Madman Book

"Madman" is a historical novel that tells the imagined backstory of the two demon possessed men in the region of the Gadarenes from the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is the third novel from Tracy Groot.

Tallis is a young Athenian scholar and servant. Eight years ago his master helped found a new academy, staffed by a group of brilliant scholars across the Sea of Gallilee. When his master asks Tallis to visit the school he believes it wiil be a quick trip, nothing more than a week long assignment to gather information from the scholars and visit the academy.

Soon after his arrival he realizes the academy was disbanded three years ago, most of the scholars are missing, some are dead, and someone has been forging reports about the school to his master during that time. Tallis' search for the truth ultimately threatens his life, challenges his philosophy, and forces him to encounter an unbelievable evil - demon possession.

I highly recommend Madman to anyone who is a fan of both literary fiction and suspense novels. At times I was engrossed by Groot's prose, lost inside word pictures that elegantly painted a portrait of the ancient Roman world - while at other moments I was flipping pages so fast I nearly ripped them from the binding!

Imagine the lyricism of John Grisham's "A Painted House" mixed with the adrenaline of Ted Dekker's "Obsessed" and you'll get an idea of "Madman".

Groot also avoids Christian fiction cliches and tells her story largely from the perspective of non-believers. The story of redemption is told with equal parts tact and forthrightness. The characters wrestle with the reality of good, evil, and the human responsibility to choose. Though Jesus Christ appears in "Madman" he is not the focal character, nor is he unrealistically portrayed as the Santa Claus answer to everyone's problems.

Though "Madman" may be considered too slow by many fans of spiritual warfare chillers, or too intense by some historical fiction readers, for my money it's the best of both worlds.

"Quandocumque impellunt, repelle - solum Jesu."