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Jim Hougan, one half of the husband and wife writing entity known as John Case, features one of his favourite topics, the nefarious doings of spooks and just what motives skulk behind them, in the reissue of what was originally entitled KINGDOM COME. In case you suspect the text of the book may be derivative of THE DA VINCI CODE, rest assured this is not so, since this work appeared in 2000, three years prior to Dan Brown's now famous work. One might, however, quibble about the inspiration for Hougan's title. The prologue is set in 1945 and depicts a meeting in Italy between infamous American poet, Ezra Pound, and a serviceman, Major James Angleton. Mysteriously, Angleton pays homage to Pound, addressing him as 'Helmsman'. A leap in time and place takes the action to London and 1998. CIA operative Jack Dunphy is posing as an Irishman of dubious moral principles. His role-playing character of Merry Kerry is abruptly pulled from the scene, forcing Dunphy to relinquish his very attractive girlfriend Clementine as well as all Kerry's worldly possessions as he flies back to the US and interrogation by functionaries of his employer. A man on whom Dunphy had been keeping watch has been executed in an exceedingly grisly manner. Dunphy objects to being kept in the dark so simply walks away from his CIA career and back to the girlfriend who is unaware of his true identity or activities. I have noticed, in the novels of John Case, that the joint author takes a bloodcurdling delight in gore. Perhaps Hougan is the driving force for that as the torture scenes in this work shine (for want of a better word) and certainly made this reviewer wish she hadn't eaten dinner. All the elements that made THE DA VINCI code so inexplicably popular are present in THE MAGDALENE CIPHER: religion, secret societies, ancient lore, egregious violence and plots which have their origin thousands of years in the past. Dunphy's character is really the only one that comes to life. Clementine is not terribly convincing and the baddies could well be seen as simple cartoon, cardboard cutouts. This deficiency is more than made up for by the amount of action packed into the pages as well as the number of countries across which the less than indomitable duo are forced to flee. Hougan has a talent for description which brings the landscapes to vivid life although it would be nice if the descriptions of torture were a little less vivid. Any reader who has developed more than a little interest in theories propounded in THE DA VINCI CODE will most likely find THE MAGDALENE CIPHER a satisfying read.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, February 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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