Elijah in Jerusalem (Christian Fiction) by Michael D O'Brien

Hardback: Elijah in Jerusalem (2015), the long-awaited sequel to the acclaimed, best-selling novel Father Elijah: An Apocalypse, is the continuing story of the Catholic priest called to confront a powerful politician who could be the Antichrist foretold in the Bible.

A convert from Judaism, a survivor of the Holocaust, and a participant in the founding of Israel, Father Elijah was for decades a monk on Mount Carmel, the mountain made famous by his Old Testament prophet-namesake. In the events of the preceding novel, the Pope commissioned Father Elijah to meet the President of the European Union, a man rising toward global control as President of the soon- to-be realized World Government. Recognizing in the President a resemblance to the anticipated Antichrist, the Pope asked Father Elijah to call the President to repentance, a mission that ended in failure.

In this sequel, now-Bishop Elijah, wanted for a murder he did not commit, tries again to meet the President. Accompanied by his fellow monk Brother Enoch, he enters Jerusalem just as the President arrives in the holy city to inaugurate a new stage of his rise to world power. This time Elijah hopes to unmask him as a spiritual danger to mankind. As the story unfolds, people of various backgrounds meet the fugitive priest, and in the encounter their souls are revealed and tested.

Elijah perseveres in his mission even when all seems lost. The dramatic climax is surprising, yet it underlines that God works all things to the good for those who love him. 

The Children of the Last Days series comprise of seven novels that examine the major moral and spiritual struggles of our times. Each can be read independently of the others. There are, however, two trilogies within the larger work. The first three of the series, however, are best read in chronological order, for they form a trilogy within the larger work. 

The books in the Children of the Last Days series, in chronological order, are Strangers and Sojourners, Plague Journal, Eclipse of the Sun (these first three make up a trilogy), Father Elijah, Elijah in Jerusalem (its sequel), Sophia House (these make up the second trilogy), and A Cry of Stone. 

About the author: Michael D O’Brien is the former editor of the Catholic family magazine, Nazareth Journal. He is also the author of several books, including his nine-volume series of novels published by Ignatius Press, notably the best-selling Father Elijah. For more than thirty years he has been a professional artist. Michael and his wife Sheila have six children. He writes and paints full-time at his home near Combermere, Ontario.

Rating: 5/5