I reviewed this series on 22/09/19 in another blog, now defunct.
Series Review of The Baptist trilogy by Ryan David Gerard.
I was asked by the author to review this trilogy many months ago. I was unable to at the time. Recently, Ryan was asking for reviews of this trilogy on Goodreads. I decided to spotlight this series and offered Ryan a guest post to talk about the grittiness of these novels and his concern about depicting Christian Fiction realistically. This became the post, Ryan David Gerard and the Challenge of Depicting Christian Fiction Realistically. From reading that post, I became even more intrigued than I was previously and found myself reading the first novel, Judge's Genesis. Before I go any further, here is what this novel is about:
Meanwhile, the normal realms of time and existence go on. The other versions of John and everyone else push forward--towards the series of events that sparked the anomaly in the first place.
Four years have past and John's new name; The Baptist, has become legend on the streets of Baltimore. Criminals have grown to fear the name as he and his group of friends have earned a reputation for dealing with society's worst. John's estranged wife; Clare, after putting her career case to bed, finds herself faced with a new terrorist group that could be worse than the last. As John tries to decide how far he is willing to take this mission of his, the version of himself that is trapped underneath time must convince Jason Richter to help him fix the space-time continuum.
The result spawns a whole new reality--a version of events that is different than anyone has seen before!
All the while, the ever scheming; Ranston sets up for the climax of his plan and the realization of his dark second chance...
and by this stage, I could stop here but to finish with the final instalment with Revelation:
The epic finale of John Revele's saga! Ranston has won and The Stranger is dead! While John is still trapped in prison, war rages on the outside and his group are scattered. Richter and Ken's plans to fix the space-time continuum are thwarted by the authorities, Clare is trapped north of the border and rest of the twelve are unaccounted for. Hope is been shattered with the execution of their savior, especially when He doesn't rise on the third day and expected by some. Now, each of these characters will have to rely on the help of unlikely aides and some old familiar faces, in order to find each other again. Once they do, they will mount an attack against Ranston and those who have sided with him in this war. It's an all out launch of assault against the enemy of life as the group seeks their revenge--only to realize that the vengeance was never theirs to take...Can Richter make it to Israel and set the distorted timeline right again? Can John finally see the end of all evil?--and what will this mean for the rest of the characters? Find out in this, the final instalment in The Baptist Trilogy!
When I read the guest post mentioned above, I was getting a bit concerned that this trilogy was going to be so far out of the square that I would not enjoy it or think that the author was now orbiting a different planet than ours!
However, I can see what he is talking about from that post. This is not your typical or usual Christian fiction. But, I thought it was very well done. Despite the grittiness, the occasional dark aspects, the descriptions of violence, thuggery, corruption, deception, Gerard instils a sincerity and genuineness to depict it as it is. All of the aforementioned destructive behaviours and attitudes are just as I would have expected them to be if I was involved in the world that he has created. It is not glorified, it is not added for the sake of it, or to cover up a writing deficit he has as an author. His guest post mentioned above gives some much-needed background to this trilogy and I am glad to have encouraged him to compose this. Understanding his motives for writing gleaned from this post certainly enhanced my appreciation and enjoyment of this trilogy. I would also recommend any reader to read the notes from the author at the beginning and end of each novel, especially after the finish of Revelation.
Gerard should commend himself for not compromising any part of the Gospel message, the depiction of Jesus or the demonic/satanic in this trilogy. I found his depiction of these to be of adherence to their biblical origins. Jesus is the Jesus of the Bible and of the Trinity. He is depicted as Divine, the Son of God. Satan is depicted as he is from the Bible as well. Gerard has not given him any more power, authority or dominion than we know from the Bible.
Any author who depicts the events of the Bible, in this case, the New Testament and integrates them into a modern, futuristic but dystopian world would have quite a challenge to pull it off and have it read as if it happened that way. Gerard is a master of this. There were some details that he simply could not address, (and he explains in the notes at the end of Book 3), but this does not make the plot or the worldbuilding fall into any deficit or weakness.
With each novel being in the 400-500 page range, Gerard packs a lot into each and in the overall plot of this trilogy. There are so many levels or layers. There is never a dull moment or lull in the pace of the plot throughout. All the characters come alive and you will find yourself pack of the world that Gerard has placed John Revele. This is epic dystopian fantasy. You will laugh, I found myself crying at some parts, especially the crucifixion and how the characters reacted to Jesus' death. I was infuriated and disgusted at the deceptiveness, manipulation of Ranston who represent satan incarnate. I found myself relating to all of the character's perspective and how they fitted into John's quest for justice in this world of moral corruptness, selfishness and chaos.
Gerad has used symbolism in all three novels. I challenge any reader, especially Christian ones to see who is the modern counterpart of the disciples. I correctly identified who the disciples of John, Peter, Judas, Andrew. It was not at all hard to identify Mary Magdalene. Gerard may not have done anything cryptive for this character, it was fine as it is.
It is interesting how the Bible could be seen as a battle between a good character and a bad one. Jesus versus satan. In this trilogy, Gerard has done the same thing. Satan throws Jesus a wager that if he was given a second chance he would defeat Jesus and God and be what he wanted in the beginning, to rule over everything and everyone, rule his way and sit on God's throne.
