Ain't
No Messiah
Tales
of the Blessed and Broken Book 1
by
Mark Tullius
Genre:
Psychological Suspense
“God has chosen Joshua to bring forth his new kingdom on Earth.”
From
the day he was born, Joshua has found himself the recipient of
death-defying miracles. His earliest memories include his own father
proclaiming him the second coming of Christ. However, Joshua has
wrestled with serious doubts about the validity of this claim all his
life. How could he not, having survived a childhood filled with
physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his earthly father.
Now, one way or another, Joshua is going to show the world who he really is.
"A
compelling, if sometimes-lurid, picture of a faith gone wrong."
- Kirkus Reviews
"Ain’t
No Messiah is a beautifully-written book about one man's effort to
find himself - and maybe even a bit of happiness - in a world bitter
enough to greet even a supposed Messiah with abuse and scapegoating."
~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader
“‘Jesus, against his Father’s wishes, drew his sword as he led his battalion of angels into the depths of hell, charging to take down the demons of darkness!’”
Father was reading from the first book of The Lost Gospels, the only one he’d written so far. He was simply the instrument transcribing the message, one that he claimed, “Finally infused the New Testament with the righteous passion of the Old.”
Sweat dripped over my brow and into my eye, but I didn’t blink. I tapped my shoe on the plywood, my toenail pushing back into swollen skin, my foot throbbing like a big fat bullfrog. I kept breathing through my nose, stared straight ahead, tried not to listen to what Father was saying. He was talking about how there were demons everywhere, trying to tempt and distract Jesus, just like my sweat, which was begging to be swiped.
Father said despite their best efforts, the good angels were overwhelmed by the demons, their wings burnt to a crisp, bodies flung into the lake of fire below. Jesus stood all alone in the darkness.
“‘But he couldn’t turn back. Jesus continued down the cliff’s winding path. With each wet step, Jesus tried not to think of what he walked on, his feet sinking in the rotting corpses, sliding in their gore.’”
My hands ached as Father retold the story of the demon pinning Jesus to the rocks, his barbed tail shooting though Jesus’ left hand, a black talon piercing the right, the blood of Christ bubbling on the bodies below.
Father said it would be the fate of anyone who didn’t follow me. I was the only true path.
Mark
Tullius is the author of Unlocking the Cage: Exploring the
Motivations of MMA Fighters and dark fiction which includes Ain't No
Messiah, Twisted Reunion, 25 Perfect Days: Plus 5 More, Brightside,
and the Try Not to Die series. An Ivy League graduate, Mark lists
Chuck Palahniuk and Stephen King as the authors who most influence
his own writing. He attests that attending Tom Spanbauer's Dangerous
Writing workshop marked the turning point in his career. In addition
to his writing, Mark is the host of the podcast Vicious
Whispers.
Mark
resides in Southern California with his wife and two children.
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
The cover is intriguing. Makes you want to find out more!
ReplyDeletedigicats {at} sbcglobal {dot} net
I would love to read your book.
ReplyDelete