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The Prophecy
A STOLEN MANUSCRIPT New York Upcoming author Sam Tynnan is violently assaulted and his latest manuscript, a controversial thriller, wiped from his computer. When world events begin to mirror those in his unpublished book, Sam realises his life is still in danger. AN ANCIENT PREDICTION Provence, France Nostradamus prophecies have been a lifelong obsession for Jean-Pierre. When he comes across an undiscovered quatrain, he suspects he holds the key to catastrophic world events. But who should he trust with this crucial information? A TERRIFYING RACE AGAINST TIME London MI5 spook, Adel Al-Shaffir, heads a language ‘activity’ tracking centre at the forefront of hunting down the world’s leading terrorist. But now it seems there’s a new set of enemies on the scene. And they have a secret blueprint for their course of destruction. Timing is everything, but for Adel the sacrifices might be too great.
- GenresThriller
576 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
John Kilgallon
6 booksLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 8, 2025
2.5 stars
This is a book about an author who has his manuscript stolen from him after it's finished. That alone would be the worst thing possible for an author. To make matters worse, it seems his story is either being used as the basis for an evil plan or he has used details from Nostradamus that prophesised the evil plan before it has begun.
So the author finds himself in the middle of a nightmare, where he doesn't know who to trust and he doesn't know if he will survive. A concept I should enjoy. I like books like this, because it's a normal everyday protagonist facing unusual situations. I enjoyed this, but didn't love it. Part of the reason is that focus is taken away for the protagonist so often. I don't so much mind other POVs being included to add depth to the story, but I wasn't engaged with most of the POVs. Some felt very flat and clinical, which didn't match the high energy needed in this thriller. Another reason is there is a character who is a Nostradamus expert. He is not used nearly enough in the book. This book is based around the prophecies of Nostradamus. You would think that a character who supports that in the story would be give a lot of space in the book.
The concept of this book was great. Bring in secret codes and ciphers or mysterious things from history, and I will read it. I just didn't think the excitement level was there for a lot of this book and I needed that to keep me interested. And I think it's a missed opportunity to not make the expert of the prophecies more core to the action.
This is a book about an author who has his manuscript stolen from him after it's finished. That alone would be the worst thing possible for an author. To make matters worse, it seems his story is either being used as the basis for an evil plan or he has used details from Nostradamus that prophesised the evil plan before it has begun.
So the author finds himself in the middle of a nightmare, where he doesn't know who to trust and he doesn't know if he will survive. A concept I should enjoy. I like books like this, because it's a normal everyday protagonist facing unusual situations. I enjoyed this, but didn't love it. Part of the reason is that focus is taken away for the protagonist so often. I don't so much mind other POVs being included to add depth to the story, but I wasn't engaged with most of the POVs. Some felt very flat and clinical, which didn't match the high energy needed in this thriller. Another reason is there is a character who is a Nostradamus expert. He is not used nearly enough in the book. This book is based around the prophecies of Nostradamus. You would think that a character who supports that in the story would be give a lot of space in the book.
The concept of this book was great. Bring in secret codes and ciphers or mysterious things from history, and I will read it. I just didn't think the excitement level was there for a lot of this book and I needed that to keep me interested. And I think it's a missed opportunity to not make the expert of the prophecies more core to the action.
July 9, 2023
I finally picked up this book; it has been waiting in my bookcase since forever. The beginning was pretty strong and interesting, and I immediately felt bad for Sam. However, I didn't like it very much after that. There were SO many POVs and characters that I couldn't keep them straight at all. Even Washington was unclear to me, It was just very slow, and I just wanted to skip most of the pages. I still can't say that I care about any of the characters, and I'm honestly still massively confused. It was also no surprise that Can't say I cared though lmao. The only thing that did surprise me was I'm still confused about everything that happened near the end, probably because I was skipping over entire paragraphs at that point. In conclusion, the book was pretty confusing and too slow for my liking. Too bad, because the idea was cool. Just wish we'd get some actual parts of Sams manuscript.
August 4, 2020
Not sure what to think yet, I think it's quite hard to get through, so I've put it down for now
August 4, 2020
Not sure what to think yet, I think it's quite hard to get through, so I've put it down for now
July 8, 2011
When i started reading this book it seemed pretty good but after a while i started to struggle with all different plots which run parallel in this book so that sometimes i really lost the main thing. I have to admit there were some good surprises in the story which makes the story sometimes totally different than i expected! Not one of the best books i read but nor one of the worst.
And keeping in mind that it is Kilgallon's first book it's not bad at all.
And keeping in mind that it is Kilgallon's first book it's not bad at all.
May 28, 2020
In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure what to say about The Prophecy. I don't have any particularly strong feelings about it, and since I was reading a proof copy I'd found at a charity store, I can't comment negatively on any errors. That seems about right for a "it was okay" rating - it wasn't awful, but it wasn't enjoyable either.