Jesus accepts and they both choose their players. Jesus chooses John Revele and satan chooses Jason Richter. Jason is a loner, hates people but loves science. John loves people and stands for justice and treating everyone fairly and as they need to be treated. Jesus "inserts" himself in their reality or world as The Stranger and just like He did in the Biblical times, He drew people to Himself and connected with them where they are and on all levels of their psyche. Satan is depicted as Paul Ranston, a master manipulator, political adviser to the two POTUS and financier of the terrorist groups who do his bidding. And the three novels show how Ranston tries to do things differently. But just when you think, Gerard is depicting this to be so, there is always a twist to prove otherwise.
And while we talk about this, Gerard is the master plot, worldbuilder and character developer. All these three fit seamlessly together to support the wager satan challenges God with. The mystique, suspense, thrills, action and adventure never let up and layer upon layer is unravelled and embeds you further into this world.
The spiritual and supernatural aspects are well done. A novel of this dimension and with this plot would not be successful without the inclusion of these two aspects. It is the underpinning foundation for it all. While there is no specific redemptive procedure that John Revele's group go through, they show transformation of character, heart and spirit from following The Stranger and living out His teachings and principles in their lives. Gerard has "copied" what the Bible has done. It does not account for how the disciples believed in Him but showed they did by following His teachings and adopting them into their lives, albeit for such a short time (3 years of His earthly ministry before being crucified). So it is in this trilogy. Gerard has depicted the Spirit instructing and encouraging John (and if I remember rightly others) in various circumstances over the course of these three novels.
If a movie production house translated Gerard's novels into a movie with very little or no poetic licence added, this would make a sensational movie. And it would show the impact and power of the Gospel message. It would clearly define who Jesus is, who satan is and what they stand for. It would show Jesus of the Bible and what He achieved on the Cross, it would show the hatred, deceptiveness and manipulation of satan towards God/Jesus and His creation, mankind. It would show the power of the Cross and how to live victorious in Him. All this wrapped up in an action-packed, dramatic, edge of your seat thrilling account of the Gospel message. Gerard would have to be the screenplay writer or at least the chief advisor of the film's production or some other existing Christian playwright/advisor or Director.
There is so much more that a review of Gerard's novel could include. But this would make the review far too long. Suffice to say that Gerard has not written this trilogy for fun, for the entertainment value alone. He has crafted a saga here with many layers, many dynamics, many spiritual truths and Biblical ones more importantly. I love and appreciate his sincerity and genuineness to tell it as it is for all the right and commendable reasons, to give the reader something to think about and in doing so, shows what a true disciple of Jesus is. These characters are flawed and badly, the world is corrupt, morally bankrupt, messy, life's events and people's reactions to them are gritty, chaotic and irresponsible based on selfishness and warped by man's sin and rebellion against God and His ways.
I believe that Gerard has no major concerns to worry about depicting his fiction the way it is. He needs to stay true to this style and the motives he has in creating it. He truly has a God-given talent for story and being honest, truthful, sincere and genuine about it.
I am the first one to state when a novel dishonors God, undermines the Bible, promotes the demonic or the satanic as being more powerful or greater than God. This is not the case here with Gerard. He is respectful in keeping it as it is and how it should be and needs to be. He has not deviated from these criteria.
My one concern about his depiction is where The Stranger and Ranston have a physical brawl. My first reaction was, "Really?" and then I felt it went on for too long. It needed to be shorter if it had to be depicted at all. However, reading this scene reminded me of Thor fighting Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. Gerard does know how to write fight scenes! But unlike the fight scene in that movie, the Good Guy wins, but how would it be otherwise when we are talking about God?
I can see this trilogy not appealing to all Christians. And yes, those Christians who believe that Christian fiction should be sugary sweet with no violence, sex (none in this trilogy!), swearing (cussing), or depictions of Christians being flawed and showing it, will be aghast and critical of this trilogy and of Gerard. No doubt they will insist he repent of his evil ways and renounce his foray into the dark side! But to do that without giving this trilogy a fair go and a chance will be doing Gerard and his world in this trilogy an injustice and deny the Spirit a chance to minister to them. But as Gerard states in his guest post,
This series is written specifically for the world, not the church. It’s not a typical, wholesome piece of Christian media. It comes with one of those “explicit content” warnings on it. There is violence, in lots of police-action-style shooting and fight scenes and there is language. Because it’s all about the human condition, it is not a very pleasant subject matter. There are prostitution and drugs as well as gang and criminal activity. None of the characters is Christian and, as such, they are written that way. It’s a story about how the rest of the world goes through life, popular beliefs about how good and evil should be handled, and how the average citizen would deal with God showing up in their life.
and later in the post,
The bottom line is that I thought to myself; “Why can’t Christians put out a better product—a more realistic, gritty, raw and unvarnished piece of media? A well written and well-produced story, and wouldn’t it be awesome to not worry about being safe” or “So I began to realize that I should be the one to produce something like this, instead of waiting and criticizing.”
I have no doubt that Gerard has succeded in his quest here. Christian authors can put out a better product just as he described it, realistic, gritty raw and unvarnished. I welcome more of it from Gerard. I pray he can be an inspiration to more Christian authors out there who are maybe afraid to go down this path and show fallen mankind and the world that results from this.
If you would like to investigate The Baptist trilogy, click on the image below:
Reviews help promote an author’s novel to potential readers and encourage the author to keep writing. Reviews also help get the author’s message (and God’s message) to the reader, whether Christian or not, who may need encouragement and support in their lives while being entertained by the story.
Please note: As an Amazon Associate, I am required to disclose that book cover images or titles of novels in this post are paid links if they are linked to Amazon and result in a sale.
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