Rating: 
Summary: Action! Action! Action!
Review: Cloning Christ is the most action packed novel I have read in quite a while and takes the reader on one hell of a thrill ride. As our hero geneticist Max Train is chased around the world by the deranged assassin The Scorpion, it seems the reader is right there alongside him dodging bullets and being right there in the thick of the action and dropping into the exotic locales (Israel, Italy, Scotland and Switzerland etc). Cloning Christ is like a James Bond novel but without the gadgets. This is definitely a thriller not to be missed. You would be a fool.
Rating:
Summary: A really good book.
Review: This is the first book I read by Peter Senese: I think CLONING CHRIST brought out some very strong issues to think about while keeping me turning the pages. I am particularly challanged with Max's discovery of possible remnants appearing to be human which might in fact be those of Jesus. It is this discovery Senese brings out the greatest question in his novel: if the remnants left on the cross are those of Jesus, what does this mean? Didn't Christ ascend? And what does this mean not only for Christianity, but for society's everywhere? A lot to take in.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I bought the book because of the one-page ad in Today's Christian Woman...
...but am severely disappointed. The original plot line isn't bad, tho the idea of an evil Catholic cardinal is so, so overdone. The main character has NO INTENTION of cloning Christ from the blood and hair left on the piece of wood he has found.
The book is riddled with typos and grammatical horrors. (I can accept dangling participles in dialogue, because that's how we talk, but not in description, etc.) There are serious story-telling blunders (such as being told TWICE that Max notices the padding in an elevator, but the author never uses that fact later) and point-of-view confusions. Often, when a character first speaks, we are (in the same sentence) given four or five physical descriptions of him/her. What happened to beading in? (If you don't know that term, study fiction writing technique!) Too many adjectives, too much talking down to the reader (I have the ability to track who's speaking when there are only 2 characters speaking...except when the author confuses me, as does this one!), way too much overexplaining, irrelevant description.
The issue of human cloning, with which I am intimately familiar (and opposed to) is barely investigated. The Wicked Cardinal opposes it because it is "contrary to the laws and will of God," but never explains WHY it is contrary. A missed opportunity to SHOW the reader why human cloning should be banned. The only characters opposed to human cloning in this novel are lunatics. What about sensible, educated, sane people who understand that human cloning is wrong? And telling why?
This is not a "Chiristian" novel. The author writes of faith, but not of Christian faith. The main character talks of Jesus as being a good man, but does not seem to see Him as God's Son.
The violence in the book is basically OK (I wouldn't say not to read it because of the violence), but every violent scene is like the other, with someone getting smashed in the nose (one character has her nose "broken in two"...something I've never heard of!) nearly every time. Cliches abound, and repeated words.
The poor writing (structure, grammar, spelling, even the itallics) makes this a tough one to wade through.
...
Rating: 
Summary: A Book of Great Universal Meaning..
Review: Finally, there is a new writer focussed on Christian Fiction who brings a sophisticated, fresh, highly complex storyline to Christian Fiction readers! In Peter Senese, we may have actually found a writer who will broaden the scope of subject matter written through Senese's unending capability to weave most complex tales which the average reader will enjoy and the sophisticated reader will cheerish. In Peter Senese's novel 'Cloning Christ' what I would like to say is simple: this is the best Christian fiction book I have ever read, and I am an avid reader in this area of literature. The story of Max Train, Senese's protagonist, as he weighs what to do upon the discovery of the potential True Cross is outstanding. Most importantly, Senese does not hesitate to share his openions with respect to the cloning debates - which are actually very complex. If you are a person who values the teachings of Our Lord, I think you will find Peter Senese's Cloning Christ to simply be one of the best fiction storys you will read.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Christian Read with a Disclaimer
Review: Very few books of current fiction present the struggles of faith Man is confronted with during periods of his life the way Peter Senese's novel Cloning Christ does. The story created is intense, thoughtful and most provoking, yet, and in addition, the author carefully takes a righteous position with respect to Christian beliefs. In this story is a cliff-hanger, there are several intense violent scenes, which I would like to point out. I personally can accept the 'truth' in violence and vulgarity if the intention of the presenter is to depict evil for what it is. Senese does just this. I highly recommend Cloning Christ for its honesty, its strong Christian values presented, and for being a historical, educational thriller.
