The Sign - Raymond Khoury

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Consigned item sold "As Is/ Where Is" with no guarantees, warranties, refunds or exchanges. What event could unite the world in peace - or in war? From the bestselling author of THE LAST TEMPLAR. A remote shelf in the Arctic circle. A small TV crew is braving the harsh conditions to film the breaking off of a major ice shelf - yet another nail in the planet's eco-coffin. Then someone calls out, pointing at something up in the sky overhead. The camera pans up and they look up to see a blazing symbol clear, burning high over the bleak, deserted terrain. Thus begins a series of strange events worldwide as the mysterious sign appears over the sites of conflict, natural disasters and terrorist atrocities. What can it portend? The world is wracked with both fear and hope. Suddenly, all this is focused onto one man. An obscure monk who recognises the symbol from the past and understands what it means for the future of humanity. But as he becomes the most sought-after man on the planet, the questions have to be asked: could this be the real deal? Or the most elaborate fake in world history? And - either way - what happens to the world now? Amazon Reviews A THRILLING, THOUGHT PROVOKING READ ... BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE!, June 15, 2009 By N. Farrell I just finished The Sign and couldn't put it down. It was a real page turner, and at the same time it had a lot of great ideas and comments that really made me think. I thnk it's Mr Khoury's best book so far. I loved Gracie and Matt, I thought they were great characters that felt natural and very real to me. I also loved Jabba and his banter with Matt. The story is fast paced and huge with great action that takes you around the world. I could already see it as a movie especially every time the sign shows up, from the great opening in Antarctica to the big moments at the end which I won't describe here not to ruin it for everyone who didn't read it yet. But reading the other reviews here, a word of warning: this book might not be for you! It all depends on what your political view is. Even though it's the characters in the book who are talking, I did get the feeling that Mr Khoury agrees with their point of view. I happen to agree with it, so it wasn't a problem for me, I loved it. But if you think keeping religion and politics separate is a bad idea (even though it's something our founding fathers wanted), if you think America was at its best these last eight years, if you think the war in Iraq wasn't a humanitarian tragedy, if you think the wrong person won the election and is now our president, and if you watch Beck and Hannity and Limbaugh and not Jon Stewart, then this book DEFINITELY isn't for you!!! Excellent, intelligent thriller with a good mix of religion and science, July 1, 2009 By P. A. Smith I am a Sunday school teacher and a Ph.D. chemist. I make these admissions to demonstrate that I am not a "religious nut" nor an "athiest scientist". Not suggesting anyone else here is; just stating that I am not. If you enjoy intelligent writing that has just the right mix of science, religion, mother-earth love, and happy endings, this would be a good book for you. I don't understand the bitterness of some of the reviews. I didn't feel this book expressed hate towards any group. In fact, I thought it was an incredibly open-minded writing praising ALL religions. A quote from the book: "We all pray to the same God. That's all that matters. ... God doesn't care about what you eat or what you drink. He doesn't care about how often you pray to him or what words you use or where you go to do that. He doesn't care who you vote for. He only cares about how you behave toward one another. That's all that matters." That doesn't sound hateful to me. Read the book- read it as it is (a novel). Enjoy it. I did. Great Summer Read, July 6, 2009 By Fred Rayworth Unlike the vast majority of critiquers, I really enjoyed this book. It was a great chase/race against time and met my definition of an easy read. I had no problem with his view on religion or his view on Bush, though he tended to get a bit preachy, especially toward the end. However, the action never stopped and the story moved right along. Where I didn't like the way Matthew Reilly made the Americans the super bad guys in his books, and him being a New Zealander, I had no problem with Mr. Khoury (a Brit) using Americans as bad guys because he also used them as the good guys so it didn't look so biased. I almost put the book down because I thought it was a Christian novel, but it turned out to be just a thriller with all religions being knocked. Sure he gave Bush a good bashing, but it's not surprising considering the polarization our former Dubya caused with the rest of the world. As for the writing, as with other Brits, he tends to mix points of view with abandon, and breaks the "rules" us unpublished writers are stuck to. However, it was only annoying in a couple of spots where I wasn't sure who's head he was in. Also, Mr. Khoury resolved things in a way I liked, so that was a big plus for me. I can understand why Christians and Bush lovers would hate this book and that's fine. There are plenty of books I hate for my own reasons. In this case, I loved it. I will have to look for his other works. Highly recommended. Got Me Thinking, June 22, 2014 By Barbara Frederick Raymond Khoury lives in that space where science and religion form both conflicts and alliances. It's a very interesting space, and one that a lot of people would like to manipulate to their own ends. This is the story of one major conspiracy to use that space for different agendas. Who are the heroes and who are the villains? You will have to trust your own instincts on that, and be prepared to adjust as more is revealed. It's a fast-paced, tense drama with only a little insight and meditation, but that little is to very good effect. Almost everyone involved is transformed by the events of the story, and who does not change is even more revealing than who does. Yes, that kind of complex, compelling story. This is a highly entertaining read!, September 4, 2009 By Dorothy Gale Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: The Sign (Kindle Edition) I'm bewildered by the negative reviews of this book, citing Bush bashing and Christian bashing and how awful it is that the secular liberal author has written this book.... It's a fictional story--very, very well written, as a matter of fact. I'm a Christian, and I was not at all offended by the semi-sleazy evangelist character. Hey, there ARE real-life semi-sleazy evangelists! The Bush-bashing character is a Iraq war Veteran who, discovering there were no WMDs, is very bitter about being wounded over there. There are real-life bitter Iraq war Veterans, too! Geez, I can't imagine that I'd be reading very much if I were always so concerned about having my political or religious views validated. I thought the book was very good. I particularly liked the way the author moved back and forth between the characters/locations. It was an interesting plot and exciting read--enjoyed it thoroughly! http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1KWH8ERGX1RYL/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0451228200