Welcome to the Eternal Church of the Believer, where devout workers operate state-of-the-art computer equipment to solicit and process the thousands of dollars that pour in daily . . . where hundreds of prayers are offered by armies of believers . . . where some people give much more than they should. Its home is Meadows Center, some very expensive real estate on the outskirts of a sleepy Southern town, a jealously guarded complex of offices, houses, schools, and, of course, churches. Meet John Tinker Meadows, who heads the church now that his father is secretly dying . . . the Reverend Joe Deets, who lusts after very young women . . . Walter Macy, pompous and self-righteous, who blackmails his way to his secret ambition . . . the Reverend Mary Margaret Meadows, a powerhouse in her own right. And pity poor Roy Owen, an outsider who comes to Meadows Center on a desperate search for his wife, the journalist who vanished after asking some hard questions about the inner workings of the Eternal Church of the Believer . . . . "Brilliantly done." -- The New York Times Book Review
His concept: to tell a mystery through the interlocking stories of several people connected with a conspiratorial entity, looking back over an event. It's ambitious and tackles many ideas and hypocrisies within our society, which was inspirational to me, but is LONG and is doubly burdened with lengthy discursive passages and character explication that takes awhile. This is one of the most ambitious mystery novels I have read, and somewhere, I think Agatha and Dashiell are cheering. If you can handle a slightly longer and more complex read, this is a rewarding story without the whiz-bang effects common now.
writes,
Even if I found the Travis McGee series a bit trying at times, I always believed that the late John MacDonald was one of America's finest mystery writers. Some of his stand alone books, especially Condominium and The Executioners (the novel Cape Fear was based on) were top notch action packed tales. In One More Sunday, MacDonald takes on a new target, the Mega-Church. While uncovering the sexual escapades, hypocrisy and financial misdeeds of his characters, he also paints a portrait of many good meaning and faithful people who truly have the best intentions, but get carried away in there execution. Religious figures can be easy targets, but MacDonald looks beyond the bad to show you both sides.
writes,
Having read all of the Travis McGee series and several of his novels, I recall this as being outstanding. Now my goal is to find the many other out-of-print books by this outstanding author.
