The Prophecy's Child: The Unseen

by W.E.D. Wilson

While raising their only child, Allyson, a shut-in daughter, Gary and Beth Carter find themselves pulled into a world of the occult they could never have imagined. Along with the help of the families two friends, the group embarks upon a journey in what they believe will answer the questions about Allyson's condition. Instead, the horror they discover, endangers the entire group, and promises death for everyone.

Genres: Horror

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

W. E. D. Wilson is a graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), in Brunswick, GA. During his 27 years of federal service he worked in many areas of law enforcement to include investigations, and intelligence. Wilson is also retired from military service.

Reviews

[Becky]

Won through GR First Reads Giveaways.
I received this book, signed and personalized, after winning the GR First Reads giveaway. Based on the information I read about the book, I was very much looking forward to reading it. The concept of a "special needs" child being linked to the occult was especially interesting to me.

When Beth and Gary Carter were in Israel working as contractors for the military, they stumbled on an ancient site, which set into motion a series of events that were foretold almost 3000 years ago. Their now 6 year old daughter, who was born about 5 1/2 months after the visit to the site, is a shut-in who spends all day writing and drawing in her room with little to no interaction with anyone, even her parents.

Two friends, Bill Monroe and Clay Harker get involved as they try to help Allyson to have a normal life. Allyson connected instantly with Clay, a linguist, who is trying to help decipher her drawings in order to find out what is going on, and the conclusion they come to is very unusual indeed.

Allyson's condition was a mystery that I wanted to figure out. Why was she so terrified to be around people? Why did she not communicate with her parents, or with other people who were "safe"? Why did she connect instantly with Clay, before he ever said a word to her?

As I mentioned, the concept was interesting to me. I was very intrigued as to where everything was going and was looking forward to the big reveal that would put everything together. Unfortunately, only some of the questions I had were answered, leaving new questions in their place.

I'm very torn on what to rate this book. This usually is an easy process for me, as I'll rate the book on the overall experience of reading it, and on whether I enjoyed the story. On the one hand, I kept turning the pages to see what would happen, so the mystery kept me interested, and I was enjoying the progress, especially the scarier aspects of the story. (There were some chilling moments, the main one in my opinion was the description of Allyson's drawing of the "birdmen" -aka demons. It just gave me chills to think of a little girl drawing what she saw as demons.)

On the other hand, there were quite a few issues that I had with this book, many of them editorial in nature, and many issues that tested my ability to suspend my disbelief. I generally have no problem with that; I read a lot of fantasy, and a lot of horror, many of it supernatural or "spiritual", for lack of a better word, and I generally can just let go of my disbelief in the unreal aspects and just go with the flow. This book was a real challenge in that aspect, for several reasons, which I hope I can communicate clearly.

First, I should say that I am not a religious person. I am agnostic. I don't claim to know that any God exists, or that he (or she) does NOT exist. I simply do not know. It seems to me that many people do claim to know, but the way I see it, the knowledge that they claim is simply a belief. Strong, persuasive, widespread even, but still a belief.

I am not saying that because I do not share a particular belief I cannot read and enjoy books about it, as that is not the case. Every book has a voice, and every story has a message that it would like to convey. There is absolutely nothing wrong with conveying that message. But delivery is everything. In my mind, there is a major difference between a book presenting its belief, or in having the characters "know" something, which allows the reader to take the information they've been given and apply it to their life if they choose, and a book presenting its contents as "truth" and potentially alienating or offending readers who don't see things the same way.

For me, this book fell into the latter category, and it was hard for me to truly immerse myself in the story when I have an ideological difference of opinion with it. I feel like I was asked to forgo my agnosticism, to forgo my skepticism and just accept that there not only is a "God", but that there is a "right" God (AKA the God of Abraham), which is the "True God" and all others are "false" gods, or Satan. According to the book, man invented "false" gods when believing in an omnipotent God was seen as too simple to solve life's problems. Then God would destroy the "false" god and man would invent a new one, etc etc.

As the bible is written by man, and man is fallible, isn't it possible that man invented the concept of "God" in general, and then just applied this concept to whichever problem they happened to have at the time? This pesky drought is killing our crops! Hey, we should have god send us rain. Now we've got a Rain God! Problem solved.

I'm certainly not trying to belittle anyone's belief or religion, but just pointing out the flaw that I saw in the argument that only "false" gods could be invented by man.

