Cloning Jesus: a science fiction thriller turns on DNA from the Shroud of Turin.

Ripped from today's headlines, The Jesus Thief by JR Lankford (Great Read Books LLC, March 2003, $26.95, ISBN 0-971-86941-3) explores the controversial issue of human cloning. Even more controversial in this instance is that the object of the cloning is Jesus Christ.

In this bizarre story, we find biochemist Dr. Felix Rossi stealing fibers from the Shroud of Turin (the burial cloth of Jesus Christ) to extract DNA from the blood thereon. Then, the highly capable and reputed scientist begins his search for the woman who will carry this embryo to term.

The question--if one believes that cloning is a good use of scientific energy--is why clone the Son of God? Rossi's motivation for doing so is that after the death of his aunt, he discovers that although he was reared as a Roman Catholic, he is actually Jewish. He believes that by bringing Christ back to life, he can remove the stain of the Crucifixion (perpetuated by Jews) from the collective memories of all Christians.

Intriguing subject matter, for sure. Even more intriguing is that the author, JR Lankford, an engineer turned writer, after being turned down by a major publisher, was given tens of thousands of dollars from nine individual donors to publish the book. Lankford and her supporters formed their own publishing company, Great Reads Books LLC.

The novel has generated a great deal of press and has likely sparked much discussion on a number of hotbed topics. As literature, however, I think it takes on too much. Indeed, the various interwoven story lines are so cumbersome and unbelievable that the story of the cloning of Christ becomes secondary, as the reader attempts to keep pace with the various twists and turns of the contextual framework of the story.

And for this reviewer, reading Roman Catholic prayers on one page and lurid descriptions of sexual encounters on another was unpleasant at best.

The novel is to be praised, though, for the wide range of apparently accurate biochemical, physiological and medical information contained in the text. The clear manner in which this material is presented adds value to the novel.

I would not recommend the book as a "must-read." Yet the book will, like the issue that it seeks to address, generate various opinions and much discussion.

Beatrice Perry Stanley is a poet and a Catholic school principal in New Orleans.