Apparition

Frank McGann is a Catholic priest with no faith. His face is burned beyond recognition. He is scarred and traumatised, and his life has descended into a world of violence, chaos, and betrayal. His only allies are a cynical and lost female news reporter, a nine year old girl, and an old renegade priest. As he drifts ever closer to disaster, it is only them that can save him. As Frank McGann becomes the unlikely protector of Jazzy, a small girl who believes that the Virgin Mary has appeared to her, a cynical media and the Catholic authorities combine to destroy both Frank and the girl. The Church, reeling from sexual abuse allegations doesn't need another scandal. Set in Auckland, New Zealand this fast-paced story is about the dark night of the soul and what it means to be cut adrift from certainty. It is a unique and different read, and although it is set in a Catholic setting, it examines human themes and conflicts which all of us can identify with. It is crisply and deftly written. Following a long career in education, Rob Allen is now emerging as a genuine New Zealand author, and the settings and characters, in his four novels to date, reflect that. He lives in Auckland and is passionate in his love for New Zealand; its places, people, landscape; and believes it to be a naturally spiritual place. Rob Allen has written three other novels, Mishi's Gift, Sons of the Poison Tree, and A Competent Man.