“This is a rattling good murder mystery... Much here that parallels, in its own way, the recent scandals in the Church. The characters are wonderful, fully realized, the plot moves briskly into realms of religion's faith and will power.”
Jay Bail, Editor of The Book Reader
“The Endless Knot is a masterpiece. It's set in a Los Angeles very like the real one, only more so. One by one, the Catholic Bishops of Los Angeles are getting killed --- in horrible ways; as with any good mystery, you begin to realize that some of the corpses deserve it. In the light of what's happening in the Catholic Church today, you find yourself wondering if Biersach knows more than he's telling! Certainly, it's pretty up to date. But there is a lot more; it's mystery alright, but it's also an occult thriller --- and a fantasy novel! And there's alot of humor as well. Biersach makes his secondary world come alive, with characters you are really interested in. Any you don't need to be Catholic to enjoy it, any more than you need to be Navajo to read Hillerman. It leaves you wondering where the novel ends, and real life begins. Great stuff, and I recommend it highly!”
Charles Coulombe - Author of The Muse in the Bottle, and Puritan's Progress
The Endless Knot" (TEK) is one of those novels that 'breaks the mold' a bit. Sure, we've seen novels featuring priests as detectives before, but in most cases this aspect has very little, or only a superficial resemblance, to the story. In TEK, however, everything becomes part of an ever-expanding thread that keeps the reader mystified and intrigued.
Another reviewer mentioned Tony Hillerman, and I think the analogy is a good one. Just as Navajo beliefs often contribute to the atmosphere and appeal of the Hillerman books, so the Catholic background adds a very colorful background to TEK, for this is a pre-1960's type of Catholicism, which still retained an aura of mystery and of a combat between Good and Evil about it.
As a mystery novel, TEK is wonderful -- the plot is intricate, but never slow moving. The settings and events are vivid, varied and sometimes almost surrealistically depicted. The characters are very well-drawn. Plus, there are ample traces of a sardonic humor that will have the reader chuckling when least expected, somewhat like the writing of the great Craig Rice. >The Endless Knot satisfies on ALL levels. It's a 'good read,' and a novel to sit back with and really ENJOY”.
Mark Alessio Columnist for Catholic Family News & The Remnant; Author of "One for the Road" from The Muse in the Bottle.
“Father Baptiste, the detective-hero, is a Catholic realist, hunting down evil through the labyrinthine ways of matter and spirit. This book was presciently written years before the current scandal in the Church, and is even more grimly funny today. It's Malachi Martin's "Windswept House" at the local parish level, only funnier, and with a ripping detective plot to boot.”
Margaret Summit Ph.D. in English literature UCLA
“ I loved and hated it! Let's start with the positive. Like a Catholic version of Mad magazine, the left page after the title page of this thriller about the serial murder of liberal Catholic bishops reads: "Nihil Obstat: Huh? Imprimatur: Are you kidding!?!?"
The Endless Knotcould be enjoyed by grim, embattled orthodox Catholics. The hero, Fr. John Baptist, a cop-turned-priest, ad hoc detective for the Archbishop, is a tough, bright, and truly holy hero. But his side-kick, Martin Feeney, a kind of conservative Catholic version of Sancho Panza, is a weak although astute and hilarious comedian. His observations, filled with innuendos only "right-wing" folks will get, keep the reader laughing on almost every page.
What else is good in The Endless Knot? As counterpoint to the humor, there are wonderful quotations from Catholic saints and sages.
So what could be wrong? In spite of the author's caveat about the characters and location being fictional, no one who has lived in L.A. could mistake most of the dramatis personae. As a fprmer Angeleno myself, part of the fun was seeing how Biersach managed to throw in clues with names and descriptions. but one wonders about the spiritual state of the writer relishing the details of the fairly sadistic murders of fairly identifiable "enemy" bishops. As an orthodox Catholic who has been battling dissenting Catholics for many decades, I try to curb the relating of gleeful anecdotes about such bishops. The book seems to be a cover for impotent rage seeking symbolic victory.
Would I recommend The Endless Knot? Yes, to those so filled with the "milk of human kindness" that castigation of evil and the confused leads not to gloating but to prayer and penance. No, to those so filled with hatred of their enemies in the Church that even monthly confession cannot turn bile into milk.
I happen to have a friend of the first type. I gave him the book to read. What did he think about the morality of killing off identifiable liberal bishops with such joy, even in fictional form? His opinion was that the book was good fund and would only be offensive to the enemy."
Ronda Chervin -- Journalist, New Oxford Review
