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THE FRUIT OF THE FALLEN


Author
J.C. Burnham
Publisher
Xlibris Corporation

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When an infant is thrust into the arms of Dr. Jonathan Keats by a dying nun, he finds himself accused of murder. His search to identify the child carries him to Europe and to a secret religious society who reveals a prophecy of unimaginable proportions.

Serenity D’Evele has always known she was different. When she begins hearing strange voices call to her in her dreams and is attacked by an evil creature, she is forced to consider a frightening possibility. Little does she know that the very love she turns to for help could destroy all she holds dear, and their every action, every decision, could decide the fate of the world.

Reviews

 When a baby is thrust into the arms of Dr. Jonathan Keats he has not idea his life is about to change forever. All he knows is her name is Serenity and she must be protected at all costs. He quest for more answers leads him to Europe where he discovers that she is no ordinary child and that the very fate of the world may one day rest in her hands.

Having been moved around from school to school since she was young Serenity only has her grandmother to rely on. When strange things start to happen around her and her grandmother disappears, Serenity doesn’t know who to trust. She eventually puts her faith into the hands of Tal, a mysterious young man she feels deeply connected to, but is he good or is he something else?

“The Fruit of the Fallen” by JC Burnham is a story full of prophecy, fallen angels, demons, hell hounds, and a secret religious society, that is told mostly through the eyes of a young girl who is just starting to realize her true purpose in life. It begins with a murder and the action doesn’t stop until the very end when the reader is left wondering if there is more to come. It is a well-written book that speaks of religion and theology but doesn’t preach at the reader. Instead, the story focuses on characters that just happen to be in a struggle between good and evil and look to theology for some of the answers.

A truly exciting and interesting book, I would recommend “The Fruit of the Fallen” to anyone with an open mind who enjoys a well told, action packed story. JC Burnham is an excellent story teller who I hope continues to tell the story of these characters in a future book. 

Reviewed on 08/09/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member April Hanson

 

Dr. Jonathan Keats is caught off guard when, while walking down the street one day, an infant is thrust into his hands by a nun. Her last breath to him was that he must protect Serenity. Thus Keats is pulled into the middle of a prophecy dating back to the dawn of Man. As the child grows up, it becomes clear that she is no ordinary person. In fact, it is believed that she herself is the key to preventing a dire prophecy from coming true. Serenity is thought to be part of a family line dating back to before the Great Flood spoken of in the Bible. As such, she may be the key to setting free the very Angels that were, according to Christian tradition, cast out of Heaven by God. If these Angels were set free, it could have catastrophic results for Humanity. It will be up to those who guard Serenity to prevent the powers of evil from kidnapping Serenity and using her to fulfill the prophecy.

The Fruit of the Fallen by J.C. Burnham is a well-written, Da Vinci Code-style novel. Burnham has written a novel which is engaging and offers an intriguing mix of theology and adventure in the same package. In the last seven years, numerous authors have seized on the popularity of Dan Brown’s work in order to write similar novels, drawing on the Bible with its nearly endless supply of mysteries. In this case, Burnham focuses on a central facet of Christianity that God cast out a group of Angels from Heaven, condemning them to exile for eternity. The idea that there could be someone walking around today that is part of an ancient bloodline sold millions of copies of The DaVinci Code and I believe it will do the same for The Fruit of the Fallen. I give this book a 5 of 5 stars.

Reviewed on 06/17/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Jud Hanson

Serenity D'Evele has no idea that she isn’t like other sixteen year old girls. She doesn't know that her grandmother, Sophia, isn't actually her grandmother. She doesn't know why she's moved from school to school her whole life, never bothering to stay in one place. She doesn't know how sixteen years ago, a nun thrust her into the arms of a man called Dr. Johnathan Keats, and that he risked everything to protect her. Why? Because she is of prophecy, almost as if she's a modern day Joan of Arc.
 
Or is she?
 
What Serenity does know is that strange things are happening at her boarding school. Sophia leaves for weeks without a word. Strange creatures, voices, and dreams come to Serenity in the night. Even the people seem to be changing.   Soon she finds herself sucked into the middle of a story laced with secret societies, supposedly mythical encounters, and corruption of what she thought to be good.
 
"The Fruit of the Fallen" by J. C. Burnham is a wild ride that straddles the fine line between complicated and convoluted. The plot, though slow for the first half of the book, is very much the driving force in this novel. We as readers find ourselves continually faced with yet another plot twist—another layer in the already tightly-woven fabric of the story itself. From chapter to chapter, we bounce back and forth between Serenity's almost clichéd existence as a sixteen year old orphan, and Dr. Keats's gripping struggle in Europe.
 