The premise is vaguely interesting, if a little hard to suspend disbelief for, and the characters aren't particularly interesting, even if they could have been. Sam, especially, is just a vehicle. Not uncommon in books like this, and not as bad as it could have been, but still a point of note.
The premise is vaguely interesting, if a little hard to suspend disbelief for, and the characters aren't particularly interesting, even if they could have been. Sam, especially, is just a vehicle. Not uncommon in books like this, and not as bad as it could have been, but still a point of note.
August 15, 2017
Utterly boring.
Very promising concept but no coherence.
The first clear reference to what the manuscript is all about is somewhere on page 200 or thereabouts.
Too many povs. The main character (Sam) is flat.
Very promising concept but no coherence.
The first clear reference to what the manuscript is all about is somewhere on page 200 or thereabouts.
Too many povs. The main character (Sam) is flat.
January 1, 2020
Er is iets als te veel plottwists, jeetjemina
January 26, 2023
What a very clever book, fantastic con sept, would make a great film, really enjoyed it.
August 28, 2023
Did not finish
August 25, 2011
This title had such wide ranging reviews from '...a masterpiece' to 'utter nonsense' it intrigued me enough to read it.
The premise is writer Sam Tynnan has finished his latest novel the subject of which is about of terrorist activities which leads to a potential Armageddon. Just as he congratulating himself and about to send it off to his publisher a group of men break into his flat and forcibly take the book and wipe all traces of it from his computer.
Sam is devastated but not as devastated when it appears that someone is plagiarising his work…in the real world. Current world events seem to be mirroring the fictional events in his book with alarming accuracy.
So far so good...the book starts well enough with thrilling page turning action and well drawn protagonists one of whom brings an interesting Islamic perspective and the mixture of ancient prophecies (from Nostradamus) and modern day terrorism is a clever idea that almost works.
However I felt it lost its way in the middle and the sections with the Nostradamus expert added nothing to the story when they should have had a powerful menacing, ‘doomsday inevitability’. The story became bogged down with unnecessary details and I think with a stricter editor or more disciplined writing this could have been very good. Also I don’t think marketing to Dan Browne spiritual/conspiracy fans is helpful as it is much more a spy/political thriller.
Oh and please proof readers do your job, horrible typos distracted me and made me less inclined to like the book.
The premise is writer Sam Tynnan has finished his latest novel the subject of which is about of terrorist activities which leads to a potential Armageddon. Just as he congratulating himself and about to send it off to his publisher a group of men break into his flat and forcibly take the book and wipe all traces of it from his computer.
Sam is devastated but not as devastated when it appears that someone is plagiarising his work…in the real world. Current world events seem to be mirroring the fictional events in his book with alarming accuracy.
So far so good...the book starts well enough with thrilling page turning action and well drawn protagonists one of whom brings an interesting Islamic perspective and the mixture of ancient prophecies (from Nostradamus) and modern day terrorism is a clever idea that almost works.
However I felt it lost its way in the middle and the sections with the Nostradamus expert added nothing to the story when they should have had a powerful menacing, ‘doomsday inevitability’. The story became bogged down with unnecessary details and I think with a stricter editor or more disciplined writing this could have been very good. Also I don’t think marketing to Dan Browne spiritual/conspiracy fans is helpful as it is much more a spy/political thriller.
Oh and please proof readers do your job, horrible typos distracted me and made me less inclined to like the book.
August 6, 2013
Quite a fascinating story about an author who just finishes his final script for his latest novel that has a strong focus on the theme of terrorism. He sends his copy to his editor and suddenly finds himself in his own world of terror when he is attacked, his novel is "stolen" and he is "on the run". During his research for his novel he has been "observed" by the good guys and the bad guys. The poor guy doesn't know who is on his side and the novel is all about surviving, finding out who is now "living out" his novel, and how this "bad" story can be brought to an end.
June 6, 2013
Read this book because the author is John Matthews (writing as Kilgallon)
I really enjoyed all of his (Matthews) previous books until, The Second Amendment, When it seemed to me that he had sold out to an American mass market. The Prophecy is aimed at the Dan Brown sector of the book reading public, and is nothing like the intelligent thrillers of his earlier work. I'm sure that is why he didn't want to put the, Matthews, name to it!
I really enjoyed all of his (Matthews) previous books until, The Second Amendment, When it seemed to me that he had sold out to an American mass market. The Prophecy is aimed at the Dan Brown sector of the book reading public, and is nothing like the intelligent thrillers of his earlier work. I'm sure that is why he didn't want to put the, Matthews, name to it!
September 18, 2015
Beklentisiz başladığım ama benim için hayal kırıklığı oldu, yazarın anlatımını hiç beğenmedim. Araya giden bir konu olmuş.
Ayrıntılı yorum; Yorum Atölyesi'nde :)
Ayrıntılı yorum; Yorum Atölyesi'nde :)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews