The Last Day

Rating:
Summary: Terrific!
Review: I'm pleased to see all the reviews here and all the widespread readership this book is getting. Much deserved. Brilliant work with a moving message to convey. A real page turner that never lets up on the suspense. My recommendations to all.

Rating:
Summary: Nasty Business
Review: I must say that I found this a bit of an average read. I pride myself on being nonsectarian and open-minded, but I was rather taken aback by the author's anti-Catholic prejudice. Nasty business that. Smacks a bit of open bigotry. The religious issue aside, there was nothing exceptional. The poor author tumbles over every possible mistake a novice can make: overwritten dialogue, poor characterization, a tendency to shallow philosophy, etc. Quite a shame a strong editor did not save the author from himself as what is possibly a splended story is entirely lost in the telling.

Rating:
Summary: Read this and weap!
Review: For all the moralists out there who are repeatedly crabbing to this page under false pretenses, you're too late. The Last Day is already a bestseller here and abroad, and growing. You can't stop truth from spreading, and when it's blended into a nerve-wrenching and thought challenging thriller like this, you can't forget it either. Long live Jeza!

Rating:
Summary: Great Reading
Review: I truly loved this book. It was not only spooky and entertaining, it was also very witty and funny. The characters were wonderful. I especially enjoyed the banter between the jealous Cissy and the crude and cynical Hunter. Cissy had a great put down on him--"You'll have to excuse Hunter's retarded social graces. You see, he spent his formative years in solitary confinement at a home for unwed fathers and he simply doesn't know any better." This is, without question, the best novel I've read in years.

Rating:
Summary: A 10 for the relevence
Review: I did love the book even though I have a lot of criticism. Particulary in the beginning I was distracted by some very bad writing. There were also a lot of holes particularly in the very stupid oversights by the church. Perhaps because I have read many books of this sort I also found everything predictable but still I could not put it down once I got into it. I guess I missed all of the hoopla as I just picked up this book cold from the library shelf. I'm a little suprised to hear about it because so many of the contraversial things like the female messiah and the hardcore criticism of the church have been kicking around science fiction for years. Most recently it came up in Dan Simmons exellent sequals to his Hyperion trilogy Endymion and Rise of Endymion. (Those of you who liked this may want to check those out. I suspect that series probably greatly influenced the book and Dan Simmons is a far superior author. Those books are far future though but if you think the catholic church looks bad here wait till you read these.) I guess that none of those books were in as mainstream a genre though. Particulaly if ,as some reviewers here are saying that Dean Koontz is the real author. (Here I must say that unlike a previous reviewer the parts were the writing was god-awful reminded me of Koontz's formulatic trash but I would be suprised if he was capable of something this thoughtful.) In form ,particulary in the sermonizing, I am most reminded of Heinlens "Stranger in A Strange Land" and I suspect that it will gain the same kind of cult following as it has the same relevence to its time that Heinlens classic did. I enjoyed his modern parables quite a bit and found them a refreshing counter-point to Hal Lindsy's "The late great Planet Earth" the kind of stuff we are hearing from the Pats Robertson and Bucannan camp now a days. I suspect that the focus on the Catholic Church is to deflect away from the heat generated by the obvious stinging criticism of the American religous right found in Jeza's message. Considering the hatred of homosexuals, pro-choicers, new agers and non-fundamentalist in general coming out of that camp it is incredibly ironic to hear detractors complain about the "hatred" in the book. And herien lies the relevence: right now America ,and most of the western world perhaps, is politicaly and culturaly tearing itself at the seems from this "religous war" that is happening with the millenium approaching. The calm voices of scientist like Stephen Jay Gould are warning us to get a rational perspective but millenialism is deeply ingrained in our psyche and is the driving force behind modern day fundementalist Christianity and our most pressing and devisive political issues. Also, I would like to note, that many of the ideas of the "New Light" are not new at all. Aside from the obvious influence of classic Christian thought like Hans Kungs many of the quotes are reworkings of ideas found in the gnostic gospels wich streach back to the inception of Christianity. In particular I often thought of quotes from Jesus in the "Gospel of Thomas." There are several web pages dedicated to it for those interested. I would love to discuss the book with anyone who is interested in writing me.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult to Put Down
Review: Exciting novel with a lot to offer. Terrific character development with a plot that moves at a pretty good clip. A few minor misses I found difficult to understand such as the failure to mention that the new millenium doesn't begin until 2001 - until close to the end. Other than that I found it very engaging and well worth the time invested.

Rating:
Summary: Loses Steam Fast
Review: The first 50 pages are promising, but the initial interest isn't sustained for the next 400. The story loses steam fast, as if the writer ran out of original ideas and started tossing in every hackneyed idea he'd ever read in a thriller. His personal take on religion shows some embarrassing ignorance and just drags on. A little bit of this and a little bit of that adds up to a lot of nothing interesting.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful story
Review: I am so impressed with this book. It has much to say, and says it so well. One of my favorite quotes is where Jeza is confronted by a Palestinian terrorist. She says to him: "To you who pursue violence to regain your homeland, know this: your issues are worthy, but you yourselves are not! The acts of terrorism that you bring are abhorrent in the eyes of God. I say to you, let the persecution of the Jews and of the Palestinians, and of all religions and peoples, let it all end now, forevermore...until you and your brother Jew can come together with love...neither will know a peaceful homeland." Now isn't that what we've all wanted to say to the terrorists all along? Tremendous book!

Rating:
Summary: Divine!
Review: This book was nothing like I anticipated. It succeeds at the seemingly impossible challenge of creating an authentic, entirely credible messiah, thrust into the middle of a ruthless, cruel and cynical world. The way this messiah responds and counters all the hatred and violence is a delight. As she dances through the minefields of this story, she is alternately sweet, scary, shocking, incisive and awesomely inspiring. Also very funny in places, (but not for the fire-and-brimstone crowd, who will take offense at the humor.) Better than a 10.

Rating:
Summary: Satisfying read
Review: A highly imaginative story envisions how the world might respond to a portending Second Coming. Politicians, the military, religious denominations and fringe cults, all of them clash in this tightly written, clever and well researched suspense thriller. This is a frightening, yet often amusing and surprisingly uplifting novel. The author takes a lot of chances here, and the book is all the better for it. The intricate plot succeeds on many levels and lifts the story well above most current, popular novels out there. This author is a major talent in the making.