Rating: 
Summary: Breathtaking, fascinating, weird, gripping and some more
Review: 1. A review for all readers:"The Holy" starts out very interesting with a little story about a boy and continues with the story of a private detective who gets a rather unusual case. This said, it sounds like the most average book around. But what happens at around 1/3 of the book has simply to be read to believe it. The author tells the story of a man who can't take his life anymore the way it is and simply quits it. He packs his stuff, says goodbye to his family and boss and drives away. The chain of events that happens to him then is so unbelievable, that you will find yourself quite often shaking your head. Not because you will say "Yeah, right!", but because you just can't believe all the things that are happening. Quinn takes the reader very far until he delivers the solution to all of it. This is real suspense. It is nearly impossible to put the book away, because you know that you have to read on until you know what the hell is going on. And then, when it comes, when the solution is coming along, your mind will quite simply be blown away. Everything flows together, everything, even the most absurdest things make sense. All you'll can do after you closed the book is to think. It is impossible to put it away, saying "Okay, that was that." It changes your mind, making yourself ask questions you wouldn't have thought of before. You'll have a new way to look at the world. Of course, this was the same with all of the other Quinn novels, but none of his books ever got you so involved with the story and characters, like "The Holy" does. Quinn has a beautiful way of writing, describing the characters so detailed and perfect, that you exactly know what to think about them. There are no clichees, no stereotypes. The story is outstanding, getting everywhere from crime to gambling to religion to murder to fate to satanism to animism to zombies and to life itself. The book starts like "The Story of B", continues as a John Irving-novel going beserk and ends like no other book I've read before. If you just a need a really good book, read "The Holy". No matter, what kind of literature you're interested in, this book will surely satisfy you. This is Quinn's best work up to now. 2. A short review for all Quinn-experienced readers: Read it! :) Really. Sure, maybe you won't find any new ideas that strike you as much as in the other books, but all you know up to now from the "Ishmael"s or "Story of B" is so perfectly put in here, that you'll just love it. The other books were so revolutionary for your mind because the ideas were so new, while the story was not always satisfactory (especially in "My Ishmael"). With "After Dachau" he proved that he can write really great stories without forgetting the big ideas. With "The Holy" he proves that he simply can do anything. This is Quinn's best work up to now, even better than "The Story of B".
Rating:
Summary: Simply Quinn's Best
Review: Anyone familiar with this author's work knows that there's no one quite like him writing today. It's as if he starts every book saying to his readers, "You think you've got me pegged, don't you. Well, take a look at THIS!" Then he proceeds to write something unlike anything you've ever read (and unlike anything he's ever written). I've read all his books, most of them several times, and I can tell you that in THE HOLY he outdoes himself--and everyone else around. It's in a class of its own. The only book that comes close is John Fowles' THE MAGUS, and I personally think THE HOLY is a better, deeper, and more enthralling novel. In my opinion, the thematic heart of Quinn's novels is not Saving the World (as many might say) but rather The Quest. Quinn's heroes aren't looking for love, happiness, or wealth. They want THE ANSWER--to the profound questions that trouble us all in a world that seems to be going mad. But not all his heroes are asking the same questions (or getting the same answers). Two seemingly unrelated quests drive THE HOLY--both strange, both even a little mad--but they ultimately converge in a maelstrom of passion, violence, death, and transfiguration that is unmatched in any book I've ever read. This isn't just Quinn's best. I honestly can't name a novel that I'd rank above it.
Rating: 
Summary: muddled confusing and not worth the effort
Review: Being a HUGE fan of Mr. Quinn's, and loving and re-reading everything else he's ever written. I feel compelled to ask "WHAT THE [HECK]!" I found myself reading and re-reading whole chapters and not only being bored to death, but confused and angry that I was wasting so much of my time on this drivel. This is truly...bad. I should've stopped reading after the scene with the devil worshipper and the main character going through a barbarella-logan's run-esque debauchery. Shame on you Mr. Quinn. Very very dissappointed. AND I want those hours I spent reading this back.
Rating:
Summary: The Spook Magazine: Best Book Of The Year
Review: Daniel Quinn has the extraordinary talent of making his readers truly believe that what he is writing is really happening in our world. And perhaps, it is. He has captured the imagination of millions of readers with his breakthrough novel, Ishmael, about a telepathic gorilla who teaches us why our environment is coming to its destruction. Quinn is adored by his readers, some of which seem to look to him as a guru. His Web site, ishmael.org, has over 500,000 visitors per month. Quinn's new novel, The Holy, is perhaps his best work yet. Indeed, The Holy - an amalgam of Dashiell Hammett, Carlos Castaneda, and Quinn's unmistakable signature - is the best book of the year....
Rating:
Summary: Definitely up there!
