Firstborn by Conlan Brown - My Review and GIVE AWAY!!

From the Back Cover:
Conlan Brown bursts onto the scene with a story that's every bit as intriguing as it is intense. Secret orders, superhuman gifts, and a deadly plot dot the landscape of The Firstborn. Brown's voice is unique and captivating and will draw you in on the first page. Don't miss this book! --Mike Dellosso, author of The Hunted and Scream Three supernatural gifts. Two thousand years of division. One moment of truth.

Hannah's head hung, long brown hair in her eyes. Her face felt pasty with cold and fatigue and pain. Arms behind her back, she sat in a chair, wrists and ankles tied to the wooden frame, chair legs bolted to the floor. A cold car. A gun. Horror. Pain. Grief. Screaming. A windshield blistering with holes. Darkness.

It all came over her like a flood. A pouring out of pictures in her mind. But then there was one more thing. Not an image, but a feeling--that half a continent away someone else had felt it all happening too.

The Firstborn--three ancient religious orders gifted with the ability to see past, present, and future--have been divided since the death of Christ. But today, in an era of terrorism and globalization, it has become clear there is an atrocity coming that they must unite to prevent--because it is one of them who will perpetrate it.

Savage intrigue and violent power struggle set the stage for three members of the Firstborn as they race against time through a labyrinth of deception and danger to save the lives of hundreds...

MY REVIEW:

Firstborn is an action-packed novel, and once I discovered the true meaning behind the different groups involved, I seemed as though I began to read a very different story. Now, this may be my English-major background rearing it's ugly head, but to me, this story wound up feeling very analogous to the in-fighting that takes place among believers. In Firstborn, you have three distinct groups that are spritually gifted in different ways. (I use this term only figuratively because this is speculative fiction.) Over time, each group has begun to completely trust their own power and to doubt and fear the power of the other two groups. When a leader is to be selected to unify the groups, the in-fighting that results is both deadly and senseless.

Again, the message I kept getting beneath the story-line was that as Christians, we are all gifted through Christ with different talents and skills. On a human level, the power-struggle rages as we try to determine whose gifts are most important and influential. On a spiritual level, all gifts are important but none are as effective as they are meant to be unless they are totally submitted to God's control.

In Firstborn, I was taken way outside my comfort zone in several ways, because Scripturaly, spiritual gifts don't have "descendants". But realizing it is speculative, and being able to see the underlying message, I think it's a good book. I don't want to spoil the story, but it isn't until one of the "gifted" turns to Christ that things begin to turn around, and he winds up taking the most unlikely role of all among the three groups. To me, if obedience and submission to Christ alone is the bottom line in any story - and this seems to be the case in Firstborn despite their far-out "gifts" - then how can you go wrong?

This is a great debut novel, and I'm quite certain we'll be seeing more from this author!

I have an extra copy of this great debut novel to share with you! Please leave your name and contact information on this post to be entered to win a FREE copy of this book!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

By the end of his sixteenth year Conlan Brown had completed his first novel, his first stage play, and his first year of college. Brown now holds a Master's degree in Communication and lives on Colorado's Front Range where he is working on his next book. He enjoys video editing, film scores, and developing high octane, thought provoking fiction that turns pages and excites the senses.

Visit the author's website.