Fiction Addict

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Touchstone

Publication Date: June 2010

Reviewed by Josh Olds

I don’t think that in my history of book reviewing I’ve ever enjoyed a book I didn’t like as much as The Poet Prince by Kathleen McGowan. I’m quite aware how confusing that statement sounds, and trust me; I myself am still somewhat confused by it. The answer to this enigma lies in separating the story’s theology with its story, and the historical storyline with the present day storyline.

If you read the jacket flap, you’ll learn that this is the story of Maureen Paschal, an author/adventurer who just discovered (and wrote a book of the discovery of) a secret gospel written by Jesus Christ himself. But her celebrations are short when the tabloids report that her lover and soul mate, Berenger Sinclair, is alleged to be the father of another woman’s son. Together, the two set off to refute the claim and through the advice of their spiritual leader Destino, begin to look into Berenger’s royal and ancient bloodline. As it turns out, Berenger is a Poet Prince of the ancient prophecy, and there are those who would stop at nothing to keep Berenger from his role.

But the jacket flap leaves out the incredible historical story that fills most of The Poet Prince. Destino advises Maureen and Berenger to study another Poet Prince, Lorenzo de Medici. Through Renaissance artwork, the two uncover the Medici story and learn of the heretical secrets he kept. These discoveries flashback as McGowan fleshes out the life of Lorenzo de Medici, revealing a life of love, passion, intrigue, and mystery. This is the highlight of the story, bar none. History meshes flawlessly with fiction (secret heresies aside) to create a compelling drama of the life of Medici.

To me, the present storyline only served to get in the way, and was rather weak both in terms of storytelling and intrigue. Of course, since Maureen, Berenger, and Destino are the heroes of The Magdalene Line series, of which this is book 3, from a series standpoint they were necessary, but not a lot of action happens. And the action that does happen, because the lives of Poet Princes intertwine so, the action in the Medici storyline foreshadows the present storyline to the point it seems repetitious. This novel would have been much improved had the present storyline been removed completely in favor of elaborating on the Medici story (secret heresies included).

Ah, yes, the secret heresies. As outlined in The Poet Prince, the Medici are the heirs of a heretical legacy received to them from the descendants of Jesus and his wife, Mary Magdalene. Above all, their Order, called the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, follows the way of Love. The exact teachings of the Order are only vaguely defined; all that’s really made clear is that the Pope would certainly not be happy about it. From a theological standpoint, what is discovered about the Order is classically Gnostic (i.e. Jesus married to Mary Magdalene, secret gospels, hidden knowledge, heiros-gamos or twinned souls), which is a syncretic mix of pagan mystery cult and Christianity, and has been refuted as false quite soundly, but here is not the place to discuss that in detail.

Taken from a purely fictional standpoint, I can live with the idea. I can even live with the idea that in reality, the Medici believed in this Gnostic syncretism. My problem extends to where Kathleen McGowan not only claims this Gnostic belief is valid, but that she herself is a descendant of Jesus. As such, her writing on the “heretical legacy” takes on a new twist as she is basically claiming her fiction to be true. In fact, her initial intent was to publish this series of books as a non-fiction, but found the market less than enthusiastic. Her research on these Gnostic teachings and their relation to the Medici and the Renaissance is supposed to be contained on her website, but this reviewer found that all of that information is now missing.

In the end, while quite amazingly researched from a historical perspective, The Poet Prince carries with it a strange religious agenda that appears to be only another incarnation of Gnosticism. It fails at its self-described attempt at a “spiritual detective story” but is quite strong as a historical drama.

So hopefully you now understand what I meant by my first sentence. I loved reading the historical story, but between that had to endure an underdeveloped present day story where the ultimate climax ended up being rather anticlimactic. From a religious standpoint, I do not require the fiction I read to agree with my theology so it did not bother me. But given that McGowan is a serious proponent of such Gnostic theology and that her books have reached the NYT bestseller’s list, I felt the need to iterate that her views are completely without evidence, lest just as in the wake of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, readers be left confused concerning what is fact and fiction.

All theology and heresy aside, McGowan has a way with words and her historical detail is commendable, but ultimately due to the weak present day storyline, The Poet Prince fails to deliver the story it claims.

Review copy provided by Touchstone.