Review: The Resurrection by Mike Duran

Mr. Cellophane appears to be a ghost, but what is an apparition doing in the corner of a pastor’s study? Reverend Ian Clark doesn’t know, but nothing much surprises him any more. He’s only been pastoring Canyon Springs Community Church for a year, but even that has been a farce, and he’s ready to turn in his resignation. His sister is dead, his wife divorced him, and even his favorite seminary professor has turned away from the church. He’s just putting in time.

Three women in Clark’s congregation gather regularly to pray. But on this day, Ruby Case has a vision: the huge dead oak tree known as the Stonetree that overlooks the valley sprouts one bright green leaf. Soon after Ruby’s vision, she goes to the funeral of young Mondo. Overcome with grief for the family, Ruby touches his body and prays. In front of the eyes of the entire congregation, Mondo sits up in his coffin, resurrected.

The town is not prepared for this, and neither is Reverend Clark…to say nothing of Ruby herself. But all of them are caught up in the swell: Clark in facing his doubts, Ruby in facing petitioners at all hours and hero worship, and the community in facing…well, I don’t want to spoil the story for you.

The Resurrection will challenge your beliefs in the spirit world, no matter what they currently are. Author Mike Duran is not making theological claims with his take on occultic practices. In the author notes at the back of the book, he explains where these ideas came from.

What of the story itself? While claiming to be a supernatural suspense novel and certainly having it’s creepy moments, I didn’t find it excessively horrific (ie: I could sleep at night, lol). Duran told a solid tale with unlikely heroes in a manner that held together very well.

Mike Duran has lived in SoCal his entire life. He and his wife Lisa were married in 1980, and have raised four children, all of whom live in Southern California. Mike grew up reading comic books, watching the Twilight Zone, saving up his lunch money for the weekend matinee, and drawing. It was all part of an elaborate mechanism to survive his dysfunctional upbringing. And now he has a wild imagination to show for it!

I received a copy of this book for the purposes of a blog tour with Christian Science Fiction Fantasy Blog Tour. Opinions, as always, are my own. If you’re interested in the opinions of other tourists, check out some of the following links: