Book Review: The Footprints of God by Greg Iles
I just finished reading The Footprints of God by Greg Iles. Although not a romance by category, the book contained romantic elements so I’m going to talk about it here.
Dr. David Tennant is a member of the secret government agency working on Project Trinity. He doesn’t exactly believe in God, but after a Super MRI he’s developed narcolepsy and he has vivid dreams that he’s begun to believe are rememberances–of Jesus. A tragic event in his past connected him with psychiatrist Rachel Weiss. Now they’re on the run together as they try to figure out the connection between David’s dreams and the future of mankind.
Writers –> If you’re looking for advice on how to create opening hooks, read the opening of this book. It was strong enough to push me into an impulse buy in my local Walmart.
“My name is David Tennant, M.D. I’m professor of ethics at the University of Virginia Medical School, and if you’re watching this tape, I’m dead.”
I took a breath and gathered myself. I didn’t want to rant. I’d mounted my Sony camcorder on a tripod and rotated the LCD screen in order to see myself as I spoke. I’d lost weight over the past weeks. My eyes were red with fatigue, the orbits shiny and dark. I looked more like a hunted criminal than a grieving friend.
“I don’t really know where to begin. I keep seeing Andrew lying on the floor. And I know they killed him. But…I’m getting ahead of myself. You need facts. I was born in 1961 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. My father was James Howard Tennant, the nuclear physicist. My mother was Ann Tennant, a pediatrician. I’m making this tape in a sober state of mind, and I’m going to deposit it with my attorney as soon as I finish, on the understanding that it should be opened if I die for any reason.
“Six hours ago, my colleague Dr. Andrew Fielding was found dead beside his desk, the victim of an apparent stroke. I can’t prove it, but I know Fielding was murdered. For the past two years, he and I have been part of a scientific team funded by the National Security Agency and DARPA — the government agency that created the Internet in the 1970s. Under the highest security classification, that team and its work are known as Project Trinity.”
I glanced down at the short-barreled Smith & Wesson .38 in my lap. I’d made sure the pistol wasn’t visible on camera, but it calmed me to have it within reach.
Although I enjoyed The Footprints of God as an engaging thriller until about 75 pages from the end (the book ran 546 pages), the tension in the story didn’t hold out. The romance between the main characters was interesting if rushed, and the finale lacked any real punch.
Rachel didn’t want to believe David had lost his mind, but she never seemed to truly believe in him either. My take on her at the beginning made me discount her feelings for David simply because her mind seemed closed to the possibility that he was anything but crazy. So why then did she love him?
As far as the scientific aspects of the story, I was intrigued, again until those last 75 pages.
I had told my mother about the book, offering my copy to her, but once I made it through the book, I didn’t feel I could recommend the book after all.
So, this one ended up on my recycle pile. I’ll donate it to the library book sale, or I’ll give it away.
Summary:
I read it.
I liked it well enough to finish it.
I wouldn’t read it again.
I wouldn’t ask my family to read it.
