Rating: 
Summary: Iles takes a page from Dan Brown...
Review: For those who have read Dan Brown's THE DA VINCI CODE, Greg Iles latest, THE FOOTPRINTS OF GOD, may seem like a familiar theme. Not that FOOTPRINTS delves into the thick of basic religous tenets or a particular faith; rather, Iles, as has become something of his path, explore the supernatural as related to religous belief. Of course, Brown's DA VINCI became (and still is!) an unexpected bestseller by combining the excitement of an intellectual suspense novel with rather unorthodox pronouncement toward Christianity and, perhaps more importantly, Catholicism. Again, Iles doesn't trip this line but he does throw fodder into the literary pool with FOOTPRINTS.David Tennant, an M.D. and scholar of medical ethics, has been appointed by the president of the United States to the top-secret Trinity project. Trinity is the progeny of computer genius Peter Godin, a fiction contemporary of Seymor Cray. Trinity is funded by the National Security Agency and is as clandestine as any project can be classified. Trinity's goal? To reproduce a map human brain and literally "install" the map to a supercomputer, where it can operate at an exponential factor. Effectively, true artificial intelligence with a human factor. Coupled with the infinite mass of knowledge given the advent of the Internet, it could learn "anything." Anything, the reader soon learns, mean ANYTHING. As the story opens, there is a firestorm brewing at Trinity's research facility in N. Carolina. All members of the Trinity team have undergone a brainmapping exercise from a Super-MRI, one capable of creating such a brain map to attach to Trinity's supercomputer. However, all members of the team are experiencing strange side effects. While we eventually learn of the conundrum of these various effects, Tennant is having powerful, disturbing dreams. So much so that he has sought out psychiatrist, Rachael Weiss. Dr. Weiss is convinced these dreams are hallucinations born of his loss of wife and child. Concurrently, one of Tennant's colleagues who has been questioning the true reason and use of the Trinity project, is found dead, ostensibly from a stroke. Tennant doesn't buy the stroke theory. As Tennant begins to investigate what happened, he finds himself in the clutches of the NSA's security forces. After an assassination attempt, he and Dr. Weiss begin running, on the lam from the most powerful clandestine cabal in the U.S. spy arsenal. Tennant's dreams have focused on the life of Jesus, with whom he has come to identify. As the story unfolds with Tennant and Weiss one step ahead of the NSA, they risk a trip to Jerusalem. Why? Because one of Tennant's "dreams" told him he would find the answers to his dreams in the Holy Land. When he visits Golgotha, the scene of the Crucifixion, he has an immense seizure and falls into a what appears to be a deadly coma. However, true to his belief, he awakens with new insights into the mind of God. Although Tennant and Weiss have begun falling in love, Weiss fully believes his dreams are still delusions his brain has manufactured to deal with his personal tragedy. As the massive, run-on chase winds down, Tennant and Weiss find themselves in White Sands, New Mexico for a final showdown with a fully operational Trinity. What ensues in the rather long climax is stuff of fantasy and fear...a true recipe for a great novel. If you're an Iles reader and have enjoyed his past books, FOOTPRINTS will be no different. For those who read too much into a novel (i.e. "that can't really happen"), you'll be sorely disappointed and left saying the same thing many of Dan Brown's pundits have been saying of DA VINCI...it is too fairy tale. As for me, I read fiction to be entertained. FOOTPRINTS didn't disappoint.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good cyber/sci-fi novel...
Review: With all my Lotusphere prep and such, my reading has slowed down dramatically this month. But I did just finish a novel last night called The Footprints Of God by Greg Iles. This is a sci-fi philosophical "thriller" (for lack of a better word) that was a great read. A scientist is working on a top secret project called Trinity. Part of the project involved an intense MRI brain scan, and now a number of the scientists who underwent the scans have neurological problems. The book opens with him in a paranoid state looking out for people who want to kill him. The first half of the story revolves around trying to stay alive, along with his psychologist who is falling in love with him despite his hallucinations. The actual Trinity project doesn't really come into play until the second half. I won't go much further, but you then get into some deep stuff about God, creation, artificial life, and many other areas. A very good story, and it will appeal to sci-fi readers who like "near-future" or cyber type novels.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful surprise
Review: This is the first book I have read by Iles. It won't be the last. The plot grabbed me immediately, and I didn't want to stop. This is a well-thought out science fiction novel, a story that could take place today, with good character development, and thought-provoking possibilities.
