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by Minerva Waters
Dark Moon, by J. H. Brennan (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980)
This thriller novel is a switch on the standard life of Mary Magdalene
common to most biographical fiction. In this novel, at the dark of the
moon, Miriam Magdala becomes possessed by a demon which forces her to
perform lewd actions. In time, the demon leads her into a life of
prostitution, beginning with common Roman soliders and working her way
up to her own lavish house to entertain ranking Roman officials of
Judea, including Pilate himself.
Miriam is disgusted by her actions and seeks a means to free herself
of the demon, but to no avail. She finds the demon takes the places of
the feelings and emotions of a normal woman of the time. Because of
her relationship with Pilate, she hears of a Jewish madman reputed to
have healing powers. She attempts to contact the healer by associating
with his followers, but it is not until Pilate has arrested the healer
that she actually meets him and believes he has the demon, which does
not visit her at that moon-dark. For that, she conspires with his
followers to give him first a poison that will mimic death, then the
antidote to revive and free him, should the healer be executed in the
Roman fashion.
Pilate had only arrested the healer at the bequest of the head of the
Jewish Temple, who claimed he had been inciting the Jews against the
Romans. Pilate has every intention of releasing the healer, even going
so far as to offer him as the Passover pardon (a custom of that time
and place), but the priest from the Temple begins a chant, taken up
by those gathered, to release another criminal instead. Pilate is then
forced to order the execution of the healer to be carried out. Miriam
manages to give the poison to the healer, charging Judas to give him
the antidote. As a result, the healer collapses and 'dies' just prior
to being nailed to the cross. However, the priest orders that he be
crucified anyway as an example, revealing moments later that he too
is possessed of Miriam's demon when one of the Roman soldiers kills
him.
After an innumerable wait, the healer is finally removed from the cross
and taken for burial. Miriam gives Judas the antidote and urges him to
hurry, but she is suddenly possessed when her demon returns to her.
She is forced to fight it off, but in the process the vial of antidote
is broken over the 'corpse.' Will he be revived in time or won't he?
The interesting background this novel provides borders on the
supernatural and makes for interesting reading.
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