Nearly every chapter we are greeted with a new group of characters—some more vivid than others. And, while I've always said, "the more the merrier", I think some of the characters in "Fruit of the Fallen" could have used a little more fleshing out. Serenity is one such character. I felt like I never really knew her, except through the archetype friends she made, and the few words she spoke, until the end of the book. There, we suddenly see an entirely new character who, at times, tries to leap off the page to proclaim, "look at me! I'm here! I'm the protagonist!"
 
Conversely, Dr. Keats—who I wish I could've seen more of—was wonderfully developed. His atmosphere was more vivid than any other setting in the book; his character more defined. Not to mention, he seemed to grow and change throughout the course of the novel at a steady pace. Some of the other characters also adjusted themselves, but not consistently. They're personalities seemed jerkier, as did their pieces of the story.
 
One thing I did love about "The Fruit of the Fallen," was its myriad of supernatural beings. Fallen angels, hellhounds, demons, spirits… each one had its own, distinct flavor and characteristics, largely avoiding clichés and predictability. These creatures and Dr. Keats's character are what lead me to finish this book.
 
I wish I could read the final version of this manuscript (the one I read hadn't seen the final edits) so that I might properly judge the writing. For now, I'll just say that I'm glad there were other edits, because I did notice some common writer's pitfalls like passive voice, and "show vs. tell". 
 
Although not without its flaws, "The Fruit of the Fallen" is an interesting book from a writer with a big imagination. If J. C. Burnham continues to layer his writing as he has in this book, every sequel will be brimming with promise.

Reviewed on 06/03/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Jessica Goodard

 A bit of insomnia led him to take a walk, but the nun that was shot in front of his eyes after handing over a baby led him to set of circumstances that he would have never believed he would find himself in.  Questioning his faith had become an everyday thing, but after the events that followed the arrival of baby Serenity into his life Dr. Jonathan Keats was willing to give God and all it entailed a second look.  -  She had known she was different for as long as she could remember, but Serenity D’Evele thought it was just because her and her grandmother moved so often.  When she started hearing things and feeling things after arriving at yet another new school, she started to realize that there might be more to it.  Finally being able to trust another as a friend and trying to determine what if anything was after her, Serenity knew that the one thing to get her through would be her faith.

 
 **** I admit, I was not sure what to expect, I am cautious about religious or spiritually based books, but this one had me interested because of and in spite of the religious aspects of it.  For the most part, the religious aspects where explained well and it didn’t lean on those points more than necessary to create this story.   I found myself drawn to most of the characters (there were a lot for a book of this size) but the interaction was well placed.  The tidbits about how Serenity came to be with who she was with and how she finally found out more of herself kept the intrigue alive for the reader as well, allowing the story a natural progression from Serenity’s point of view, but going all the way back to the initial connection with Keats also gave the whole prophesy angle a larger part of the story.  
 

Reviewed on 05/28/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Debbie Berry

The Fruit of the Fallen by J.C. Burnham is an intense story that leaves you breathless from the first word. The story starts off by introducing Dr. Jonathan Keats, a seemingly average man. It is when he is ambushed by a dying nun, and an infant thrust into his arms that his life takes a turn toward the extraordinary. From that moment he becomes a fugitive, accused of murder and kidnapping.

However it is the infant, a girl named Serenity, that is the story’s main focus. Fast forwarding fifteen years later, we meet Serenity again and learn she is being transported, along with her grandmother, to her newest boarding school.  We are told that to her knowledge Serenity has no other family and that she was constantly moved around as she was growing to follow her grandmother- a Catholic nun- on various church duties.

During her stay at Mount Sterling she reluctantly makes friends, and also meets a mysterious young man by the name of Tal who she is instantly attracted to. It is only when things start to take a dangerous turn that she learns that she is in the midst of an ancient angelic prophecy and may hold the key to the end of days.

Fruit of the Fallen was a pleasure to read from start to finish. Burnham’s description and attention to detail left this amateur theologian satisfied, but I did wonder if someone without my background in Christian Mysticism would be able to keep up.  The chosen subject matter is not for the novice, but his writing style more than makes up for a layman’s lack of knowledge on the subject. All in all Fruit of the Fallen, the first in Burnham’s series was outstanding and I am anxiously awaiting the sequel.  A definite must read.

Reviewed on 05/28/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Andrea Asay

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