Once I finished reading it, I also discovered it contains an excellent metaphor throughout. This book is well written, easy to read, and very hard to put down. And it left me thinks.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat predictable
Review: I am such a big fan of Greg Iles - that is why this is difficult to write. Unlike many of Iles' past books, there really was little character development or well developed meaning in THE FOOTPRINTS OF GOD. On the positive, the book did move quickly, but sadly, it is based upon a predicated theme, one that has been used over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: entertaining, but pales next to COLOSSUS
Review: This was a fast read. The final showdown was, however, eerily similar to that in "Colossus: The Forbin Project," a 1970's movie which occasionally airs on cable. That movie, based on a novel by Dennis Feltham Jones, is a TRUE CLASSIC in this genre. This recent novel was less satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Anythings Possible
Review: What starts out as a desperate chase when scientist David Tennant suspects his employers are trying to kill him evolves into the ultimate "what if" scenario. Artificial Intelligence is on the brink of being created and along with it comes the terrifying possibility that tremendous power will be unleashed on the world. This is a very entertaining story that speeds along and combines the flavour of the month combination of science v religion.
Rating:
Summary: exciting
Review: i read 3/4 of this book and then decided to check amazon for customer reviews. I am enjoying this book tremendously. it takes place in areas in which i have lived or visited; raleigh, nags head, knoxville, chapel hill and durham. I have traveled on the roads, ferries and waters . The plot is exciting. after seeing so many reviews stating that this is not Iles best, and since this is the first of his books I have read, can't wait to read the rest. so i must return to this book right now. i am indeed obsessed.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T FOLLOW THIS PATH
Review: Greg Iles is one of my favorite authors of the past ten years, and while I admire his desire to "branch out" into another territory, I think he lost his compass on this one. What really hurts this book is it's just not entertaining. I for one am tired of the recent books including "DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" that just have to question God as most Christians have come to know Him. Iles steps into this territory with metaphysical bullcrap and peoples it with cookie cutter characters and a slow pace, with unbelievable sequences such as the detonation of nuclear weapons. Iles intents may have been good, but what's that old saying..."the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Stick to Iles previous novels---they are superb.
NOT RECOMMENDED.
Rating: 
Summary: This book made me wish I had brain cancer
Review: How bad can literature be? Just read this book and you'll find out. I can not believe that readers are giving this book positive reviews. This book is as thoughtless as it is superficial. A super computer is built, then it launches nuclear weapons on everything and everyone. Why? Because humanity is so bad it's not worth saving; boy, how ORIGINAL! The only reason this book is getting good reviews is because it's an easy read. The author dupes the less astute reader into thinking this story is good by writing a text that moves so fast one barely has time to think. Either that, or, the book was written with short text and small words because the author knew he was WASTING OUR TIME!
Rating:
Summary: This is not Iles best novel.......
Review: While I applaud Greg Iles for consistently delving into areas of fiction that are new to him, "The Footprints of God" just doesn't pan out. Iles starts off with the potential for a real pot boiler and the opportunity to explore both the nature of intelligence and the existence of God. Sounds great....however he gives us one dimensional characters in both the protagonists and the villains. And frankly, the idea that a psychiatrist would become romantically involved with a patient she suspects is mentally ill -- stretches credulity too far. The novel does build some genuine momentum -- but fails to deliver in the final act. If this is the first book of Iles you've read -- I encourage you to give another one of his books -- "24 Hours", "Sleep No More", "Dead Sleep", or the brilliant, "Quiet Game" a read before you make a decision about this author. I enjoyed the turn he took in "Sleep No More" with the paranormal twist incorporated into the thriller/mystery genre. Hopefully he'll get back to that and leave the questions about God, the Universe and Everything to Douglas Adams.
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