This was really good, fast-pacing thriller which I could not put down. Investigative journalist Ross Hunter is a good main character and the plot is a good adult fairy-tale. I can't believe that I have not read anything else from Peter James. I am going to fix that problem right away. Top notch suspense for holiday, airplane, train or elsewhere, where you just want to relax, get your feet up and grab a cold one. ( )

As a lover of Egyptian history and mythology, I was immediately drawn to this book by the eye-catching hieroglyphs on the cover and I've also read a few of Peter James' Roy Grace series so I know that he is an excellent writer. At over 500 pages, it's quite a chunky book with a complex plot and a lot of characters so it did take me longer than I expected to read it.

The whole premise of this book intrigued me: what would happen if proof of God's existence came to light and what lengths would some people or organisations go to prevent this happening? This is the question that Peter James explores in Absolute Proof which injects the thriller element into the story at just the right time to keep me interested. As reporter Ross Hunter gathers the evidence to prove God's existence, it really did feel like there were lots of people out to stop him and I had no idea who he could trust.

I think I was a little guilty of my own hype as I expected to love this book but found it a little hard going in places, so I ended up liking but not loving it. I'm glad I've read it but it's not a book I'd recommend and I think I'd rather stick with the amazing Roy Grace series.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. ( )

Wow, what a great book! According to the blurb, Peter James has been working on this novel since 1989 and I can understand why. It is complex. The subject matter is dealt with sensitively - many religions are mentioned and there is an understanding that proof of god's existence would have a profound effect on the world across many cultures.

There is nothing I didn't like about this book. The characterisation is strong - although sometimes I had to stop and think about who a named person was, as there are so many people involved! The storyline is great, not predictable and full of suspense. The settings are appropriate and wide ranging - I particularly liked the Los Angeles aspect.

All in all a great read and a book that could sit on your shelves for years, worthy of a re-read now and again.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review. ( )

This book operates at two levels: first and foremost this is a thriller after the Da Vinci Code model; secondly, the book asks the very deep question of what, in this modern scientific world, would constitute proof of God’s existence?

As a thriller this book works very well, even if it does follow quite closely the modern tropes of the genre. Our hero, thrown into a world he does not understand very well, is sent around their world to retrieve various MacGuffins that will help him achieve his quest. He is pursued by various bad people who he sometimes thwarts and is sometimes thwarted by, before eventually achieving his goal (sort of...). The thriller ending is somewhat unsatisfying mainly because it defers too much to the theological objective of the book, leaving some loose ends that would have been more satisfyingly tied up.

At a deeper level the book asks the interesting question of what would constitute proof that God existed and how would humanity react? More specifically, the question is posed about the Abrahamic God in general and the Christian God in particular, making the assumption that other faiths would identify with this entity, once known. The scientific proof, primarily based on genetics, seems very weak to me, since it does not really show that Jesus was a historical figure.

The tension in the book seems to me to be rather unsubtle. The Christian religions are all portrayed as corrupt self-perpetuating organisations with no interest in the spiritual or moral implications in the quest and who are our hero’s key adversaries. The only religion to retain some dignity is Islam and this through a lack of engagement rather than anything positive. A bit of a first-year-at-college ankle-deep perspective, I think.

The final third of the book is, I think, deliberately vague. We never know if the final proof is a sign from God or a Satanic false trail. The analysis of this final sign by science and the media show that there is as much division about what ‘happened’ and what it ‘means’ as in any other century since organised religion came into being.

An interesting concept but the thriller part and the religion part do not quite gel to make this really satisfying. ( )

This book was inspired by a phone call that James received 30 years ago. In the book, Ross Hunter gets a phone call from an elderly man who claims that he has absolute proof of God's existence. If this was true, it would pit every religion against each other and each religion claiming the proof as their own.

Not only is Ross trying to prove the existence and find the proof, with the clues, in the form of coordinates, that puts his life at risk as there are other people out there who will do whatever it takes to get this proof. They do this by bugging his home and phone and following him ultimately scaring his pregnant wife. Ross is on the run for his life as he not only finds the existence but he must prove it is real and stay one step ahead of the people who want this proof.

A false faith of a billionaire evangelist, the life’s work of a famous atheist all are after Ross, can he live long enough? With believable characters and situations, I had a hard time putting this book down even though it is a huge book. Very easy to read, if you are into religion and what if's, this book is something that you should be able to get your teeth into. I enjoyed it immensely as I do every Peter James book I have read! ( )