My thoughts on The Lazarus Succession

The Lazarus Succession is not a religious story, it was never meant to be, although it employs the trappings that are often associated with organised religions. It, at most, asks us to consider and be prepared to accept truth... whether we like what it says or not.

There were many aspects that came into focus when I first thought about writing 'Lazarus.' Who can deny that it is one of the best-known episodes from the Bible. It has everything a writer could wish for. Life, death, mystery, suspense and drama.

Good enough reasons to consider writing a story, you might think. You would be correct. However that wasn't the only reason.

We live in the twenty-first century and our mind-sets are different to those in Galilee two thousand years ago. There are those who believe it happened and those who don't. The fact I chose to write a story that employs both good and evil aspects of human behaviour, wrapped in a degree of the supernatural occurrences that surrounded the raising of Lazarus, may give you a clue as to what I was thinking.

In one way, I was saying it could be true --- but good needs evil for it to have any definition, to have any meaning. In our lives, meaning is, for many, necessary.

Throgmorton, the villain in Lazarus, employs meaning to justify his behaviour. That gives his life a raison d'ętre. For him, it is good.

The other characters, not so. The Hero and Heroine, like most people I've met, possess a quality of the anti hero or anti heroine in them. None are perfect, but in this story, it can be seen that God or Christ don't expect saintly behaviour; for like King David, they too can give their lives meaning by performing even the most ghastly acts.

Read: getbook.at/thelazarussuccession