Rating:
Summary: A very fast paced adventure
Review: This novel moves very fast, with lots of vivid detail in the scenes making you feel as if you are in the book itself with the characters. You're on a global chase, a relentless hunt-- Syracuse University geneticist Max Train hunted by the Vatican. Train may have found the True Cross in Jerusalem, and the Vatican cannot allow Train to clone possible remnants on the Cross. Who knows-- he may be cloning the Son of God! You move from Tel Aviiv airport off the Joppa Road, to Rome's Da Vinci Airport-- two attempts to kill Train fail. Train escapes to Bologna where a fellow scientist acquaintance of his ends up dead-- the wrong man is killed: but not for trying. On to Zurich, Scotland, the Isle of Skye-- fast paced, fearful-- relentless, non-stop, violent. Escape at every turn by a hair, on to Mossad intrigue to protect Train, blackmailed multinationals doing the work of a deranged prelate in chapter after chapter, and a Max Train beaten at every turn yet never giving up to the deviant powers that seek to murder him. Geneticists all over the globe being killed, and still Train moves on to fight and protect his find, the Cross of Christ. Many unexpected turns make the reading of the novel a good experience, especially the ending which is unexpected. Character development of the major figures-- Max Train and the Vatican's Anselm Mugant-- makes for a great look at psychology in a thriller. Mugant is almost a Hitchcock kind of character, that is how relentlessly self-righteous he is in his fanaticism and refusal to stop at anything to kill Max Train-- whatever the cost to Mugant's soul. I definitely recommend this book.
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Summary: A masterpiece of language and rhetorical device
Review: It is rare that a novel has the rhetorical demarche that Cloning Christ exhibits, but it is there in masterpiece fashion. As a teacher of English in College, I found the deployment of the rhetorical device known as antirrhesis in the character of the novel's wayward Cardinal Mugant brilliant: he has been made, through his dialogue, his use of speech, to be a despicable figure. The authors immediately though at the same time make all that for which he stands in the reader's mind as equally repugnant. This is a masterly use of antirrhesis that one rarely sees executed, much less so well, , but it is here in Cloning Christ. The authors' use of rhetorical apatesis-- wherein an argument early on is set aside only much later to become the bellows of fearful scream in the workings of the antagonist-- is brilliant. The authors have the Vatican Cardinal lying in wait on frequent occasion to pounce upon his revenge opportunity, and this is skilfully carried out in another select use of the rhetorical instrumentality of apatesis. What gives it the exact pulse of pleasantry to the reader is the timing of Anselm Mugant's revenge-- as in the Belvedere Castle in Central Park. Effective plots require effective timing, and in the use of rhetorical tools in this book the authors display a deft touch at gaining the reader's involvement-- and I dare say, understanding. More than that, in the use of the rhetorical devices the two auhors have chosen the reader's own emotions are taken up into the plot of the novel, its movements, its imagery. This gives to the reader's own experience a communion with the characters of the plot that is difficult to reach for many authors. But not, apparently, for Senese or Geis. The excellent employment of rhetorical dinumeratio stands out in this book: the reader is always caught up to the moment with the action through brief, yet satisfying, recaps along the book's way tso that the reader is never lost as to exactly where he has been-- and where he most likely is to go next. Yet the dinumeratio never takes on a form of overt recapitulation or recounting-- it is more that the authors have woven the text in such a way that the past in the novel as recapitulated blends into the present in the reader's mind as naturally as if it were the reader's own experiences that were being recounted. I compliment the author's in this superb use of recapitulation and recall for the reader. It makes the story more absorbing, more appreciated and understood, and always alive to the reader's thoughts of how he would act/react in the same circumstances as the novel's characters themselves would or would not. Here you have Senese and Geis just about making you part of the novel itself, for heaven's sake. What a great bit of writing in that itself! The novel's perfect use of rhetorical peristrophe-- wherein the authors use the arguments of those who believe violence against scientists who adovcate cloning is the key to "God's Way"-- is beyond the successful use of irony itself in the book, which use of irony itself is frequent and subtle. There is a certain "British" way with some of the expressions that the reader is glad to see in that he is taken out of the drab use of sterile language form that one sees in many American novels. The authors here have many of their contemporaries beat in how language and phraseology is given many twists to fit exactly the moment in which the novel's characters utter or think a word or phrase. I have to believe the authors were well trained in the classics and the use of rhetorical device to be able to come to such a coquettish at times use of language for the novel's overall purpose. I recommend this book then for its what I have to but call in all candor "magisterial" use of language in description, in evoking emotion and catharsis, in engendering at times fear and palpatation both of the heart and the memory. I recommend the book for how in making the reader, through its revolving imagery of fear, reconciliation, peace, and finally (at the end) well-placed love, it makes the reader almost a character in the novel itself-- which I have rarely ever seen in any novel. Read the novel and you will see and appreciate this, and appreciate how it was so craftily done. It all has made this novel memorable and unique among my readings-- and I think it will do the same for your reading also.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book.
