Sep 12, 2026
And now for something very different!
Having read all of Finn’s books except the out of print Pius Series, I came with some pretty high expectations. And this story hits the ground running right from the start. From Father Camillo Guareschi’s encounter with the alien crabs in the Po Valley in Italy we know it is about to hit the fan. We jump from there to Sam Weston in Chicago. Sam is a spy who has spent a lot of time behind the Iron Curtain, and here he is benched or should we say beached just as something comes up out of the sea threatening all of humanity. We know Sam is a little peculiar right from our introduction. And when he intervenes in a mugging of a priest in a rough neighbourhood in Chicago we know something great is coming. After that intervention Sam joins Father Pham for a mean with Vincenzo Torrio, and if you had immediate thoughts of Chicago mob boss you are not that far off. Next we meet Harold Adams aka The Hammer who runs a large crew and controls a large section of Chicago. And finally we encounter, Lieutenant Colonel Zofia Zelazowska, who has been left in charge of the military in Chicago, but only after anything of imminent value has been stripped from the armouries. And I cannot fail to mention Pope Julie III about him we are informed: “To say that Pope Julius III was an imposing figure would be to understate it. In the evenings, he spent his free time in prayer, on his knees. But in the morning, he would wake at five and say three hours of prayer—while he exercised. This turned the two-meter-tall African Pontiff from an imposing figure to a threatening one. Papal tailors spent a lot of time trying to cut his white robes so that he wouldn’t be quite so intimidating. But when his shoulders were the size of American footballs, it was difficult to hide. He had come to the Papacy with the intention of waging war against the world on behalf of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is why he picked the name of the Renaissance warrior-pope.” And the Pope’s XO: Auxiliary Bishop Xavier O’Brien that we are told: “Despite being an American from Marquette—some of the few Jesuits to avoid being defrocked—he had easily fit into the ebbs and flows of Papal bureaucracy. He had held his position by being devious, knowing when to act on Italian time, and when to work on American time.” I seldom highlight when reading fiction but these quotes really caught my attention: “You understand. Let’s just say that a previous cardinal, Francis George, said, ‘I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history.’ If Bowser does die in prison, I will not be at all surprised.” ““Good morning. Today, the Catholic Church and the Apostolic See would like to address the current battle against the aliens who have attacked us from the oceans. Before we do this, we must reclaim our moral credibility. The Church has had to apologize for the Crusades, despite them being a defensive measure against a jihadi war machine. We had to apologize for not doing enough in World War II, despite doing more than anyone else. We have to apologize for pedophiles, despite keeping records of every complaint and not disappearing the paperwork like so many others do.” And the events on September 1st 2039 in the second cycle are so fitting. Humanity is at war, a war that is not going well. The Aliens – The Fish, for they have emerged from the sea, are attacking around the globe. They are very effective and the learn very quickly. Chicago is far enough far enough inland they have time to prepare. And though politicians are saying there is nothing to fear, the Catholic Church, and other band together to try and prepare. And they have a mastermind, a huge resource pool, and people who believe in the cause. Those elements combine might just give them a chance and if not Sam Weston still has a something up his sleeves! Finn is a master of writing battle scenes, whether large orchestrated conflicts or personal one on one or one on many actions. He has a flare for throwing prayers and biblical passages into the mix as the fight goes on. In this volume we have great examples of that from Weston and even from His Holiness. Declan has already proved he is a master of the novel and shorter form fiction, in this one he proves again his versatility in writing an excellent work in someone else’s, make that two other creators universe. An alien race attacks, a Holy Crusade and a bored spy make for an amazing story! For fans of Military Science Fiction this is an excellent offering! I can easily recommend this book for reader from teens on up. It is way better than a lot of what I read in my teens. An excellent offering I hope will be the beginning of a long series. Well done Declan, well done!
