Rating: 
Summary: A Terrible Boo-Boo.
Review: "A God in Ruins" is a stunningly bad novel, and a complete waste of time in all respects. This novel also demonstrates that an author's once-immense talent can leave him in the cold. I am being brutal to Mr. Uris because he is one of my favourite authors of all time, and it is horrible to see the man who wrote brilliant, haunting novels like "Exodus", "Mila 18", and "Trinity" produce such a lifeless piece of trash. The writing is poor and amateurish, the characters are uninteresting, and the pro-liberal, anti-conservative tone almost made the book feel like propaganda. You should feel ashamed of yourself, Mr. Uris!! You have done your fans (myself being one) and your reputation a great disservice by writing this novel.
Rating:
Summary: An Author in Ruins is more like it.
Review: After reading Leon Uris since I was in High School more than 25 years ago, I was so grossly disappointed by this book that I had to rethink my feelings of all of the Uris books of my past. I actually wonder if he really wrote this book or if some liberal pupil of his from Columbia conned him into letting him use his name for this worthless, poorly edited, cartoonishly poor work of strawman arguments. The "author" (yeah, right) is obvious in his desire to grind his politically liberal axe in the face of the average western American male. Mixed metaphor? Of course.Every character becomes a sterotypical caricature. The liberal politics are obvious. The editing is amateurish. And the story isn't even very interesting. Pretend Mr. Uris stopped writing after Redemption. Pretend he died with thoughts of the Irish free of politcal and religious turmoil and his notoriety will be saved.
Rating:
Summary: An Author in Ruins is more like it.
Review: After reading Leon Uris since I was in High School more than 25 years ago, I was so grossly disappointed by this book that I had to rethink my feelings of all of the Uris books of my past. I actually wonder if he really wrote this book or if some liberal pupil of his from Columbia conned him into letting him use his name for this worthless, poorly edited, cartoonishly poor work of strawman arguments. The "author" (yeah, right) is obvious in his desire to grind his politically liberal axe in the face of the average western American male. Mixed metaphor? Of course. Every character becomes a sterotypical caricature. The liberal politics are obvious. The editing is amateurish. And the story isn't even very interesting. Pretend Mr. Uris stopped writing after Redemption. Pretend he died with thoughts of the Irish free of politcal and religious turmoil and his notoriety will be saved.
Rating: 
Summary: a fall from grace for a great writer...............
Review: All you die-hard Leon Uris fans (like myself) listen up!
This book is (almost, almost, almost) complete crap and I'm only saying that because Uris is one of my favorite writers and I believe that because of EXODUS and his other great works almost get him off the hook.
The story follows an Irish-American (who also, guess what? is Jewish) through his life and various loves--two women and the Marine Corps-- until he becomes president. The main character Quinn O'Connell is a combination of Guideon Zadok from MITLA PASS and O'Sullivan from ARMAGEDDON (throw in a little Andrei from MILA 18 and Rory from REDEMPTION; just for good measure) and there's you're protagonist. The book is the same type of narrative style from MITLA PASS-- non-linear timeframes and different first person narrators-- but it doesn't work the same way, it's horribly one-sided and sloppy.
Whoever edited this book deserves to be shot because of mistakes; a section will start in the first-person but switch, very abruptly, into the third person.
All in all, if you're a die-hard fan I would read it, it was his second last book and at least now I have some insight as to why O'HARA'S CHOICE was also terrible, his downard spiral. If nothing else you will be able to chart the progression and devolution of a great storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: Leon Uris did not write this book
Review: I refuse to believe that Leon Uris truly authored this book. I suspect that in his declining years somebody took serious advantage of him and got him to sign his name to an abomination.
Uris' previous works, such as Exodus, the Haj, and Battle Cry, are centered around complex, well-developed, dynamic characters and riveting plot lines.
The premise of this book, namely, that in 2004 an assimilated, Irish Catholic politician would suffer prejudice because he is actually an adopted Jewish child, is frankly ludicrous. We saw in the last election a wide array of candidates fall over one another in an attempt to produce Jewish ancestors, shamelessly pandering to a mythically monolithic "Jewish vote" in a manner most Jews themselves found offensive. Joe Lieberman's Judaism was essentially a non-issue.
The characters in "A God in Ruins" run from unbelievable caricatures (the Republican opposition candidate) to whiney nebisches (like the main character's wife).
This book is virtually unreadable. It is a travesty that it is connected with the name of one of the greatest of 20th century authors. Please don't buy it. If you did buy it, please dispose of it. Let's all forget this book was ever written.