Review: What first hooked me on this book is how effective Peter Senese challanges you to think about your own faith (I footnote this by saying I am a Christian). What better a plot than to hand someone what might be The True Cross of Christ -- one tainted with blood on it? Could this blood be the blood of Christ, and if so, are you holding The Son of God in your hand? Wow! What does this mean of His assenscion? The challanges and conflicts Senese presents in handing the reader, and Dr. Max Train -- the story's protagonist -- this Cross are tremendous. So too is the fact there are individuals within the Christian world who believe Dr. Train -- once a devout believer, but now left without any faith in God -- has intent to clone what may be the body of Christ. And this is where the fun begins! Anselm Mugant, a Cardinal Vicker within the Holy See is so absorbed with the issues of human cloning, that upon his discovery that the genetic scientist Train is in possession of The Cross, he calls for his immediate execution. From Jerusalem through Europe, Train is hunted by The Scorpion, an assassin symbolically created to represent The Devil. While Train is hunted, the inner journey of his reawakening begins! From The Holy Land, where Trains discovery occurs, through Europe's Italy and Scotland, the symbolic settings add great historical depth to this terrific book. I enjoyed the writer's style and approach to the very complex issues he cleverly addresses. Most of all, Cloning Christ reminds me of The Story of Job. This is an outstanding Christian read: clean, biblically accurate, conscious of Christian faith, and highly suspensful. I also would like to point out, and applaude the author in his handling of the cloning issue as it pertains to Our Lord: Senese, and so, Dr. Train, are not high-flying individuals who support the issue of cloning. In fact, Train and the story's premise is very clear: to Clone Christ is to simply follow the great teachings of Jesus, or for this matter, any individuals who acted in thoughtfulness towards society. I loved this book!
Rating:
Summary: An Exciting Thriller
Review: Few thrillers I have ever read present such an important set of issues the way Senese and Geis' novel CLONING CHRIST offer to the reader. Page after page the global hunt for Dr. Max Train and the Cross he is in possession of pushes the reader to think through today's scientific advances and how these advances should interact with faith in a higher being. Most of all, CLONING CHRIST is a riviting thriller you won't be able to put down. The global setting of Jerusalem, Rome, Bologna, Milan, Como, Edinburgh, Isle of Skye, and New York are so skillfully written you become absorbed with the setting. Stylistically, the authors ability to bring you into the past and present of an ancient setting is second to a brilliantly created group of characters who symbolically represent Man's own strengths and flaws. CLONING CHRIST is one of the most meaningful books I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Thriller
Review: I highly recommend this novel by Peter Senese (War On Wall Street) and Robert Geis (Personal Existence After Death). This book has everything a reader could ask for - great characters, a twisting plot and exotic locations but most of all this book offers the reader the opportunity to ponder their own faith - whatever that may be - and question what they would do if they indeed held God in their hands. An amazing thriller and I look forward to many more novels by this duo in future.
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