Well, this book was certainly a step up for me in regards to Rice's "Christ the Lord..." books. In a way, it's vintage Anne Rice. Her characteristic historical narration and wonderfully descriptive prose are back in full force here, and it's good to see.
I was little cautious about this book from the get go, because I was afraid Rice would get too preachy, and she almost does in a couple of places. Honestly, there are a couple of real gag me moments early on in the book if you're not a real religious person, plus, not being raised Catholic, I had a bit of a tough time with some of her allusions and imagery, which probably wouldn't be an issue to Catholics.
Honestly though, the idea of the story is interesting and executed very well. The main character is a hit man, who as a child wanted to be a priest, but never capitalized on that due to a series of unfortunate things in his life, and he becomes a killer for hire. After his latest "assignment" an angel appears to him and offers to give him another chance to do something good with his life and help others. He's then whisked away to medieval England and dropped right into the conflicts between the Jews and Christians of the day. The result is entertaining and a decent read.
The book took a little while to really get warmed up, and I almost lost my patience with it. I'm glad I hung in there though, for Rice fans, it's a worthy read. I would, however, submit that there is room to criticize the book as a rehashing of The Vampire Lestat in a Christian setting, which is a little weird. Still, it will be interesting to see where she takes the rest of the series.
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