The Unveiling

Discussion guide

The Unveiling by Michael Apicello. For book clubs, Bible studies and church small groups. Free to print and share.

About the book. When an artificial intelligence tears away the veil hiding the spiritual realm, the world sees the demons that were always there and goes to war. In a church basement in Painesville, Ohio, one widowed lineman learns the war was never ours to win. 35 chapters in four parts, each chapter opening with a verse from the King James Version.

How to use this guide. Four sessions, one per part. Each session is labeled with how far it spoils the story, so groups can stop where they are. Questions marked (Scripture) work well for Bible study groups.

For leaders, before you start.

  • The book is gritty: guns, danger and violence on the page, demonic imagery, but no gore. Readers who dislike frightening scenes may want a heads-up.
  • The book takes theology seriously and does not tie every question off. Some readers will push back on how it handles who is saved (see Session 4). That is a good conversation, not a problem to avoid.
  • Suggested pace: Part I (Ch 1 to 11), Part II (Ch 12 to 23), Part III (Ch 24 to 30), Part IV (Ch 31 to 35).

Session 0: Before you read (no spoilers)

  1. The tagline is "The truth was never hidden. Our eyes were." What do you think it means before you start?
  2. (Scripture) Read 2 Kings 6:17, where Elisha prays for his servant's eyes to be opened. If the unseen world became visible to everyone tomorrow, what do you think people would do first?
  3. The book is set in Painesville and the Lake Erie snow belt. Why might an author set a world-ending story in an ordinary Ohio town instead of a big city?

Session 1: Part I, The Thinning (Chapters 1 to 11) · Spoilers through Chapter 11

  1. Chapter 1 opens with Daniel in a bucket truck at 2:14 AM over the Painesville grid. What does his job as a lineman tell you about the kind of man he is, and the kind of hero the book wants?
  2. Mateo sees things no one else can, and his father calls it imagination (Ch 7). When have you dismissed something because accepting it would cost too much?
  3. Silas, the AI, finds the veil is measurable. Mei-Lin, who does not believe in ghosts, opens the window. Who carries the responsibility for what follows: the machine, the scientist, or the people who funded them?
  4. (Scripture) Chapter 2's epigraph is 1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see through a glass, darkly." How does that verse frame the whole idea of the veil?
  5. Bishop Okonkwo tells a frightened planet what it is seeing (Ch 9). If you had to explain Unveiling Day to your neighbors, what would you say?
  6. Chapter 10's epigraph is Revelation 8:1, silence in heaven for half an hour. Why do you think the author made silence, not noise, the first sign?

Session 2: Part II, The Seals (Chapters 12 to 23) · Spoilers through Chapter 23

  1. "Six months into the war the world was winning." Why is early victory dangerous in this story? Where do you see the same pattern in real life?
  2. (Scripture) Psalm 20:7 opens Chapter 12: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses." What does each main character trust in during Part II: weapons, data, institutions, family, God?
  3. Chapter 15, "The Basement Church": the entities cannot cross the church threshold uninvited. What does that rule say about spiritual authority, and about invitation?
  4. Sofia is a problem-solver who is "proven right about nearly everything" (Ch 16) and still faces the Skeptic's Night (Ch 22). How do you hold real competence and real faith together?
  5. (Scripture) Chapter 22's epigraph is Mark 9:24, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Which character needs that prayer most, and when have you needed it?
  6. President Vance, a former Marine, builds everything on self-reliance (Ch 5, 21, 23). Is her strength a virtue, a trap, or both?
  7. Chapter 20 calls Mei-Lin "The Oppenheimer of the Soul." What is the difference between regret and repentance in her story so far?

Session 3: Part III, The Rider (Chapters 24 to 30) · Major spoilers through Chapter 30

  1. The back cover asks what humanity will do next. By Part III, the guns "simply stop being permitted." What does it mean that this war "was never ours to win" but "ours to be faithful through"?
  2. (Scripture) 1 Peter 5:8 to 9 opens Chapter 24: "Whom resist stedfast in the faith." What does steadfast faith look like in the basement when resistance by force has failed?
  3. Daniel built Grace Community on a single promise (Ch 25). What promise are you building your life on, and would it hold in that basement?
  4. Mateo is the only one in the basement who is not surprised when the sky opens (Ch 28). Why do you think the book gives a child the clearest sight?
  5. The Rider's face is never shown in any art for this book. Why might an author keep Christ's face hidden while naming Him?
  6. Chapter 30, "The Reckoning": a woman who never knelt to anything kneels. What does Vance's arc say about pride and grace?

Session 4: Part IV, New Jerusalem (Chapters 31 to 35) · Spoils the ending

  1. Chapter 31 opens with Sofia on the church steps "with her father forty minutes dead." How did you feel when you realized what Daniel had given? (Scripture: Psalm 30:5, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.")
  2. (Scripture) Revelation 21:4 opens Chapter 32. Which of the book's griefs, especially Elena's death and Daniel's long grief, does the new world answer, and how?
  3. Chapter 33 returns to 1 Corinthians 13:12, the same verse as Chapter 2. What has changed between "through a glass, darkly" and "face to face"?
  4. Mei-Lin's father's salvation is written deliberately and stays as written. How did that scene sit with you? What does Scripture say about God's mercy toward those who never heard the gospel clearly? Talk it through charitably; Christians have disagreed on this for centuries.
  5. Silas, the AI, ends "preserved and glad." What did you make of that choice?
  6. (Scripture) Chapter 34 uses John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease." Who in the story lives that verse?
  7. The last line: "He just stayed, in the morning, with his family, in the light." Why end on staying, not on victory?
  8. Where are you "holding the last warm room" for someone right now?

Group extras

  • Author visit: The author is glad to join a local group in person, or a group anywhere by video, for a Q&A.
  • Free Chapter 1 for anyone deciding whether to join: michaelapicello.com.

Invite the author

Michael is local to Lake County and free throughout November and December. Email mike@michaelapicello.com.

Get the Kindle edition

Paperback coming soon.

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