I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.

Wow, I have just finished this and the last 1/3 I had to read in one sitting it was so intense and I was on the edge of my seat.

I really enjoyed this story and would look for other books from the author.

I will be highly recommending this book!

(Posted on Goodreads)

The 15th book in my quest to read every novel ever written about Jesus clones. Shortly after starting this review, I discovered the existence of a Sudarium trilogy ("the International Bestselling Trio first published in Spain and subsequently Brazil, Poland, Russia and Mexico") completely unrelated to the "Sudarium" discussed here. Clearly, I have chosen a difficult path.

Plot: Elizabeth Barnes, a brilliant American geneticist in her 30s, is recruited by the Vatican to participate in a secret project involving the Sudarium, a bloodstained piece of cloth kept at the Oviedo cathedral in Spain that is said to have been wrapped around Jesus' head post-crucifixion. She obtains viable DNA from the relic and steals a sample to take home to Seattle. Mad Science ensues.

Source of DNA: See above.

Key plot twist: We look in on our heroine during a routine sonogram.

Jamella continued, "She's looking good."
Elizabeth's body twitched, bolting upright on the examination bench. "She ... what do you mean? I'm having a son!"
"Sorry, but look ... your baby is clearly female."


What? Female? Female. Not much of a spoiler, since it happens early on. It surpasseth all understanding, but only until the explanation on the following page. Let's just say the author has a point he wants to make, which he does, rather successfully, through the rest of the book.

Villains: The Society of Theotics, a shadowy, centuries-old cabal whose power spans the globe and is devoted to "catalyzing the end of days and the return of Christ." Positively Blofeldian in its secrecy and ruthlessness, which Shelton lampshades by comparing it to something out of a James Bond film. Points for self-awareness!

Dialogue: No conversation is complete without references to Jesus, the power of divine love, and God's plan working itself out through the characters' lives. Do devout Protestants actually talk like this? I wouldn't know. I don't remember anyone telling someone to have a blessed day, but a character says to a friend about to spend a few days in northern New England, "Please travel safe and have a renewing time in the snow."

Got it. All in all, a standard entry in the genre. Not really. Shelton takes his time putting all the pieces in place, but when the serious action begins, about three-quarters of the way through the story, it's a ripsnorter. The stakes are high, the action is fast and violent, and the heroes' technology is possibly a little ridiculous, but it's edge-of-the-seat stuff. Shelton's a clergyman with the soul of a thriller writer, and has produced the best sustained action sequences I've seen in the genre. If you read only one Jesus clone novel this year/decade/lifetime, make it this one.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

While browsing NetGalley on the hunt for a new book to read and review, I stumbled upon Sudarium by Chuck Shelton. A book with a cross prominently on its cover and the words: "Jennifer Barnes discovers she was cloned from the DNA of Jesus. What could go wrong?" What could go wrong indeed? I had to know. So I started reading Sudarium immediately.

The book starts with scientist Elizabeth Barnes working with Jesus' burial cloth, the Sudarium of Oviedo, trying to recover DNA from it. When that actually works out, she decides to hide her findings and the DNA. She basically flees back home. There she suddenly decides to impregnate herself with Jesus' DNA. A clone is in the making, unexpectedly not male but female: Jennifer.

So what could go wrong? Well, actually it is not the clone that makes things go wrong, but a very dubious fictional religious group called the Society of Theotics. They find out about Jennifer and want to use her for their own dark plots.

Unfortunately I would be giving away too much, if I delve into what these dark plots might be, so that's something you have to experience for yourself!

While reading Sudarium I had to get used to the amount of theology in it. Almost every character in this book is a fervent believer, making it a bit different from what I am used to reading. But once I got used to that, I started enjoying the story, the absurdness of it. I love the idea of someone cloning Christ in some sort of impulsive action and all the consequences of such an action. What I liked a little less was that all the characters in this book seemed to accept every absurd thing a little too easily. If someone came to me like 'hey, my story just broke, I'm the clone of Christ, can you please hid me?' I don't think my first reaction would be 'sure, love, go sit there, I'll keep everyone off bay'. I think I'd be more like 'don't be absurd. Sit down. Have some water. Did you take your meds?' It made the story hard to get into and believe from time to time.

But then when the pace of the story picks up and you just need to find out what will happen to Jennifer, I noticed that I didn't mind it quite that much anymore. So perhaps the fault for me lies more in the pace of the book. It is a very slow book that needs about three quarters of its pages to build up to being a thriller.

And then there's the ending of Sudarium. How can I tell you about it, without revealing anything? I was afraid that I'd finish this book without ever knowing why the events in it were happening, without any clue to why this Society was doing what they were doing, but then in its last pages some light was shed on that. So perhaps there will be a follow-up novel? I'd like to read it!

Sudarium explores what it means to live with integrity and courage as a person of faith. It disrupts stale views about gender among Christians and invites its readers to pursue their spirituality with fresh eyes in the context of radically loving oneself and others

Some books really are just best left unwritten or in a drawer. Think this could be seen as satire and give a good laugh but otherwise some Christian’s might find this really offensive

This book is an interesting concept. The premise of the story is the debate of genetics vs environment, Jennifer's mother tells her she is cloned from Jesus. And the story gets leaked to the press. It's a thought provoking story.