Year Zero

Rating:
Summary: The Hot Zone meets The Da Vinci Code
Review: Sowing seeds cultivated from Stephen King's _The Stand_ -- as well as _The Da Vinci Code_ and _The Hot Zone_ -- Jeff Long has written a complex, compelling, and stunningly unique thriller.

Nathan Lee Swift is an archaeologist cum museum-sanctioned grave-robber who takes advantage of a monstrous Middle East earthquake by stealing ancient Christian bones and artifacts from Golgotha. This theft from Jesus' crucifixion site will have calamitous results for all of humanity. For an unwitting antiquities dealer inadvertently releases a dormant, 2000 year old plague that literally wipes the world clean of humanity.

Racing before the tidal wave of epidemic, Nathan Lee makes his way to Los Alamos -- the last bastion of humanity. There, scientists have resorted to using the "Year Zero" bones in bizarre cloning experiments... all to determine whether the ancients had an immunity to the plague. But somehow the clones have more in store for humanity than a possible cure. Many have their original memories intact. And one has made the claim that he is the Messiach: Jesus Christ.

Outstanding novel - I had some rough nights sleeping while ripping through this. And that's about the highest accolade I can give a book.

Rating:
Summary: I read this again and again
Review: I absolutely loved this book! This is one of the best books that I have read. I have read it several times now and find something new everytime I read it. Since cloning began, the idea of re-creating someone famous from history has been tossed around. What about the ultimate famous person from history...Jesus Christ? No body left if you believe the bible, but blood was spilt which is all that is needed. Did they bring him back or didn't they? I do like that this book leaves that a bit open. You read it and decide if they did bring him back. Then read it again and you may change your mind.

Rating:
Summary: Overall very engaging, a few too many characters at times
Review: I got this at the library book sale and it was well worth the price. Having never read fiction by Jeff Long, I read the first chapter while at the sale before deciding to purchase it. I was a bit disappointed that the main character we meet in the first chapter fades into the background for a while then is separated from the main action. However, the lead female character was very engaging so I kept reading and was rewarded when everything started coming together. There are some unanswered questions here and some odd relationships and events but if you like apocalyptic fiction and don't rely on the backcover to tell you what the book is actually about, you may enjoy "Year Zero".

Rating:
Summary: Good book....lukewarm ending
Review: This book was really good up until the end. It even had a bit of an Odysian quest in it. However:

Two things made it lose two stars. It lost 1 star for predictability. It's pretty easy to tell, for example, who will end up in which relationships. The next star was lost for a really weak ending. There were so many possibilities that the author created and it seemed as though there were a bunch of branches off of a tree and therefore it didn't connect back together. If you don't mind anticlimactic books....check this one out...from page 1 to the last chapter is awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Great concept, but as for the ending: Disappointed!
Review: I must admit, the talents of Lincoln and Child have ruined me. This is an excellent concept, and had they written it, it would have been fantastic. It was still a good read ... right up to a disappointing ending. I want my happy ending, the rabbit pulled out of the hat, the thing I did not see coming ... but it just didn't happen, although I won't write a spoiler. There were some great scenes, characters that you wanted to know more about, people and places that were remarkable.
This simply won't be a reread because the ending was not up to par with the rest of the book. In my opinion, anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Fun and exciting book
Review: Jeff Long is an entertaining author who has great ideas for books, and in general pulls them off successfully. I agree with some reviews that the plot of this book went off course towards the end (which left me feeling a little irritated), and there were a lot of great ideas in here that he didn't follow through on as much as he should have. It almost made me wonder if he planned some sort of sequel. Having said that, this is still an entertaining book almost all the way through.

If you haven't read his other book, The Descent, you should. That is another book with a great idea behind it, and I think he pulls it off much better. If you liked Year Zero at all, you should definitely read The Descent.

Rating:
Summary: Dull dull dull
Review: Too many plotlines, too much "tight" editing, and almost completely disinteresting, unbelievable characters doom this book.

The apocalypse which the editorial teasers feature so prominently really are secondary plot devices to the primary conceit: the cloning of Jesus. And even that the writer reduces to pulp fiction status with his attempts at fine writing.

The Stand and Swan Song are better survival books, and almost anything by Crichton is better than this.

Heck, anything by Stine is better than this.

Rating:
Summary: Zero believability
Review: I can really only review the first half of the book, because it went in the trash can at that point. It could have been a winner but for the unfortunate lapses into fantasy. It is supposed to be a bio-thriller, but anybody that has any familiarity with the subject is going to find it hard to believe you can clone a completely grown, aramaic speaking jew from a 2000 year old fleck of blood soaked into a splinter of wood. Humanity being less resistant to a virus now than then is also hard to take.
I do hope he tries again. He has a good style.

Rating:
Summary: Grace
Review: This is the only book that I have read by Jeff Long, but I would read another if the opportunity presents itself. The hero, Nathan, is a fairly decent character; the reader follows his exploits with concern. Miranda is also a worthwhile character, a 19/21 year old girl-genius in her scientific field.

The ending was not very good, honestly. Don't be fooled too much by the info on the back of the book, the storyline has two-levels: a plague streaking across the globe, and Nathan's search for his daughter Grace. In the hopes of finding a cure for the plague, science gets a license to kill and research whomever and however they please. The book ends with the suggestion that a cure is finally a possibility, but utimately, the last three chapters are disappointing. Too much to wrap up so quickly, I think.

Definitely a book for the summer beach. Science-whiz types might be too cynical with the book (its merely a fiction, you know). But anyone who loved the movie "Outbreak" might get a kick from this book.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing ending
Review: I have never read anything by Jeff Long. I was simply fascinated by the idea. I was drawn into the story from the beginning, but then halfway through the book, it all seemed to unravel. There were too many things going on at once, and things didn't add up. I had some questions, and I kept reading, thinking for certain they would be answered as I neared the end. But the story had no real ending. It was if Mr. Long was caught up in some notion and pursued that rather than tie up any loose ends. I was very disappointed with the ending. It was a serious letdown. It seemed like a very hastily thrown together ending in order to keep the story from growing any longer. It's a good read, but frustrating in some ways. I truly enjoyed the writing style, and will probably read more by Mr. Long, but I won't be rereading this book at anytime in the future unless an unabrudged version comes out with additional chapters.