This review is from an advance uncorrected proof that was not for sale.

2012, Grand Central Publishing, 307 pages

Billed as a sacrilegious yarn to appeal to comic book fans, Unholy Night is not the irreverent stab at Christianity that the marketing suggests. For starters Seth is an excellent story teller and his prologue and epilogue bracket the story in such a way as to elevate it a higher form of literature than what was seemingly intended, or at least marketed.

The storyline imbeds a dashing, grudgingly sympathetic rogue of a modern character into the ancient world, Balthazar the thief, celebrity felon, known as ‘The Ghost of Antioch.’ The ancient precincts, customs and political realities are well wrought and nicely accented by the biblical quotes. The author does not, however, make the mistake of imbuing the protagonist with an ancient perspective. Balthazar is a essentially a westernized secular Palestinian thrust into the world of Judah Ben Hur. Just as Judah Ben Hur had a modern Anglo-protestant worldview in order to connect with readership and ultimately moviegoers, Balthazar has a postmodern atheistic worldview.

The plot involves Balthazar and two other rogues getting involved with Mary and Joseph and their hunted son, explicitly champions the notion of Jesus as divine, and suggests that the three criminals became immortalized as the Three Wise Men. The dialogue propels the plot, and the action scenes are taut—though dwell morbidly on gore as it is written to appeal to comic readers.

Despite the nagging anachronisms necessitated by writing for a commercial market I very much enjoyed the story and must say that Seth Grahame-Smith nailed the ending.