I have never read any of Peter James's DI Grace books, but I loved his 'Perfect People' (thinking of the end of that one still makes me cry!!) The premise of this book looked interesting so I was keen to read it. Ross Hunter is a respected investigative journalist. When he receives a phone call from Harry Cook RAF retired) starting that he has conclusive proof as to the existence of God, Ross is intrigued. There are three co-ordinates that will lead him to the answers. The quest, as other readers have mentioned, bears some similarities to the Da Vinci Code but I didn't find this was a bad thing. Ross's search is not without dangers. There are dead bodies, his house is vandalised & his pregnant wife begs him to give it up. He is approached by people from powerful religious sectors offering huge amounts of money to be the ones to possess the answer. Ross cannot let it rest until the mystery is solved. This book sweeps the reader along at a cracking pace. Does it have the answers? You'll have to read it to find out!

Another fantastic read from Peter James. This time, it's a stand-alone, 'What if?' story; what if absolute proof was found of God's existence? We follow a vast array of different characters, including the main man, journalist Ross Hunter. He wasn't really all that likeable in my eyes, but I guess it is more about the plot with this read. It wasn't necessarily an edge of your seat read, but suspenseful elements were peppered all the way through, which were enough to keep me hooked start to finish. The book remained religiously neutral throughout, which was great for me as an agnostic. Despite the obvious + constant religious plot, it wasn't in anyway preachy or about converting anyone; it was simply a fictional depiction of what might just happen if 'Absolute Proof' was ever found

Peter James has written a thriller that reminded me a little of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I did find it hard to get into, initially, but then I just got hooked and had to know more. The protagonist, Ross Hunter is a freelance investigative journalist and is married to Imogen who is expecting their first child, they have their problems due to Imo having had an affair. He gets a call from a retired, ex-RAF, ex-History of Art professor, Dr Harry Cook. Harry tries to convince Ross that he has absolute proof that God exists. Thinking the man Harry is a bit of a crank, he nevertheless agrees to meet him and to read a manuscript. There is only the one copy of this manuscript and Harry is initially reluctant to let it out of his sight. Ross then heads to Glastonbury using the co-ordinates given him by Harry and he finds evidence of recent digging but eventually finds some items in a well that he feels may be significant. Even though he finds a dead body, related to the case, he is hooked on the possibility of an incredible story, even though the Church wold like it kept quiet. Ross travels to Egypt and Los Angeles as the other co-ordinates are revealed and each provide further evidence to support Harry’s story and leads to events and a person whose identity will impact the world. Ross is offered large amounts of money for the manuscript, which his wife feels he should take due to the amount of danger they find themselves in, but Ross has scruples. Peter James has written an absorbing and exciting thriller, which covers how many factions in this world would feel threatened if there was the absolute proof of God's existence. It’s an entertaining read that pulls you into the story with such ease, you will definitely want to know just how it ends. I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

I love Peter James, especially his Roy Grace series, which I 'double dip'; read and then listen on audio, that's how good they are. I was really excited to get a copy of Absolute Proof via NetGalley, but, but, but. Full confession, I didn't like it. I'm trying to work out what it was I didn't like about it and I don't think it's one big thing, more like a few little things. Maybe the problem was that I didn't warm to Ross Hunter. It was never explained why he didn't like his brother and that irritated me. I found the whole book very long, (it is 570 pages), and it just never clicked with me. I'm not going to write a whole list of the things that I didn't like because the fact is Peter James has worked very hard and very long to be a successful author and I'm not going to sit here in my little office and criticise. At least Mr James is brave enough to put his work out there. So let's just agree that this one wasn't my cup of tea and the issue is me, not the writing or the author. I will still read anything that Mr James put out there because he is a fabulous writer. I'm just a rubbish reader.

1.5 Stars First things first I need to get a few things straight: I am somewhat on the fence about the whole God/Intelligent Designer thing. Organised Religion gives me the heebie jeebies and I think History bears me out as to why; not to mention modern day atrocities committed in the name of one God or another. I genuinely enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. I have no problem with fantastical novels - after all I gave 5 Stars to Michael Rutger's The Anomaly! Now that is out of the way I am going to confess and say I hated this book. I did manage to read it all but it was a good job it was in the stave format from The Pigeonhole as I could portion out the ridiculousness. I was rather sceptically going along with it all (not because of the Religious aspects to the book but rather the main character, Ross Hunter's actions) and then the author showed a basic misunderstanding of Mitrochondrial DNA - numerous times he mentioned it was only in the female line - no it is passed intact through the female line but it is present in all creatures that have a cell structure. As soon as I hit that road bump I realised that the research done for this book was a little scant. The only quotes from Religious texts we get are from the King James' version of the New Testament and only then from Matthew and Revelation. The Qu'Ran is dealt with in seeping statements and none of the other Abrahamic Religious texts (the Torah for example) even get a look in. Considering the subject matter and constant mention of all the different Religions that have broadly similar beliefs you would have thought there would be more from them - but no. Using Glastonbury as a location is simply lazy. I understand that it is a mythologized location but really, that is done to death now and shows a simple lack of imagination. Even worse is how things pan out there, completely unbelievable (okay so The Da Vinci Code isn't exactly believable but it is tautly written and this really isn't). The main character is supposed to be this high flying investigative journalist. Why then is he so credulous and naive? He seems intent to rehash what is going on to anyone that so much as looks at him when you would think he would be keeping his cards close to his chest. His deductive leaps that the finds at Glastonbury and in Egypt are remnants of Jesus Christ are farcical and that then becomes canonical for the remaining third or so of the book - all that is proven are that there is a genetic match. No caveat that with the age of the samples and natural degradation that so few alleles would be recovered that a match is tenuous at best. I am not even sure that DNA extraction from a single tooth of the supposed age of this one would reveal enough DNA to test but found that I couldn't even dig up the wherewithal to research the current advances in extraction technology. In short avoid this book. It has a meandering and unconvincing plot, characters that are simply laughable (even the peripherals such as Ainsley Bloor, Big Tony - yes, REALLY, Harry F Cook and Wesley Wenceslas are all caricatures) and so many holes in the research that it is really a chore to read. Apologies to you if you loved the book but there was so much I just couldn't get past with this one and we will have to agree to disagree. THIS IS A REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK READ THROUGH THE PIGEONHOLE