Prelude to Darkness An Apocalyptic Novel by Gerald Lee Gibson Gerald Lee Gibson, author of Kingdom of the
Cats, Alien Odyssey, Prelude to Darkness, and numerous short stories and poems. To
read this novel, press the adjacent cover to reach the Table of Contents. |
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Synopsis Prelude to Darkness redefines the
devil and its mission on earth. After leaving its throne in the care of the
Serpent, Abbadon, the Gate Master of Hell, the devil surfaces unobtrusively
and seeks out the Reverend Adam Leeds, its chosen vessel on Earth. The
reverend’s wife, Cora Vale, has been spiritually corrupted by Satan into
becoming the millstone around the reverend’s neck. Already, however, the
reverend’s liberal, New Age, ‘feel good’ approach to religion has conditioned
his mind for the interpretations of what will become the Universal Church.
The frightful Apocalyptic visions of the fundamentalists could not convince
him. Three portentous dreams and the prophecy of a televangelist fail to warn
him. Even, as he wanders lost in Skid Row, the warnings of an itinerate
preacher fail to detour him. Failed
ambition and the reverend’s feelings of spiritual inadequacy have been, over
the years, exacerbated by his wife. Through such spiritual distraction and
his own muddled theology, the devil enters and dominates the course of his
life. After a period of temptation and soul searching, the reverend is
driven, after being drugged by a mysterious stranger, into finally murdering
his troublesome spouse. Satan’s blackmail, after the apparent crime, are but
the finishing touches to his downfall from spiritual grace. Not
only is Satan amorphous in this interpretation, it is without gender, until
it materializes once and for all in the flesh for its anointed. As a
beautiful woman, who resembles in Adam's opinion, Mary, the mother of Jesus,
she seduces him and consummates their bond, but she must still earn his
trust. In stead of using the play script written by the prophets and apostles
of Christ, it appears to Adam as if Satan appears to be making it all up as
she goes along. There is little similarity between the events surrounding the
new prophet and his followers and the False Prophet of the Bible, and yet a
few wary souls suspect that this exactly who he is. The conventional
stereotype fiend of Hell is literally turned on its head as Marie Roget (a.
k. a Satan, Lucifer and Beelzebub) parades her parody of Christ and his
Apostles on the streets of Skid Row. |