The Last Day

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable
Review: I thank this book for getting me through two days of hurricane Floyd. I sat out the entire storm wrapped up in this engrossing story. If you enjoy novels that are fast moving, suspenseful, and filled with pearls of wisdom, you will enjoy The Last Day. It is an inspired tale about a young woman of mysterious origins taking on the entire religious establishment--with a possible Armageddon held in the balance. Like a wave, (I'm letting Floyd influence me here) each page of this amazing novel just keeps building and growing. Along the way, the story takes some strange twists and and turns. It raises a number of tough questions about contemporary issues, taking age-old religious prejudices to task. The heroine in this novel has a sharp tongue and is fearless in calling out hypocrisies and inconsistencies in that regard. I found some of these scenes shocking and even disturbing. But as the book progressed, I started to recognize the reasons behind them. This novel (which contains four very moving parables) is itself a parable, I believe. Quite effective and thought provoking. And yes, it will upset some people. That's the consequences of taking a controversial stand on religious issues these days. So, if your personal faith can't take that kind of heat, I'd advise you not to read this novel. But the points the book makes are undeniably intelligent and very hard to ignore. Sometimes we forget the lessons of history about the great harm religion can do to society in general, and to the individual in particular, when its power is vested in the wrong hands. This novel will scare you, amuse you, and perhaps even make you cry. For me, it was an unforgettable experience. I'll read it again.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most spellbinding stories I've ever read
Review: When I saw the huge volume of reader reviews on this book, I had to get a copy to see what was going on here. Now I understand. This is an unbelievably interesting story that deals with some very volatile, touchy subject matter. How would the religions of the world that are always trying to scare us into line with sermons about an imminent Judgment Day actually respond if it looked like it was really going to happen? How would the world respond? And what is really down there in the super-secret Secret Archives of the Vatican? This story is like a "Dr. Stangelove meets organized religion" complete with all the tension, insanity, humor and satire that goes with it. If you don't have a sense of humor about religion, don't read this book, it's not exactly a witnessing tool! But it is a fascinating, gripping read that will keep you guessing all the way through, and is over all too quickly.

Rating:
Summary: profoundly intriguing
Review: here's a book that'll keep you reading well into the night it has a highly suspenseful plot and terrific characters that you really come to know and care about nothing is what it first seems the story goes through a lot of surprising twists and unexpected developments but what was most unexpected was how much i got out of this book it challenges a lot of conventional beliefs in a very unusual and effective way i found it moving and provocative

Rating:
Summary: A real potboiler!
Review: I got to hand it to this author, he has created a most unusualstory here. It is about the coming of Judgment Day and of a youngwoman, Jeza, who may or may not be a divine messenger. Blended into this dark, supernatural thriller is a wonderful morality play. With the world poised on the brink of Armageddon, Jeza suddenly poses a number of tough spiritual questions that make the big establishment religions furious. An example is where Jeza meets the Pope in Rome. The Pope holds out his gold ring for her to kiss, but instead, Jeza dares ask him how many starving people he might feed by selling the ring. She proceeds to cleverly expose the enormous wealth of the Vatican, its vast art collections, financial gold reserves and huge world real estate holdings (which the Church has always kept in great secrecy). She invokes Matthew 19:1 to challenge the pope to sell off his great treasures and give to the poor, as Christ has instructed. This and other surprising, controversial positions she takes soon make her one of the most hated--or beloved--people on earth (depending on which side of the fence you're on). What I found so fascinating about this is that Jeza asks many of the questions I've often puzzled about and would love to hear answers for. But the answers this story provides are not at all what you might expect, sometimes upsetting, sometimes humorous, but always entertaining. I was glued to this novel all the way to the last page and can't say enough about how good it is. If you're willing to look at religion with a fresh, open eye, you should enjoy this novel very much.

Rating:
Summary: Kooky
Review: Dismal and depressing. A very kooky messiah is cloned in a fish bowl and gets a huge following in 2000 by acting out stereotypical female tantrums. That actually makes it sound better than it is. The people in this story are all one-dimensional simpletons, the bad guys right out of central casting. Some of this is amusing, but it seems eternal. The author has a lot to say, says it a dozen times over, but doesn't really seem to know much about anything, especially prose. It's all just too vapid and weird. You'll see the less-than-exciting conclusion trumpeted by page 50 and kick yourself for reading the other 600 when you reach the big letdown. The author seems to think there's a vital message in this book, but here's a better one: Read something worthwhile and save yourself the time I wasted on this turgid mess.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent novel
Review: I was delighted to have this novel recommended to me by a friend. She told me it was spectacular, and she was quite right. This story may be hard for some people to deal with because it upsets a number of religious applecarts. Nevertheless, that's what helps create the fierce tension in the novel, and people should keep that in mind. It's only fiction, even if it reads like it's not.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: An awful thriller! This book wants badly to be more than a thriller and ends-up very long and dopey. Forget the plot and clumsy writing, the characters are the pits. The religious ideas in this novel are truly weird and it appears the author is bent on selling New Age philosophy. Certainly his messiah is right off of Hollywood Blvd. I don't know what this fellow's problems with Catholics is, but hundreds of pages that have little to do with the story go after them incessantly. It was not a pleasant reading experience, nor an uplifting one. In fact, it's an amazing example of how bad a really bad novel can be. I didn't need to know that, but lousy writing and goopy philosophizing actually excite some readers.

Rating:
Summary: Most impressive!
Review: Prior to reading this book, my favorite endtimes novel (for years) was Stephen King's THE STAND. That is no longer the case. Kleier's LAST DAY bowled me over. The story has such credibility, you absolutely believe it's all happening right around you. It scares you bloody silly, and then comes right back and has you howling with laughter--before it shocks the hell out of you again! A simply marvelous, entertaining, thought-provoking read I am recommending to all my friends.

Rating:
Summary: religion aside, a very good read...couldn't put it down
Review: I'm not at all religious, so that part of the story didn't effect me at all. The writing, though, is great...I couldn't put it down. I didn't see several elements coming, and really felt I knew the characters. My top book for the year.

Rating:
Summary: Long-winded Dud
Review: Very long and very dull. Amateurish writing that sets your teeth on edge and flat, lifeless characters. The sermons and ravings of the Jeza figure are uniquely bizare and stupid. An uninspired and gargantuan dud of a thriller that lectures rather than tells an interesting story. Please, no sequel until Y3K!