The Last Day

Rating:
Summary: High powered drama
Review: Talk about waving a red flag in front of a bull, this book takes it by the horns! A tiny, beautiful, lyrical little woman challenges the powerful world religious establishments. The issues explored here are both controversial and courageous: the age-old, ingrained prejudices of male dominated religions; wealth and the Church; abortion; homosexuality; arrogance, hypocrisy and narrow mindedness. So many of the troubling, contemporary issues that divide man today are laid bare here in an intelligent, suspenseful story. I'm saddened to see the right-wing Christians ganging up on this book. They've been judging everyone else for centuries but can't seem to take any criticism themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: It's 5:30 in the morning and I've been up all night reading this book. It has touched me so deeply and given me such pause for thought, I just had to express this to someone. I've been a lawyer for twenty years and I've never seen a case made with such appealing and persuasive logic. I'll be dead on my feet today, but it was more than worth it. I'll read this novel again (after I get some sleep!)

Rating:
Summary: An honest and bold story
Review: This is such an important novel for all who support free speech. So many of the "reviews" below are coming from a small group of self-righteous fanatics dedicated to stopping people from reading The Last Day and other books that threaten their narrow religious ideology. This has been an ongoing (and failing) effort since the novel first came out last Nov.(the book is a bestseller both here and abroad.) Read this novel and you'll see why religious hypocrites are so fixated on it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Expect too Much
Review: It's been a while since I paid for a hardcover just because the story idea was hard for me to resist. I should have thought more about some of bad reviews that turn out to be so right. The idea of a female savior sounds good but this book drops the ball. A really stupid story and awful writting.

Rating:
Summary: I Gave Up
Review: After 200 pages of pseudointellectual pistol whipping, I quit reading. Kleier feel compelled to drive his point home-organized religion stinks- by beating you over the head with Jeza's incessant twaddle about Church misjustice. It wasn't long before I was fairly worn out and sick of Jeza. I would like some decent storytelling to ease the pain of the lectures. The point had been made clear, repeatedly, and there was a whole lot more book to go! No thanks.

Rating:
Summary: Big Deal!
Review: So the religious radical right find it threatening to their calcified beliefs and the liberals think it's the greatest book they ever read. Both groups miss the point! This book is an overlong, overblown, and poorly penned mishmash of a thriller that is relying solely on a cooked-up controversy as a sales pitch. There is really nothing controversial here, and nothing particularly interesting or entertaining. To both sides of the issue: it's a second rate thriller and a gimmick! You have been taken in by a little bit of hype if you believe half of what has been said about this dopey novel.

Rating:
Summary: A wild romp
Review: This book put me through such a gamut of emotions I'm still not sure how to categorize it. It's definitely a mystery/thriller, but it's a great deal more -- theological, philosophical and very iconoclastic. There's a nice romance, some comedy, and lots of head-thumping action. The author's not afraid to take some big risks, and the great reward for the reader is that he succeeds at virtually every level. This is an intelligent work, very well thought out and adroitly executed. It leaves you breathless.

Rating:
Summary: A bellwether novel
Review: I read a glowing review about the LAST DAY in JFK Jr.'s GEORGE mazazine four months ago when the novel was first published. Meant to get a copy but didn't. Then last week I saw in Publisher's Weekly the book has already sold over 150,000 copies in the U.S, and is also a best seller in Europe. Now, having finally read it, I know why. This is far more than simply a suspense thriller. This is a major, watershed novel a la CATCH 22 or ROOTS. It's destined to change the way people think about religion, the way Rachel Carson's SILENT SPRING changed attitudes about the environment. Take your time savoring this one, it ends all too quickly.

Rating:
Summary: #1 in '98
Review: Just when you think there's nothing different out there to read anymore, something like this comes along! What a treasure. There are more surprises and jolts in THE LAST DAY than I've read in a dozen other contemporary suspense thrillers. The main character, Jeza, the messiah, is so perfectly crafted and Christlike it's spooky. The subterfuge, political trickery and underlying threads of the story are brilliant. If there's a better book out there now, I'd like to know what it is. My highest recommendations.

Rating:
Summary: The write stuff!
Review: A bold, clever, very well written thriller that takes on the Moral Majority with flair and wit. I've never seen a more complex plot handled with such aplomb. Slashingly powerful prose interspersed with excruciatingly touching moments and some rare insights into the human condition. You'll need to step back from this and think about it, then read it again. Sticks with you!