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This was a mediocre thriller in which everything was easy to figure out. This character will be killed, that one will be gravely injured but will pull through, etc. That's OK if all you want is a quick read, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

Also, this book was very poorly edited and proofread. I found many typos throughout the text, such as "We have to leave know!" In addition, although it is never stated outright, this story obviously takes place in December 2009 (indicated by references to recent events). Yet, one character states, "We put a man on the moon fifty years ago." According to my calculations, that would be forty years ago in 1969. I get the feeling that this book was rushed into publication without much attention to editing and proofreading.

good take on how religion blinds people to everything, and turns them into fanatics & can be used to control society

I was surprised. I really, really liked his book "The Last Templar", and "The Sanctuary" was okay, nothing special. But this one, while long as hell, was also surprisingly good in most places.I do have one objection, and it's the only reason this book didn't get five stars. When he wrote about Boston/Cambridge/Woburn, it just didn't seem like the places to me. Boston was the best, the Seaport area etc. But the Woburn chapter just didn't ring true at all to me.But, other than that, awesome book, but be prepared, it is over 400 pages, and not the quickest of reads, but definitely worth it.

The premise of this novel intrigued me so I bought the book with the understanding it was going to be a great adventure and a scientific thriller complete with intrigue and plenty of twists and turns. As I began to read the book I noticed a distinct negative bias towards religious faith, namely that of Christianity. As a Christian, I am deeply aware of the many misgivings people have towards Christians and the Christian faith particularly in America. Understandably so. However, were not perfect people, in fact, were imperfect humans trying to understand a perfect God. We don't pretend to know it all or have it all right. Because we don't. But, please. Rather than write an entire novel denigrating Christians, their families, and everything that we embrace, why not just come out and tell it like it is? Why sugar coat it in the form of a novel?I read the Author's Notes at the back of the book and realized unequivocally that this author has something against Christianity in particular. Of all the faiths in the world, along with their misgivings, Khoury clearly chose Christianity as his target. And this is reflected in his story. I for one am one of those Christians who is for the complete separation of church and state, for a variety of reasons. But, Khoury is clearly for this separation as well, because he hates Christianity. It is evident in his writings and it is evident in his notes. He regurgitates all the negatives of Christian history, including the Crusades and on and on he goes. We get it. Khoury you don't like Christianity in America and you really hate it when it pervades American politics. Somehow, other faith's involvement in American politics is curiously missing from his rhetoric.The premise of this novel intrigued me so I bought the book with the understanding it was going to be a great adventure and a scientific thriller complete with intrigue and plenty of twists and turns. As I began to read the book I noticed a distinct negative bias towards religious faith, namely that of Christianity. As a Christian, I am deeply aware of the many misgivings people have towards Christians and the Christian faith particularly in America. Understandably so. However, were not perfect people, in fact, were imperfect humans trying to understand a perfect God. We don't pretend to know it all or have it all right. Because we don't. But, please. Rather than write an entire novel denigrating Christians, their families, and everything that we embrace, why not just come out and tell it like it is? Why sugar coat it in the form of a novel?I read the Author's Notes at the back of the book and realized unequivocally that this author has something against Christianity in particular. Of all the faiths in the world, along with their misgivings, Khoury clearly chose Christianity as his target. And this is reflected in his story. I for one am one of those Christians who is for the complete separation of church and state, for a variety of reasons. But, Khoury is clearly for this separation as well, because he hates Christianity. It is evident in his writings and it is evident in his notes. He regurgitates all the negatives of Christian history, including the Crusades and on and on he goes. We get it. Khoury you don't like Christianity in America and you really hate it when it pervades American politics. Somehow, other faith's involvement in American politics is curiously missing from his rhetoric.Perhaps were all guilty of integrating faith and politics at some point in our lives. Christians do it in the name of morality. Humanists do it in the name of secularism. Because of the obvious rhetoric emanating from this author, and because I am a Christian offended by the negative bias, this book is worthy of less than a single star. Sorry Khoury. I hope and pray that you will someday see the true Light of Jesus Christ and see Him for what He is, the true Son of God who loves us and has forgiven us all, including us Christians who are unmistakably imperfect. Rather than looking to imperfect people, look to a perfect and holy God. Peace.

Part conspiracy thriller, part pseudo-political essay on the dangers of organised religion. This is pretty far fetched stuff and while it is fairly enjoyable and easy to read it is clearly, especially towards the end, a vehicle for the author's thoughts on religion in politics in the 21st century United States.I found this to be very different from the author's previous novels which I have read.

A disappointment. Having read The Last Templar and The Sanctuary I was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately it did not live up to expectation. I found the story very weak. Sorry.

I'm a pretty black and white guy when it comes to politics. Had I first read the author's note, at the end, I would never have read this book. Let me explain.There's a few characters in this book who are strident environmentalists. The crux of the story is that no one takes global warming seriously. But religion is taken seriously, so these rich, politically connected people create this "sign" to enrapture the world with the idea that God really is real. Then they want to pull the rug out from this sign--show it as a hoax--to encourage people to be more secular and not vote for (or follow) religious zealots who will refuse to fund global warming projects.So when I start reading a conversation between these two environmentalist characters about how the previous president (Bush, although never named) was backwards and too tied to God, and that the "current" president (Obama, again not named) is a step in the right direction, I almost put the book down. But, recognizing I'm too black/white, I continued reading. Just because an author has a character with a certain political ideology different from mine, doesn't mean the book will necessarily be preachy or that there won't be a balancing character. As the story progresses, it's clear that those who are concocting this whole thing truly are power-hungry and crazy. But of course they're ultimately coming from the right place, so I get the feeling like the author really wished we (America) would shy away from political leaders who have religious leanings. To make his point, at the end he quotes such "radicals" (my word, not his) as Ronald Reagan and Sarah Palin. (He also quotes Jerry Falwell who is a little out there, but certainly not a serious political figure.)The story itself is OK, but there were some pretty implausible situations. Thousands of people are stuffed inside and outside of a stadium to see this sign, but the main characters are able to get where they need to go with ease. And once again, we have a character who seems to have innate skills outside of what's normal.Khoury is an OK writer, but I wish he'd offer balancing characters and allow the reader to make up his own mind, rather than being preachy about it both in the narrative and the author's notes.