As a person who does not hold any theistic beliefs, but has an open mind toward them, I was slightly offended on behalf of others by the "false" god usage in the book. It showed up 14 times. Maybe that doesn't seem like a lot, but when you consider that EVERY god in history which was not THE "God" of Abraham was likened to Satan, it becomes a lot, especially to someone who thinks people should believe what their heart tells them to believe. Belief, in my opinion, is a personal matter, and nobody has the right to say whether someone's beliefs are right or wrong.

I think a big part of my problem is that the book's belief system was presented as The Truth, and assumed that the reader agreed, which made me take a step back to wonder whether that was on purpose or not. I just don't know.

The last thing that I will mention regarding the religious aspects of the book is that it seems that free will was removed. At one point, one of the characters was lamenting the tragic loss of his family, and questioning how God could be so cruel, to which another character chastised the first, saying that it is not "our right" to question God. Perhaps it is semantics, but we have EVERY right to question. I'm no religious scholar (which is probably painfully obvious by now), but as I understand it, the basis of free will is in knowing that we're loved and accepted no matter what, that we are able to wonder and question but still decide whether to believe or worship, even if we don't like the answer, if one is given at all.

Anyway, that was a much-longer-than-intended explanation of the main issue I had with the book, but I'd mentioned editorial issues as well. I'll try to be brief.

There was a bit of inconsistency regarding the method used to show characters' thoughts. One instance would use italics and quotation marks, the next would be italics only, then no italics and no quotation marks. This is definitely something that an editor should have caught.

Also, measurements in the book left me a little baffled. In particular, during a car chase scene, the driver was said to have prepared for the "180 degree turn". This confused me a bit, because 180 degrees is a straight line, half of a circle.

The dialogue was clunky at times, and certain action/reaction situations didn't make sense, such as a character covering her ears before a noise starts, or a hospitalized person referred to as "not expected to make it", and then a few pages later with no update, a character who would have had no way of receiving other information claims that they "look like they're going to pull through".

Lastly, one glaring issue had me baffled. All of the artifacts from the ancient site which Beth and Gary discovered were removed to a museum for research, including a cloth that was covering an alter or table... except for a large 10-pointed, jewel encrusted star mounted on the wall. Why would that have been left untouched when clay or stone cups are recovered from archeological digs and considered great finds? As much as I hate to say it, it seems like it was just more convenient to have it left behind than to have to deal with the logistics of having to bring it back to the the site.

I know that this review seems harsh - there was much that just had me scratching my head - but overall, I did enjoy the story. I had to consciously try to ignore my skepticism at times, but that, and the inconsistencies mentioned above aside, I did enjoy it. For a first novel, it was not a bad effort at all, and I hope that the next book is even better. :)

[Sheri]

The Prophecy's Child (W.E.D. Wilson) is a chilling "Good Vs. Evil" Thriller. While on a construction job site in Israel, Gary & Beth Carter discover an ancient temple. A strange event in the temple leaves Beth unconcious, and the people who where there start dying.

Allyson is the "special needs" daughter of Gary and Beth. Virtually a shut in, she rarely speaks, has a fear of people, and a severe phobia of leaving the house, resulting in horrific fits of terror.

Family friend Bill Monroe and his friend Clay Harker decide to help the Carters . As they begining to dig into the past, more strange events begin to occur, Allyson's ability to see the "unseen" and her strange drawings. Could these drawings be a cryptic message in an ancient language from the occult?

One thing becomes clear, Allyson seems to be connected to all the bizzarre events, and the only solutions seems to be to return to where it all started, an ancient temple in the Holy land.

[Sherrie]

A great read - lots of adventure and great character development! Definitely pick this one up!

[Donald Bambenek]

Excellent read. With constant distractions, I still read this book in two days. It kept my interest and was a great diversion. I am waiting for the movie!

[Morris]

Six year old Allyson Carter has been a complete shut in since she was little. Her episodes of screaming and terror forced her parents to home school and exclude their friends and family from Allyson's life. She passes the day drawing on art tablets. Her parents seek the help of Bill Monroe, a theology professor fromNorthwestern University. He discovers a pattern in her drawings that he believes could be words. Bill consults with Clay Harker , an old friend and linguist with the Smithsonian. He determines that some of Allyson's drawing are words written in ancient Aramaic.

Bill and Clay research these words in an effort to discover what is haunting the young girl. One name keeps recurring throughout her drawings, Jezebel. They begin to unravel the mystery around Allyson's drawings and what they learn is terrifying for the Clark family. They must all travel to Israel in an attempt to release Allyson from her part in an ancient prophecy.