Review: Daniel Quinn questions yet another set of fundamental beleifs! I'm familiar with all his past books and I can honestly say that this one is at least as good as any other of my favorites. The way the story was written kept me glued as well. Lots of irony, dark humor, and thrill. A MUST HAVE for any D.Q. fan!
Rating:
Summary: Quinn's best book so far...
Review: Everytime one of my favourite authors writes a new book I'm confronted with my own fear that it won't be as good as his/her last book. Quinn is no exception. After the award winning novel ISHMAEL he wrote even better THE STORY OF B and circled the "teacher-pupil-converstaion" style trilogy with uplifting and equally impressive MY ISHMAEL: THE SEQUEL. Somewhere in here he managed to write BEYOND CIVILIZATION, which didn't break any new ground since it was in fact a collection of essays and articles. He changed his "modus operandi" a bit in his next thought-provoking book "AFTER DACHAU", but the results were not as impressive as in the initial three books about saving the world. Nevertheless, it's an excellent read. And finally here it is. His finest book yet, THE HOLY, tells the story of ancient Gods and what happens when you start looking for them. All his other books were pretty streamlined storywise, but this is far more complicated as we follow the fates of several rather interesting characthers - husband who can't stand his life anymore, his wife determined to bring him back, and their son who teams up with an old jew P.I., who's already on a different case to find "why the ancient pagan gods were more attractive than God who liberated the Israelities from Egypt", given to him by another rich old Jew whose motives are not easy to guess untill the very end (and you'll be surprised no matter what). Same ideas of saving the world and our planet Earth are present here as well as in all his earlier books, but the emphasis here is on the characters and story telling. Someone wrote before that in all Quinn's books "idea supersedes the story". That may be right, but his ideas had rights to supersede the story - since all his books are more than books - they are an early blueprint for saving the world from destruction by "our culture". In THE HOLY, he's misleading you (the reader) and getting you back on track at will - and just when you think you've got it - Quinn will pull the rug under you. His skill is growing and his ideas and beliefs are as strong as ever. You won't be able to put this down untill you've read it all the way through. And finally... WARNING TO ALL MEMOIDS! This deals, among other issues, with cults and Satanism in such a way you'll find your deepest beliefs and convictions shattered and yourself deeply offended! DON'T READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU HAVE AN OPEN MIND!
Rating:
Summary: Profound and entertaining...irresistable.
Review: Fans of Daniel Quinn's work won't have to be convinced to read The Holy. We've been waiting impatiently for its release. To entice new readers, I could list other, better-known authors by way of comparison, but other reviewers have done so. I predict that after The Holy, Quinn will be one of those better-known authors about whom comparisons are made. The story is a chain of unexpected, entertaining, chilling events, leading to a conclusion that leaves some room for speculation, but not too much. That in itself makes the book worth reading. The tersely worded gems of "pure Quinn," scattered throughout are what make The Holy more than just another well-written novel.
Rating: 
Summary: hitting his stride
Review: Finally, Daniel Quinn has hit his stride as a novelist. THE HOLY is not only his best book, but a damn fine novel as well: well-plotted, with strong narrative and character. The comparisons to John Fowles' THE MAGUS are on the mark, though Quinn's book is by far the more mystical. His other books were more lectures fitted loosely into a narrative structure--even THE STORY OF B. In fact, THE STORY OF B could have been a much better, richer novel if Quinn had brought to bear as much patience and craft to it as he has to THE HOLY. I will look forward more eagerly to his next work.
Rating:
Summary: All action, no preaching
Review: Having read and loved some of Quinn's better known work, specifically ISHMAEL, I was pleasantly surprised when I cracked THE HOLY. His message is as strong as ever-humans are still ruining the planet with their selfish notions of entitlement-but Quinn's approach is more subtle than the Socratic conversations of ISHMAEL or MY ISHMAEL. This book is part road novel, part detective novel, and a convincing metaphysical thriller throughout, but it doesn't fall in to the trap of new age hooey that might have convenienced a less skillful writer. Quinn keeps things fresh, strange, beautiful, and cynical enough to keep the most hardened skeptic on board. It's fun, fast reading, and you might actually learn something along the way.
Rating:
Summary: Counter-Culture Hero
Review: Here's what is confusing: Quinn is supposedly a new age writer, and yet all of his work is counter-culture. Quinn has spent his entire career explaining why this culture is horrible for the living and great for products, why living in large groups makes people dependent and unable to live as autonomously as they might be able to in smaller groups (tribalism/anarcho-primitivism), how the major paradigm shifts in history move us incrementally away from heterogeneity and a way of life that is not destructive and closer to a life-killing and mind-deadening totalitarian homogeneity. Quinn's strong suit is turning things on their head to show you the truth. He's a novelist but also a counterculture philosopher. The Holy is his best book to date. It's a rollercoaster ride that gives Stephen King a run for his money (maybe not money, but certainly it's just as entertaining and scary) and also gives the lie to dominant ideologues of our day and age.
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