Michael O'Brien presents a thrilling apocalyptic novel about the condition of the Roman Catholic Church at the end of time. It explores the state of the modern world, and the strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary religious scene, by taking his central character, Father Elijah Schfer, a Carmelite priest, on a secret mission for the Vatican which embroiled him in a series of crises and subterfuges affecting the ultimate destiny of the Church. Father Elijah is a convert from Judaism, a survivor of the Holocaust, a man once powerful in Israel. For twenty years he has been "buried in the dark night of Carmel" on the mountain of the prophet Elijah, overlooking the city of Haifa. The Pope and the Cardinal Secretary of State call him out of obscurity and give him a task of the highest sensitivity: to penetrate into the inner circles of a man whom they believe may be the Antichrist. Their purpose: to call the Man of Sin to repentance, and this to postpone the great tribulation long enough to preach the Gospel to the whole world.

In this richly textured tale, Father Elijah crosses Europe and the Middle East, moves through the echelons of world power, meets saints and sinners, presidents, judges, mystics, embattled Catholic journalists, faithful priests and a conspiracy of traitors within the very House of God.

This is an apocalypse in the old literary sense, but one that was written in the light of Christian revelation. It is a novel about the crucifixion of the Bride of Christ. It does not offer simplistic resolutions or false piety. It offers the Cross, but bears witness to the ultimate victory of light.

Michael O'Brien, author, editor and artist, has written a number of books including the best-selling novels Strangers and Sojourners, and Eclipse of the Sun, as well as A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind a critique of contemporary children's literature and entertainment. Formerly the editor of the magazine Nazareth Journal, O'Brien writes and lectures widely on the topic of faith and culture. His articles have appeared in numerous journals. He has been a full-time artist for 20 years with paintings and murals displayed in churches and museums across North America. He, his wife Sheila, and their six children live near Combermere, Ontario.

"I've read thousands of books, and this is one of the great ones. I hope tens of thousands read it, and are shaken as I have been. It's a novel that grips one like a thriller - indeed it is a thriller, but also something far deper. There are love and friendship, interwoven with drama, but what it is essentially is faith, faith in the Christ."

-Sheldon Vanauken
Author, A Severe Mercy

"Enthralling reading. This book deserves the very exalted tribute of being reminiscent of Tolstoy and Charles Williams. One is almost agog at the dexterity - the artistry really - with which O'Brien shapes enormously charged material into a narrative which exhibits the integrity one finds only in the very best fiction."

-Thomas Howard
Author, C.S. Lewis: Man of Letters

"I guarantee you that once you take up this book you will put it down until the end of the world. Here is a meaty page-turner with the pace of a thriller, beautifully written and that something more than turns entertainment into literature."

-Ralph McInerny
Author, Fr. Dowling Mysteries

"Father Elijah is the rare thing, a great novel which is also a testimony to orthodox Catholicism. A prophetic work and a manual of spiritual warefare. This compelling masterpiece will stretch your imagination in the right direction. Read it and pray."

-Stratford Caldecott
Centre for Faith and Culture, Oxford

"A joy to read. Smoothly crafted, the characters came to life for me. It is a classic story, told in an inspired, inspirational way... wonderfully uplifting."

-Larry Bond
Author, Red Phoenix

"...Offers up a tale is satrical, shy and fast-paced."

-Booklist