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Attorney Brigham Bybee faces a host of problems, not the least of which is his current assignment in the remote town of Kanab, Utah. Struggling with alcoholism and a crumbling career, he accepts an assignment to defend a young drifter accused of killing his elderly employer, a former bishop. The case seems clear cut, a ?slam dunk? according to the local judge. However, it doesn?t take long for Brig to figure out that something more complex is going on. With the help of his despicable co-counsel, Brig begins to unravel a web of lies and deceit so thick that it seems to involve everyone in town. At the core of the mystery lies a document so potentially damaging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that its leaders would kill to keep it concealed. Brig, a confessed Jack Mormon, thus finds himself in a dangerous race to locate the crucial papers and expose the organization that would do anything to keep them a secret. To do so, he must unearth Kanab?s secrets by digging into a past haunted by the Mountain Meadows Massacre, while maintaining control in his own life. In his frantic race not only for justice but also for his very life, Brigham Bybee must confront his own ghosts to take on the powerful LDS Church.
If not for these redeeming qualities, the book would not be worth a glance. Peppered with foul language and raw sexual imagery, the novel is sure to rattle the most liberal LDS reader. And if that doesn?t do the trick, there?s always Gates?s idea of a dangerous conspiracy in the highest Church offices and his portrayal of all Mormons as hypocritical simpletons. I dare you to find one decent Mormon in Brigham?s Day. Gates portrays all of Kanab?s fictitious leaders as liars, fanatics and cold-blooded murderers, with the exception of one man, who is obviously too dumb to comprehend the whole situation. The author?s prejudice becomes evident in his description of the Honorable Reed Mackleprang, the local LDS judge, who wears the ?same damned ugly tie . . . as religiously as his garments.? Brigham describes the pale man as ?sleek and clever, an elder who belonged in power, in the church?s Quorum of the Twelve, maybe.? However, on closer look, the judge appears to be ?dull, lost . . . distant.? As the story progresses, the ?Honorable? Brother Mackleprang turns out to be at the center of the whole conspiracy. Yes, he reads his Book of Mormon and cautions others not to swear around him, but in the end he is nothing more than a hypocrite, willing to sell his soul to help the Church escape the blame for an ugly incident which occurred more than 100 years ago. Gates endows each of his characters with deplorable traits in his effort to prove that no member of the LDS Church is exactly what he seems. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article I Object!: Legal Thriller Offers Tainted Look at Mormonism in Mormon (LDS) Literature is owned by . Permission to republish I Object!: Legal Thriller Offers Tainted Look at Mormonism in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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