Book Review – AS THE LIGHTNING COMES by Svensk Oob

As The Lightning Comes Synopsis

This fast paced adventure is like The Bible Code meets The Chariots of the Gods. It weaves together the fascinating themes of ancient astronauts, angel visitations, hidden Bible codes and end time prophecies, with an international conspiracy thrown in.

The story follows the quest of cynical lawyer John Marshall to locate the Tree of Knowledge and then to pass on the key to it to the one called the Son of Man. Marshall unwittingly becomes the last custodian of the key when he tries to come to the rescue of an elderly Eastern wise man.

He teams up with fellow American, evangelist and one time Middle Eastern linguistic expert, Marc Arnold. Arnold ropes in the assistance of longtime friend, Kirsty Gordon, a Scottish aristocrat and archaeologist. Their quest across three continents is thwarted by dark forces apparently hell bent on grasping the key from them for an as yet unknown nefarious purpose.

The key is an ancient artefact that guides and gives access to a subterranean installation. This is the remnant of a long lost civilization, of which the Atlantians were a part. Modern technology has not yet caught up with that of the ancients, which ultimately contributed towards their downfall.

The installation, located in the bowels of a Nepalese mountain, houses an arsenal of futuristic flying craft of the sort mistakenly labelled as UFOs. It is also the repository of an electronic archive of the long forgotten past, shades of which were captured in myth, folklore and religion, known as the Tree of Knowledge…

Through the centuries, various historical characters including the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu (author of the Art of War), Nostradamus and Hitler have gained access to the Tree of Knowledge. What they learnt changed the destiny of mankind and provided a peek into the future.

Will the trio find the Tree of Knowledge and identify and locate the Messiah in time to thwart the Antichrist and save the Earth from the immense meteorite storm that is on a collision course with it? The final countdown has commenced.

BOOK REVIEW

As The Lightning Comes by Svensk Oob is what I would classify as a mystical action thriller. It contains elements reminiscent of the often maligned in literary circles, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I for one recall being quite entertained by The Da Vinci Code when I read it many years ago. I have always found questions surrounding religious faith and societal power quite intriguing and perfect fodder for compelling fiction.

In gathering historical story elements to feature in this novel, Svensk Oob has not restricted himself to a particular time period or even physical realm/planet. This has made for some very interesting and on occasion ingenious concepts and cameos, but the connections made between those elements were often tenuous. One could say I found the individual jigsaw puzzle pieces more compelling than the picture created when they were put together.

This novel featured some exciting action sequences but the inclusion of stilted passages of dialogue between the characters often caused the tension built to fizzle out. A strong editorial hand could have substantially improved the final product. Credit to the author for some of the best cover art I have seen on a self-published ebook though – it is so important these days.

In summary, the ambitious scope and fantastical story ideas behind As The Lightning Comes held great promise but I was disappointed by the execution.

BOOK RATING: The Story 2.5 / 5 ; The Writing 2 / 5

Have you read As The Lightning Comes? Do you want to?

Join the discussion below.

BOOK DETAILS: As The Lightning Comes (Amazon)

Genre: Sci-Fi-Fantasy, Romance, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Thriller

Author Information: Svensk was born in Sweden in 1967 but, at the age of seven, moved to Kenya with his parents when they assumed duties at a mission post on the outskirts of Nairobi. This was literally down the road from the house in which Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, of Out of Africa fame, lived. His early schooling took place at the St. Aloysius Jesuit School in Nairobi. Thereafter he was a border at the High School in what was then Umtali, Rhodesia.

After completing a degree in Political Science at the University of Göteborg, and a Master’s degree at Harvard University, Massachusetts, Svensk joined Amnesty International. He has travelled worldwide monitoring human rights abuses. Much of his time is spent in Africa, especially Southern Africa. As a consequence, he suffers from recurring bouts of malaria, which he contracted on his travels. Ironically, his only real brush with authorities was when he was researching for this, his first novel, in Nepal. He was interred by the Nepalese Government on suspicion that he was involved in subversive activities.

The novel represents an attempt by Svensk to reconcile the belief system he inherited from his parents with the UFO sighting that he experienced in Central Africa and a strange dream that he had. The author is reluctant to disclose his present whereabouts or family details as he fears he will meet a similar fate to that suffered by Alberto Rivera, mentioned in the book.

– Checkout the official website for As The Lightning Comes

* My receiving this title free from the author did not affect my ability to express my honest opinions in this book review.