The Prophecy's Child: the unseen is a fast paced religious thriller. The author has researched the material extensively and that gives the reader a learning experience along side of the adventure. While the overall message behind the plot centers around the battle between the followers of God and the worshipers of false idols, this is not an indoctrination for any faith.

I became very emotionally tied to the character Allyson. The author is able to passionately communicate the details of her condition. I could easily empathize with the family. The dynamic between Bill Monroe and Clay Harker is also very well done. While both are portrayed as good people, Clay's inner demons are a stark contrast. Allyson's parents were a little too perfect in my opinion. I would think dealing with a condition such as Allyson's would put some strain on a marriage.

I did find some of the descriptions early in the novel a bit wordy. I like to learn things about characters and locations as the story moves along rather than be told up front. This didn't take away from the story for me and I found that these types of descriptions disappeared as the plot kicked into high gear.

I read this book in just a few days, but could probably have finished it in one day without any distractions. The plot moves along quickly but not so fast that it feels rushed. I enjoyed this book and look forward to the sequel. While this book is the first in a series, it can stand alone with no problems.

I received my copy of The Prophechy's Child: the unseen via the Member Giveaway program. The author mailed the book to me directly and signed my copy.

[Jamie]

I am grateful to have been a receiver of the Goodreads giveaway for this book. Thank you WED Wilson.

The premise of this book attracted me right away and I was not disappointed throughout my reading of it. While I wished more indirect character presentation and description of the characters in The Prophecy's Child, i.e. the recurring introductory description of something-year-old so and so, I was captured, in particular, by Bill and Clay's friendship and this was a very important rock the emotional ties of the book grew from.

Although I feel some of the early parts of the story seem a little rushed and slightly forced, speaking particularly about how readily accepting most of the core characters and some peripherals were of the biblical connections of Allyson, I could not help but be caught up in the culmination of the story. I was very hard pressed to put it down until I was able to see how the story played out.

Wilson's attention to detail and obvious historical knowledge made his in character discussions very pleasant and intriguing, not rote and lecturing as I have found some authors fall into. His ability to set clear definition of his setting made his faster paced scenes later in the novel very easy to envision and come alive.

I eagerly await more works to come.

[Karen]

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this book from the author, W.E.D. Wilson and he was nice enough to sign it to me on the inside front cover.

I just finished reading this book. I have mixed emotions about it. The premise is that Demons are occasionally visible and that ancient believers in Ba-al and Jezebel survived and are practicing Satan worship. A small child is "channeling (my word) Jezebel and is in danger.

I normally do not read science fiction or fantasy genre books because I am of a rational, scientific bent. The current trend of Vampire stories hold no interest for me at all.

That being said, despite the fact that I was "talking" to the author while reading this ("you expect me to accept this") I could not stop reading it. So when I say conflicted - normally if I start a book that is so far from my belief system I would stop reading it, this book has something special that kept me wanting to know how it ended. And I was not disappointed in the ending.

I will be very interested to read other's reviews. I understand that Mr. Wilson is writing the next book in this series and I will definitely read it.

[Darcia Helle]

This was a really good read that, with a little editing, could easily become great. The story opens in 807 B.C., at the start of a sacrificial ceremony. From there, it quickly jumps ahead to the present day, where those past events gradually tie in to a six-year-old girl who has become a virtual shut-in. Wilson has obviously done his research, which makes the story feel that much more real.

At times, the dialogue is slightly forced or awkward and certain other issues require a bit of editing. However, the plot moves at a great pace and kept me on the edge throughout. W.E.D. Wilson is definitely an author to watch for!

[Debe]

The Prophecy's Child, has a storyline that grabs your attention at the start and you want to continue reading it until you finish it. The book wasn't predictable which made it even better. The story was very intriguing and the author took his time in the details which helps you visualize the events. This is a story to be shared.

[Claire]

This is a great book for those who like a suspense-filled page turner. I will definitely be reading this again.
Don't be fooled by the ominous cover- this book is awesome.

It is kind of a mixture of a John Grisham novel with a dash of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

[Selinda]

I was very excited to read this book when I start, but I was somewhat disappointed as I read. It seemed to repeat itself throughout and I had a hard time paying attention to the book at spots. It was an interesting concept, but I think that it could have been completed in a better way.

[Lauri]

Wow...great book. Wasn't what I thought it was going to be about. Author says is wring a book 2 - defintely can't wait for it. Great book for the biblical history buff. Suspenseful.

[Stacey]

Loved this book! I could not put it down because I wanted to see what would happen next! Waiting his next book to come out :)