Very imaginative plot. I was a little disappointed that the whole thing was a hoax but since I have similar political leanings, I enjoyed reading it.

I guess you could call the contents of this book, the sign of our times (*weak smile). It simultaneously feeds on expectation, fear and paranoia -- and because of this concoction, if you put yourself as a character in the book, the events in the story is believable. There is also a manipulative aspect in the story, which in understanding the greed of the human condition, however well-intentioned, ties this story up very nicely. Together, this book keeps you on the edge of your seat and the pages turning.

Quick airport read and would not even put this book in the entertaining category. Too many loose ends and empty plot points.

Some reviewers here and elsewhere of Raymond Khoury's engaging new thriller, The Sign, focus attention on Khoury's alleged attacks on certain political and/or religious beliefs they assume he belittles. I see the novel as something other and more abstract than mere vilification of George W. Bush, religion, or global warming skeptics.The Sign examines the power of iconography and symbology in a conflicted world teeming with deeply held and seemingly irreconcilable political, bureaucratic, religious and sociocultural ideologies. The thematic battle in the story is only superficially between one set of believers and another. Rather, the true battle over the sign in the sky is within the reader. All of us respond to various symbols one way or another, more often than not in a Pavlovian manner inculcated in us since birth by self-interested forces far beyond our control. The Sign encourages us to scrutinize the origins and mythoi underpinning each icon, symbol and sign we encounter. It urges us to contemplate how, by whom, and to what end such powerful images are used all around us, every day.Khoury's message in The Sign is important and thought-provoking, and it's presented in a story well told. Khoury is adept at bringing settings exotic or ordinary to life. The action is crisp and clean, as befits an author skilled at screenwriting. The dialogue rings true, in that it reads the way people actually talk to one another. The characters are intriguingly duplicitous, realistically flawed, and struggle to varying degrees to contain or exploit their own and each others' rapacities.It's a very good book. I had fun reading it and thinking about it, and I recommend it.

What a disappointment. If you have an incomplete cliche' list you can finish it with this book. Perhaps there is a master book of the usual suspects doing the usual things for the usual reasons and the author merely built a story around what he found there. There was one anomaly though. The 'media' was portrayed as righteous in The Sign, and maybe this book was meant to be published as humor. Sorry for the sarcasm but I expected more.

Found it a little hard to get into. Put it down once, but went back to it. Wound up being a good read.

Dull. I made it up to page 200, giving it a fair try and just was utterly bored with it. Intriguing setup then settling down to a generic globe-spanning-action-thriller.

Gracie Logan is a reporter in Antarctica following a story on glacial melts when a strange glowing sphere appears. Is this an anomaly? An aurora borealis of sorts? Or a sign? Soon after another sphere appears over the Arctic. Gracie learns of a monk in Egypt who had drawn the identical symbol on a cave months ago. She and her crew take off for Egypt to try to interview Father Jerome. Matt Sherwood is an ex-con who receives a frantic message from his deceased brother’s friend who wonders if Danny’s death was an accident. But before he could reveal more, he is kidnapped and killed, the murder being blamed on Matt. What follows is a cat and mouse chase with Gracie unknowingly being led to her conclusions and Matt ruffling a few feathers on the wrong people, each not aware they are following the same case. Unfortunately, early on the reader realizes the goal of the writer. Once the words “melting glaciers” is mentioned, you just know “global warming” isn’t far behind. The villains behind the sphere and the murders are hell bent on forcing this mythical concept down everyone’s throats. I’m all for recycling and cleaner fuel, but I’m with George Carlin—the earth has survived long before us and will survive long after us. Toss in the stereotypical “right wing zealots”, both evangelists and politicians, and you would have thought Bill Maher wrote the book. The “author notes” quotes biblical passages spoken and/or written by politicians. The author himself is preaching to a choir but there are plenty of people not humming that tune.

While I enjoyed Khoury previous book, the Sanctuary, I cannot say the same for the Sign. The whole science-fiction story, just an effort to deride organized religion? One of the points stated in the book is how divided we are as a nation and of course one of the major causes implied is organized religion and people following 2000 year old myths and symbols such as the cross. If Mr. Khoury believes on a particular organized religion or not, if he does believe on a God or not, most Christians would see it and his personal choice and very few, if any, would try to convince him otherwise. But with this book, he goes out his way to question and mock the believes of many. Are actions like this, the ones contributing to the division of this country he addresses on this book? On page 386, “History’s shown us, time and again, that mixing religion and politics only brings destruction.” Interesting and erroneous statement, when the greatest “destructions” in the last 100 years have been by nations, under dictatorships, that renounced any kind of religious moral compass, such as Stalin, Hitler, Mao. Yes, very terrible things in the name of religion have occurred in Western history in the last 2000 years, but none, first of all, can be linked to anything Jesus said or did, and in most cases these awful events where simply about power and politics, using religion as an excuse. If religion hadn’t been present, some other excuse would have been found.. Last book by Mr. Khoury I would read.