Book Description

Clearer Light is the story of two men and their parallel rise to fame - parallel, yet in opposite directions. Brian Harris, a young American priest, is sent by Rome to keep close tabs on a man claiming to be the Son of God - and tossing about some rather convincing proof to back it up. Damon Marsh, a lonely Welsh teenager, desperately follows his last friend into a life of lethal crime. Unlike typical parallel lines, those guiding Harris and Marsh do eventually intersect - with deadly results. When I saw the lamb break open the sixth seal, there was a violent earthquake; the sun turned black as a goat’s-hair tent cloth and the moon grew red as blood. The stars in the sky fell crashing to earth ... Then the sky disappeared as if it were a scroll being rolled up; every mountain and island was uprooted from its base... This menacing spectacle from the Bible is how most of us have been taught to see the Second Coming since our earliest school years. But what if destiny has a different idea? What if there is to be another visit before the final judgement? One with as inauspicious a start, and as notorious a conclusion, as the first, some 2,000 years earlier. A scant five chapters after the ominous verse above, the apostle John writes of a woman who bore a son, and of an ancient serpent who searched them out, intending to devour them. Could this refer to a second visit, rather than the first? This interim Second Coming and the battle with the modern-day serpent are the basis of Clearer Light. Even though the action revolves around Jesse Branson (the “Jesus character”), the real focus of the book is on the intense internal struggle of Fr. Brian Harris, the American priest who is traveling with him, to sort out the astounding things he witnesses Jesse do. Similarly, while most of the action involving the antagonist is centered on John Barty, a murder-happy Welsh outlaw bent on self-destruction, the real story is how Damon Marsh, a troubled teen who once revered Barty, comes to grips with his eroding admiration. Clearer Light begins thirty years ago, with the events surrounding Jesse’s birth. Jesse’s mother, Maria Branson, is a single, professional woman living in Atlanta. Maria’s visitation by a heavenly messenger could not be any more different from Gabriel’s conversation with Mary. Involving an ominous subway station, a defenseless Asian tourist, and a botched robbery, the rendezvous is intense and emotional. Two episodes of Jesse’s young life are then told. The first occurs when Jesse, eleven-years-old at the time, restores the life of a classmate who was seriously injured in a tragic automobile accident, much to the astonishment of a team of paramedics who had given the girl little hope. The second story involves the death of Jesse’s grandmother, which occurred when Jesse was in graduate school, and the emotional strain put upon the young man at the thought of standing by idly as his beloved kin passes away. Next, Fr. Brian Harris is introduced, and the story of how he went from being a promising parish priest to a Vatican spy is told. Eventually, Jesse recruits Fr. Harris, and a third person, Charlotte Coatsford, joins their traveling mission. Events follow at roller coaster speed until Jesse has made a real name for himself, turning heads in both the spiritual and business worlds. And wherever there’s a celebrity, there’s a tabloid looking to take the star down. Jesse’s roller coaster derails for a moment, but the issue is emotionally resolved and he perseveres, stronger than ever. Nearly one-third of the way through the novel, John Barty and his apprentice, Damon Marsh, are presented. While the differences between the world of Damon Marsh and that of Fr. Harris are stark, both men grapple internally with their view of their mentors. As the story continues, Jesse’s fol