The book was Cambium and the Life of Lanagan Murphy. I am glad you enjoyed it so much. The friend who gave me the book works for the publisher and said there was a noticeable upsurge in orders for that particular book a few months back - thank you, Mona and everyone else who helped support a small press and a charity working to reduce pet overpopulation.

Ceph- Thanks, but that's not the book, although I did read it years ago and it was very useful. The book I am thinking about has to do with letting go of anger. I am almost beginning to feel like Thurman because I am getting irritated w/oldest SD and I don't want to feel like that toward her. If I should be irritated w/anyone, it should be DH for not addressing some things and I am, but he doesn't want confrontation and truly she is old enough to not need to be told how to behave. This is so very gross, a health hazard and it's my biggest complaint. SD (24) hasn't cleaned out her ferrets' cage in at least four weeks . The stench of ammonia from the urine is unbelievable (not to mention there's also the feces). I have been trying to get over an upper respiratory bacterial infection and cough for several weeks. For some reason, whenever I am home and exposed to the stench, I seem to start coughing a lot more - hmmmm. I went to the doctor Thursday and we discussed the ammonia exposure. I came home asked DH to ask her to PLEASE clean the cage. He said he'd speak w/her Monday because he happened to speak w/her earlier that day about her reaction to our wedding and she was upset and cried. Of course, it also inhumane and she literally sleeps in the cesspool, so she may be the next one with a cough. We have a towel blocking the crack of her door, but the odor is so strong that it still creeps into the rest of the house. There is also the issue of her putting spoonfuls of peanutbutter into her dog's toy as a treat and letting him have his treat on our 3 month old carpet. I don't how many times she has been asked not to do that by DH, but she just does as she pleases because there is never any follow through on his part. She obviously has no respect for us and our property. Again, more his fault, but at 24 I think she shouldn't need to be told more than once. Thanks for letting me vent and please don't let me turn into a Thurman. geri

I was thinking an early Dean Koontz, until you got to the part where you say "The pilot along with his new girlfriend joint the army . . ", so its probably not, though it wouldn't hurt to check some of his early stuff out.

Thank you for your responses - I have added 2 of mine but see that they are missing! Anway essentially I am bringing this up again because it was not a 'religious' book in the sense of the 'Left behing' series et6c. I only discovered the 'theologicial' inferences as I read the novel. Perhaps it would be better described as a political thriller. I know it was written by a man (or someone (writing as man) I've scoured Amazon with no success and perhaps I'm imagining the wrong words in the title. One of the sequences involves looking at a painting in an Italian Gallery and seeing something from a distance in one painting that is missed when one stands up close. Wondering if this is going to get on RP