Books I've read this week - Immaculate Deception

Immaculate Deception © 2009 by Courtney J. Webb

About the book: "When Craig Connery stole a dead man’s identity, he wasn’t counting on becoming a priest. Now, all Hell’s going to break loose.

Sexy Craig Connery has just finished two years in a British prison for a crime he didn’t commit. And he can’t wait to reunite with his family and assume his old life: a ladies man and petty thief.

But as he makes his way home, Craig becomes the sole witness to a horrific single-car accident. Killed is the driver – whose uncanny resemblance to Craig presents an opportunity to change his life forever. In one rash decision, Craig takes the man’s identification. No longer Craig Connery, he becomes James Kempster. Father James Kempster.

Now, this decidedly unreligious man must make it as a man of God. His first mission? Running a nursing home in regional Australia.

What follows is an uproarious and high-stakes farce of biblical proportions as Craig dissembles his way through a life he knows nothing about. Along the way, he’ll gain entrée into a world whose secrets rival his own – and discover the shocking truth about the church, the elderly, and himself.

At once comical, quirky, and deeply touching, Immaculate Deception is a novel of unconventional faith and the power of personal discovery."

Oh, my! Are you familiar with British comedies and their style of humor, especially Benny Hill? That was my first thought as I started reading this book. It is filled with raunchy writing and put-downs. If this were your only source of information about the Catholic church, you would think all the priests and nuns were sex maniacs, perverts, and schemers. However, once the story got more developed, I actually got interested in what was going on. It’s highly unbelievable that a man could step into the shoes of a priest and get away with it, but it did make a funny story. He picks up ‘tips’ about how to be a priest while watching The Exorcist on the flight to Australia. Against his will, Craig gets involved with trying to save the Catholic-run Australian nursing home where he’s been sent. If he doesn’t, the place will be sold and the elderly residents will have nowhere to live. They need to come up with $2 million and what better way than to rob a bank. What happens is hilarious and touching as they all work together to save each other.