Review – The Firstborn

At the time of Christ’s death a group of people called The Firstborn are gifted with the ability to either see the future, the past, or the present as if watching it unfold on a television. For generations, these gifts have been passed through the lineage. Over time these different gifts have divided The Firstborn into three groups who are wary of each other.

As The Firstborn opens, we find an Islamic holy man has been murdered outside his mosque and we soon learn one of The Firstborn has committed the crime. The Muslims are set to retaliate with a terrorist attack that will drive home their message and The Firstborn must stop them.

Instead of uniting the three groups to thwart the plot, individual Firstborn members have their own agendas making the problem worse. If the attack is to be prevented and if The Firstborn are to survive, Devin Bathurst, John Temple and Hannah Rice must unite their gifts. But can they let go of their individual agendas long enough to work together? Or do they even care if the Firstborn survive?

The Firstborn is an ambitious first novel with a large cast of characters and a big plot. As I read The Firstborn, I kept thinking how wonderful this story would play out on the big screen. Filled with action, fight scenes, chases, and explosions, The Firstborn has the feel of The Bourne Identity. But author Conlan Brown takes the story much deeper by challenging long-held beliefs and forcing the reader to ask tough questions about their faith. He explores terrorism in a fresh way and brings new meaning to faith worth dying for.

This book races along from action scene to action scene with nuggets of wisdom packed between. Because the book is so action intense focusing on the impending terrorist disaster, we don’t see the everyday lives of the characters, yet we can see through their struggles the price they pay for using their special gifts and devoting their lives to serving God. This allows us to care for and identify with characters that otherwise could have been unapproachable.