In “Heretic”, Thomas provides a lively and entertaining journey to what is—at least for this reader—the heart of the story, the sardonic l’abbe Planchard, who welds the whole matter together. The man says much in few words. It reminds me very much of Patrick O’Brian’s first, and possibly his best, novel, “Testimonies”. In it, Pugh’s observations to Bronwen about the dilemma we face are equally omniscient and chaste. For some of us, Heretic will be more about today than about the middle of the fifteenth century, or the end of World War II. As the past, the story is fanciful and entertaining. As the present, it is foreboding and troublesome, but in a refreshingly welcome way. It is an excellent tale and I look forward to more. Joel Stooky