The Last Day

Rating:
Summary: Looking forward to it
Review: I just got this book for a Christmas present and came here to learn a little more about it. It's interesting how emotional the book seems to make some readers--apparently, either you love it or you hate it. But any novel that can stir up 800 people to comment on it has got something I want to find out about. That in itself is a notable achievement that makes this novel of topical importance. I'm looking forward to snuggling up with it tonight.

Rating:
Summary: thoroughly enjoyed this novel
Review: Apparently there's a lot of controversy about this novel, but I'm not into that sort of thing. I enjoyed it strictly as a nice work of fiction. The story is well-paced, exciting, complicated (but in a reader-friendly way), and it left me profoundly moved at the end. The questions this novel raises are relevant and imporatant, as are the suggestions it gives for dealing with vexing issues that confront us all. A great book, very well written, very worthwhle.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Premise, but...
Review: This novel has a fascinating premise that could have made for a brilliant story if written by a more gifted author. Instead, the story meanders for eternity as uninteresting, stick-figure characters make stupid comments and become inexplicably messmerized by a uncharismatic, spooky female saviour who acts more like a witch. I haven't read a bible since grade school and I still couldn't match some of the basic ignorance on display in these many pages. The bad guys are the usual cast: evil cardinals, mad scientists, and religious fanatics. This is an original idea wasted by really bad writing and a ridiculous plot. It might have been a great thriller if the author were less enamored with writing something really long and wasn't such a windbag.

Rating:
Summary: You won't forget it years after you turn the last page.
Review: The language is very simple; it is understandable for everyone, and the advantage is that the book isn't overloaded with different technical details and issues. It is a well-balanced novel. This book falls out of the rows of other works on similar themes and makes something really special. It should be read because it's a part of our life and you cannot simply reject it. "The Last Day" is not a guidance you must keep to, some actions and views of Kleier's characters are controversal, despite its mysterious plot it describes our real life. In other words, Glenn Kleier makes you think about his creation.

Rating:
Summary: The Tapes Are Better
Review: I first tried to read the book and absolutely hated it! Complete disgust with the writer's attitude and elementary skill. I stumbled across the tapes at the library and they're better. The actor who reads (Odo on DS9) is excellent and really elevates trash. Best of all, a lot of the book is cut! The dumb dialog is also improved by sardonic delivery and studied overacting. "Little Jeza" is almost comical and played like a banshee. The pretentiousness of the book is lambasted on the audio and is hilarious at times. So if you couldn't wade through the book, get the tape for that next long plane flight.

Rating:
Summary: A top-notch thriller.
Review: Great book. Don't let the Religious Right con you

Rating:
Summary: I took no offense at this novel, I think it's wonderful.
Review: I'm half Jew, half Catholic, and I identified very strongly with the protagonist in this novel, Jon Feldman. I, too, was raised Catholic. I personally found the cosmic issues explored in this novel to be quite interesting. Religion in the world today is too caught up in materialism and self-aggrandizement. This novel made these deficiencies quite clear, I thought, with the parallels it drew using the messiah Jeza in a comparison to Christ. Just as Christ was unrecognized by many of his own kind, so is this messiah misunderstood and villified by the very people She comes to save. I don't understand why this novel should upset anyone. There's nothing in it that isn't based on something factual--even the financial scandal with the Vatican bank is a true event. The Secret Archives actually exist, and the treasures itemized in the novel are factual. Is it that some people don't want these facts, which aren't widely known, to become common knowlege? It would appear so. I applaud this novel for its originality, it's excellent writing, and it's fascinating story. Five stars.

Rating:
Summary: A great escape.
Review: Here's a book that will take your mind off your troubles. Whatever your complaints, the people in this story will make them pale in comparison! The Last Day confronts the end of the world--but with some very unexpected twists. The earth receives a very unusual visitor, a gorgeous, brilliant young lady who claims to be the messiah. She's passed off by some as nothing but a gifted charlatan--until she starts backing up her claims with miracles and prophecies. That's when the fun starts. The reader has no idea what this woman might be--a lunatic, a biotechnology experiment gone wrong, the antichrist, or possibly even the real thing. Things get complicated for the woman fast, and a dashing young TV reporter, Jon Feldman, steps in to try to make sense of the madness. It's a wonderful, high caliber drama from first page to last, always unpredictable and suspenseful. This is a book you will not want to set down once you start.

Rating:
Summary: This isn't the middle ages!
Review: I can't believe in this day and age people are still getting uptight over books that take a critical look at religion. This novel isn't heresy or sacrilege, not even mildly. It simply points out what enlightened readers have known all along--that modern religion has both its good and bad sides. This novel shines a light on both. It shows the corruption and power-hungry aspects, as well as graciousness and love of spirituality. Why do people have to be so black and white? Catholics in particular should be open minded about the negatives of the Church, which has been responsible for terrible attrocities throughout most of the last millennium. We are still feeling the repercussions of those events to this day in Ireland, the Balkans, the Middle East, and even here in the U.S. The very point this novel makes so well--that the world has a desperate need for more tolerance--is precisely what people who are upset with this novel fail to posess themselves. Are we still living in the middle ages?

Rating:
Summary: Fair but Unfair
Review: Seemed like an average thriller to me, distinguished by the author's personal vendetta against Catholics (which actually finds some support from reviewers). Otherwise, there's nothing special about this book from many other assembly line thrillers that have been ground-out by hacks to cash in on y2k fever. This one happens to play to the crowd with a popular prejudice. As to the anti-establishment rebel messiah, I preferred the original:)