He's Back

The passengers at LAX know something is up when ""absolutely biblical"" lightning and thunder, the likes of which might herald ""the end of the world,"" split the sky. Things get even weirder when a dark-skinned guy in a white robe, who never boarded the plane, strolls down the exit ramp: he is Jesus Christ, come again. This story of Christ's return is told from the vantage point of several narrators, starting with Frankie Foxxe, an ex-priest and self-styled debunker of myths, and Millie Brodsky, a patient in a mental hospital. But the most interesting character is Michael Lovejoy, a surfer dude who's the son of two theologians named Amos and Andi. Jesus befriends him, and Michael opens up immediately, confessing that he disappointed his parents by not attending college. Michael becomes a devoted disciple, and meets a lovely lady named Mary, a former prostitute. He brings Mary and Jesus home to meet his folks, who grill Jesus about his financial backing and his teachings (Jesus' message is similar to that of 2,000 years ago, but with a multicultural emphasis on combating ethnocentrism and bigotry). As Michael evolves into an increasingly prominent Jesus devotee, he and his father become estranged; indeed, Amos is so furious with his son that one night he decks him, and Jesus quietly urges his follower to honor his father and turn the other cheek. The novel's hush-hush ""surprise"" ending is more predictable than shocking, but its repackaging of a familiar story is engaging nevertheless. (Aug.)