This is a book, actually a very long book, of a sort I would not usually read. Like Moby Dick it has a plot, in this case a bit weird involving cloning, etc., but then it also has far more pages devoted to exploring a topic. In this case, the topic is not whaling but, wait for it, Religion.

Ordinarily a novel with a lot of religion would hold my attention for roughly a minute and twelve seconds. This, I read the whole thing, probably close to a thousand book pages.

So why am I recommending it. Well, depending on your taste the plot may entertain, and provoke a bit, too. But what sets this thing apart is the incredible amount research (as best I can tell, legit research) into the history of Christianity and the outrageous revelations it conveys. Suffice to say the scale of the PR involved, and of the consciously manipulative lies, and the acceptance of lies – and I don’t mean, God did this or that – I mean testable factual claims that every scholar knows to be false about where people are buried, and the like, assuming the book isn’t a giant hoax, but that millions upon millions believe. False news on steroids. What can I say,  against all odds, I found it very interesting.