his. And honestly? You spend most of the book hoping he won’t die, trying to decide if Ross or Imogen (his wife) has the right idea and DOES GOD EXIST?

A Solid Mystery and a Good Thriller

I cannot express enough how much I enjoyed this book. When it arrived in the mail, in a massive parcel, I went: oh dear lord I have been send a brick. And clocking in at over 550 pages I nervously began reading hoping I’d finish it before 2018 rolled into 2019. I whizzed through.

You can’t put this book down. And I’m a sucker for mysteries and even more so for low-key thrillers. Books are the only time I’m okay with a bit of heart-racing action, and the fact that this read very much so like Dan Brown’s work made me feel comforted that Peter James *probably* wouldn’t give me nightmares. I’m pleased to report that I slept soundly whilst reading this.

I powered through with great gusto, hugely invested in the welfare of Ross and slightly concerned at the amount of infidelity and one particularly gruesome murder. I loved the way that James handled the topic of religion and I wondered what his own perspective on it was, it felt like a very sound analysis of where religion stood in today’s society.

At nearly midnight last night when I finished it and blinked sleepily at the afterword, I was really surprised to see that this book is largely based on James’ own experiences. He, too, had someone approach him to say they had proof of god’s existence. FASCINATING STUFF GUYS. I just really liked the way he tackled hard questions and gave us a mammoth book of an epic plight to prod and question faith without needing to lay down any opinions that might rankle the masses.

Summary

SO YEAH. YOU NEED TO READ THIS. It’s coming out in like 3 days (25th September in Australia) so do yourself a favour and buy, borrow or beg for a copy. This is one of those books you’ll read on the train and forget to look out for your stop and accidentally end up in Antarctica. Cannot recommend enough! Now, excuse me whilst I go buy the rest of Peter James’ books.