The Trinity Game

Daniel Byrne is a priest attached to the Office of the Devil's Advocate at the Vatican. That's the office that argues the negative case in the process of approving a new Catholic saint. (Christopher Hitchens most famously was a Devil's Advocate in the examination of Mother Theresa.)

Father Byrne is charged with investigating reports of miracles around the globe. It is completely unclear how he came to be in this job after only four years in the priesthood, if we are to believe the math in the book, but that's the story. Father Byrne is one of the Church's best investigators, cleverly tracking down false claims wherever they arise, but he keeps an open mind, always hoping against hope that some day he will find a miracle that will prove show more that God acts in our world.

Well, one day he finds one. The uncle who raised him, Tim Trinity, now the leader of a Pentecostal mega church, is delivering prophesies on TV. Father Byrne is sent to investigate and is knocked for a loop by the power of memory as he is thrown back into his childhood following his con artist uncle from revival to revival extracting cash from sinners. But when he meets his uncle he finds a changed man. One who really seems to be speaking prophesies. What is going on? How is he managing the con? Why would God's chosen predict horse races?

The mob, understandably upset at the prospect of gambling losses, blows up Tim's church and Daniel hits the road with uncle Tim in tow. But the mob isn't the most dangerous foe, the church doesn't want Tim's story told either.

I think the book would have been pretty good if Mr. Chercover had left it at that but he brings in another thread, two opposing secret organizations (think Masons or Templars), one seeming good, one seeming evil, to carry us into the trilogy. I think this thread drags the book down unnecessarily.

I received a review copy of "The Trinity Game: The Daniel Byrne Trilogy, Book 1" by Sean Chercover (Thomas & Mercer) through NetGalley.com. show less

Tragically orphaned at childbirth and raised by his tent-show revivalist grifter uncle Tim Trinity, as a very young man Daniel Byrne forgoes a promising boxing career and an alluring woman for the priesthood. Eventually Byrne earns a senior position in the Vatican's Office of the Devil's Advocate, the Church's bureau tasked with investigating and debunking claims of divinely-inspired miracles around the world. Years after turning his back on Trinity and his religious scams, the Vatican dispatches Byrne to America to assess, and disprove, Trinity's newfound abilities to accurately predict future events while speaking in bizarre tongues during his internationally televised sermons. Trinity's ardent followers are convinced God has selected show more the old grifter as His latest earthly loudspeaker. Elements both official and clandestine in the Vatican believe otherwise, as does Byrne. Byrne travels to Atlanta to confront his uncle, only to find that perhaps Trinity's recent gift might indeed have supernatural, if not heavenly, origins. Organized crime bosses in Las Vegas don't care where Trinity's predictive prowess comes from -- they want him stopped at all costs, because his prescience includes not only foreseeing tragic oil rig explosions and horrific traffic wrecks, but also calling final scores in sporting events yet to be played. Pursued by countless fans and foes across the American South, including federal agents and professional assassins, Byrne enlists help from of his old lover, now a CNN journalist, and from a mercenary friend who owes his life to the priest after a violent episode in Central America years back, to slip Trinity out of Atlanta. Trinity demands Byrne get him in one piece to New Orleans, where Trinity must deliver to the world from the steps of the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square a message only he can give.

Author Sean Chercover has written an engaging modern thriller. His prose is crisp. Byrne and Trinity are interesting characters, though the rest of the novel's cast are fairly flat stock good guys or bad guys. The novel reflects that the author knows the places where his story takes place very well, and this is particularly so regarding New Orleans. All considered, "The Trinity Game" is an entertaining book that will leave thriller readers satisfied. show less

100% over the top thriller, but hugely entertaining. There is need to suspend disbelief to gain maximum enjoyment. Starts as if it is an updated "Devil's Advocate' but then revs up and veers off into a well researched tale of TV evangelist who may become a tool of God, or not. Lots about the impact, then & now, of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, which grabbed my sympathy. I will certainly look for Sean Chercover, both his backlist and what comes next.

Daniel Byrne has been sent by the Vatican's Office of Devil's Advocate (which has been disbanded but still unofficially works) to debunk Tim Trinity's voices and prophecies. Turns out that Tim Trinity is his uncle and raised him after his mother's death. There is a lot of bad blood between the two of them and Daniel wants badly to debunk his uncle. But Daniel is not sure the uncle is running a con this time. Not only does the Vatican want him debunked but so do the odds makers and mob in Las Vegas. He is ruining the betting. Who is after Tim and who will stop him?

I liked this thriller. There was a lot of action and adventure. Daniel is a priest with a lot of questions. Tim was a con man but claims he now believes in God and his show more prophecies. Both have to decide what is the truth but they have to stay alive to find the answers for which they are searching.

The characters are interesting. Daniel is pulled in different directions. Anger and hatred from the past. Questioning the existence of God. Questioning his bosses and others like them. Questioning if he made the right choice to go into the priesthood. Tim knows he ran a con when Daniel was with him as a boy. He can spot cons now as he sees other on the tent revival circuit. He tries to be honest but with him Daniel can never be sure.

A good thriller that brings good secondary characters into the story to aid or hinder Daniel and Tim. New Orleans features prominently in the story as the answers are there to the past and the future. Well worth reading show less

Daniel Byrne is a priest from the Vatican that investigates so called miracles to see if they are true or not; in a few words, he's the Devil's advocate. He's sent on a mission to discredit a false prophet who seems to be able to see the future and who coincidentally enough happens to be his con preacher uncle that raised him. All hell breaks loose as the mafia and the Vatican get involved in silencing Tim Trinity, Daniel's uncle. It's a fast ride of a story, but could have been better without so much rambling about faith.

Überraschend gelungener Thriller im Wander- und TV-Prediger-Milieu, angenehm trocken und auf den Punkt. Sean Chercover werde ich im Auge behalten!

Trinity Game. Chercover, Sean. 2012. It has been a long time since I have read a conspiracy novel and I enjoyed this even though it wasn’t very realistic. Daniel, a young priest who works in a secret office of the Vatican, is asked to investigate an American TV evangelist who is speaking in tongues and accurately predicting future events. It just so happens, that Rev. Tim Trinity is also Daniel’s uncle who took care of Daniel after his parents died. Daniel ran away when he discovered Rev. Tim was a fraud. There is another even more secret office in the Vatican who is watching Daniel and these events. The FBI also gets involved as does the mob! Daniel comes to realize that Rev. Tim is telling the truth and must save Time from all the show more forces that are after both of them. The characters are not very well developed but there is enough action and suspense to keep you reading to the end. The author is from New Orleans and his descriptions of the city post-Katrina are good. Proceeds from this book will go to rebuilding the city. show less