Rating:
Summary: Who wrote this?
Review: I was shocked at the lack of continuitiy in story-line and generally poor writing. My husband was reading another Uris book concurrently and I kept asking him what he thought of Uris writing style. My husband said A-. I began to think either I was crazy or my husband was, but since I have been reading other reviews of A God In Ruins, I realize we are both right. Something bad happened to Mr Uris at the time he wrote this book...but what? It is not a fair representation of his talent and I am befuddled enough to take time to write this review. God in Ruins is a definite 'don't read.' Read something else like The Haj or Exodus. I think his family should take this one out of circulation. God bless and rest Mr. Uris soul!
Rating:
Summary: an absolute waste of time
Review: I would have given this less than one star were that an option. There is nothing kind I can say about this pointless book. I question if Leon Uris even read this book let alone wrote it. I did finish it and kept waiting for something to catch my interest but that never happened.
Rating: 
Summary: An uncanny "deja vu" feel
Review: In autumn of 2008, Quinn Patrick O'Connell prepares to take office as president of the United States of America. Just before the election, this Democratic Governor of Colorado has satisfied a lifetime longing (and simultaneously risked everything) by discovering his true heritage.
From that opening on, the story is told in flashback as Irish cop Dan O'Connell returns to Brooklyn after his World War II Marine Corps service. Dan and his bride, Siobhan, set out soon afterward to look for wider horizons where they can raise their family. They find those horizons in Colorado; but the family doesn't come along until Siobhan's brother, a Roman Catholic priest, arranges for them to adopt a three-year-old boy whose background they can never know. We also follow the rise to economic and political power of Thornton Tomtree, an emotionally stunted genius whose "Bulldog" computer network eventually drives the nation.
Novelist Uris offers his readers both an engrossing family saga, and a moral commentary on the United States at the dawn of the 21st Century. Written prior to 9/11, this book has an uncanny "deja vu" feel in some of the fictional events it depicts. "Who am I?" - Quinn Patrick O'Connell's great question, that appears to be answered before we're past the first chapter - turns out to be the one his nation must also ask itself.
Rating:
Summary: Transparently liberal
Review: Unlike a reader from Potomac, Maryland I was not fortunate enought to have read a review of A God In Ruins before picking up a books-on-tape copy. If I had not already invested three hours of listening to get to the crux of the story, I would have trashed it. Leon beats the idea of repealing the 2nd amendment to death, going so far as to coining a pro-gun organization known as Amerigun. In his book, a so-called conservative, Republican organization smuggles thousands of machine pistols into the US , but are stopped by the heroics of an orphan Russian who switched from Republican to Democrat to become the Governor of Colorado and who is raised Catholic only to discover he is really Jewish on the eve of being elected President, this setting off riots of skinheads, the KKK, and black muslims. (I know, don't ask) As if this was biased enough, the Russian Catholic Jewish Presidential candidate laments how Bill and Hillary Clinton had had their careers destroyed by the unfair sniping of the GOP and the media. Poor Bill was faced with describing oral sex with an intern as a non-issue before the nation. Give me a break. On second thought, 2 stars may have been too high a rating. Leon has gone on to his reward and I can't confront him in this world and won't waste my time in the next. I can, however, warn you away from this book unless Bill and Hillary are heros of yours.
Rating:
Summary: Transparently liberal
Review: Unlike a reader from Potomac, Maryland I was not fortunate enought to have read a review of A God In Ruins before picking up a books-on-tape copy. If I had not already invested three hours of listening to get to the crux of the story, I would have trashed it. Leon beats the idea of repealing the 2nd amendment to death, going so far as to coining a pro-gun organization known as Amerigun. In his book, a so-called conservative, Republican organization smuggles thousands of machine pistols into the US , but are stopped by the heroics of an orphan Russian who switched from Republican to Democrat to become the Governor of Colorado and who is raised Catholic only to discover he is really Jewish on the eve of being elected President, this setting off riots of skinheads, the KKK, and black muslims. (I know, don't ask) As if this was biased enough, the Russian Catholic Jewish Presidential candidate laments how Bill and Hillary Clinton had had their careers destroyed by the unfair sniping of the GOP and the media. Poor Bill was faced with describing oral sex with an intern as a non-issue before the nation. Give me a break. On second thought, 2 stars may have been too high a rating. Leon has gone on to his reward and I can't confront him in this world and won't waste my time in the next. I can, however, warn you away from this book unless Bill and Hillary are heros of yours.
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