Exsultet

A Novel of Horror and Hope

At first glance, Father Michael McGhee appears to be a churchman on the rise, a brilliant Jesuit theologian working in the top doctrinal office of the Vatican and a world-renowned scholar. Beneath the glossy surface lies the broken heart and the shattered soul of a man who long ago stopped believing in the God he claims to serve. Sent to a quiet, unassuming coastal village for a solitary retreat, Father Michael is asked to informally investigate a purported miracle and comes face-to-face with the cosmic collision of grace and evil.
In a single week leading up to Easter, Father Michael seeks to decipher the truth in a series of seemingly medically miraculous events tied to the holy life of the village's deceased parish priest. All the while, a parallel presence of the bleakest evil imaginable seems to stalk the village and its newfound joy. Along the way, Michael meets a dazzling cast of characters; a physicist who believes modern science points the way to God; an agnostic medical doctor who introduces Michael to the study of Near Death Experiences; a psychiatrist whose deep expertise in demonic possession becomes ominously vital; and a family that reminds Michael that love is the most powerful of all forces in the universe.
Exsultet challenges the reader to confront the most profound questions of the human experience; the existence of God and an afterlife, the problem of evil, and the meaning of love. A deeply intellectual and at times terrifying story rooted in the intersection of modern science and theology, Exsultet is unlike any horror novel you've ever read.