The Last Day

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I have to compliment the author on an exquisitely written novel. This is a compelling story with fascinating twists and deftly rendered characterizations you just don't see in a first time work like this. The clever touches (easy to miss if you're not on your toes), the attention to detail, the complexities--all indicative of a master story teller. I look forward to the next efforts from this gentleman.

Rating:
Summary: Good but The Miracle Strain was better!
Review: A fascinating and thought provoking read. I liked the juxtaposition of modern powers such as media and science with older more mystic elements. All the right buttons were pressed to keep me turning the pages but for my money I preferred the more controversial and genuinely ground breaking The Miracle Strain by Michael Cordy. It also deals with genetic engineering and the second coming, and has some pretty aggressive feedback from the fundamentalists, but it really scares you and shakes up what you believe by actually leaving you wondering whether its story could really happen, rather than just providing a diverting thrill. But all in all The Last Day was great fun.

Rating:
Summary: What a Disappointment
Review: Really below average and a let down after the stuff I read here. Not only poorly written, but dull and uninteresting. I have to say that whatever their sources, the bad reviews are right on the money with this book and put it pretty well. Just because it was sold to the movies doesn't mean the author can write worth a darn.

Rating:
Summary: What a chump!
Review: I've got to admit the right wing radical conspiracy stunt worked. I threw $20 away on this because I thought the negative reviews came from the fundamentalists. After finally finishing Last Day, I agree with those who have cited bad writing, amateur plotting, and excessive ax-grinding as criticism. The positive reviews make no sense at all in light of the fact this is an overblown potboiler that targets the church for the old Vatican Bank scandal. I thought the people and speeches were ignorant, especially Jeza, the supposed messiah who behaved like a vindictive child throughout. If I could do it again I would have ignored the ridiculous 10's and taken the reviews of 5 or less seriously.

Rating:
Summary: Warning
Review: I suggest readers check the bestseller lists and mainstream reviews for themselves because this is a third-rate thriller by an author who had an attack of self-importance while writing it. I thought the idea here is to express an opinion, not attack and discredit those who think this book is awful.

Rating:
Summary: Inspired
Review: As a lifelong teacher of literature at a small college, I have to say that this is, without equivocation, one of the finest new novel I've read in years. I'm amazed. Little modern fiction appeals to me, but this story is so unique, so well crafted and so engaging, I want to give it my strongest endorsement. One can appreciate it on many levels--as powerful prose, as contemporary philosophy/theology, and as an outright, galloping good read. A virtuoso performance.

Rating:
Summary: Truth triumphs
Review: Let me see if I got this straight: all but one of the top reviewers in the U.S. rave about this book; some of the world's top writers (including Clive Cussler and Larry Collins) call it one of the best books of the decade; Warner Books paid 1 million to publish it; Columbia TriStar paid another million to turn it into a movie; it's an international bestseller, published in 12 plus foreign countries and it's up for a number of awards. Now, on the other hand, we've got one obsessive/compulsive reader here who keeps writing in under assumed names and email address (confirmed by URL ECCO locator) who hates this book for personal religious reasons and can't abide the fact that other people like me love it. I think the jury is in on this one. THE LAST DAY is a fabulous novel, brilliantly written and powerful in its message. And that's the TRUTH!

Rating:
Summary: Less than Average
Review: I read a lot and as a thriller this was awful. Otherwise, pretentious nonsense.

Rating:
Summary: Nihilism+
Review: I don't expect those giving this book 10 to know what nihlism is, but what is found here is not offensive to organized faiths. The ignorance and arrogance of the author degrades feminism and Women's rights in general. By presenting a comical female saviour of such limited intellectual capacity, such low charisma, and such downright hatefulness (Jeza has attitude to burn), Klier just insults the reader. And yes, I am a feminist, but I'm only active when a male writer is this insensitive, stupid, and ugly towards more than women. This guy is just a bad writer and an idiot.

Rating:
Summary: Trash is Trash
Review: The 10+ reviews speak of this book as it were a great work of literature. Does anyone read anymore?! This isn't even a good thriller. I enjoy an intelligent religious thriller (Daniel Easterman, James Halperin) but this pitiful effort is stupid, crude, stilted, and inane. Not even entertaining, simply trash. And to the paranoid here, I have no religious affiliation. This book just stinks.