The Last Day

Rating:
Summary: Good Laughs
Review: I thought this was a very funny novel. Not as good as James Morrow, but good. The author gets to obvious for this to be great satire and lacks some basic skill and knowledge to really succeed, but a good effort. Maybe wait for the paperback.

Rating:
Summary: HEY, the author tried!
Review: Pretty good slash and burn job on Christians here. Too preachy itself for my taste and waaaay to easy on the Vatican. Jeza could have been more Christlike and less New age - Cosmo editorialish. Still, the writer's intent was to humiliate the Church, and he has succeeded somewhat. I just wish a more capable writer would try it. THAT would be worth my time and money.

Rating:
Summary: Towering Inferno of Indignation
Review: Kleier is a towering inferno of indignation. He writes with powerful anger about the legitimacy of the pope and worn out beliefs. No book has done as much to confirm my suspicion and mistrust of papists. Perhaps it will open some ignorant eyes. I'm giving it a seven because it cost too much.

Rating:
Summary: Bashing Good Time
Review: It's payback time for that knucklerapping, Sister Joachim! I love the religious getting their noses rubbed in it by a rampaging feline feminist savior! Jeza is a heroine to all who hate Church hypocrisy. Kleier writes like a sledgehammer and isn't subtle about his hatred of the Church. It did my Lutheran soul good to see Jeza trash the Vatican cabal. Tasteless, nasty, hateful, well sure. But for those of us who share Kleier's righteous bigotry towards those people- that's entertainment! Not good writing, but refreshingly honest in its unabashed hatred of Roman superstition.

Rating:
Summary: Good Idea!
Review: The book clunks along and the writing is ragged, but the concept of a woman messiah preaching femenine liberation and freedom to choose is a good one. Jeza's contradictory and irrational activism really sets the Church on its ear! If a reader will stick with the ax grinding and purple prose, this is amusing and occasionally thoughtful stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Get Real
Review: Negative media reviews and dismal sales aside, this book is not _that_ bad. Give the author a break: it is a first novel. The idea of Christ as a feminist Jeza is clever even if it steps on Catholic toes. However, The Best Book I Ever Read? Get real! I think some people should read more. Others should be tolerant of the mistakes and excess of a first-time novelist.

Rating:
Summary: Dynamite!
Review: I knew nothing about The Last Day until a few weeks ago when the Brad King Show on WCRX Chicago devoted an entire program to it. The call-ins were amazing. This book has a big following, and just as many detractors trying desperately to boycott it and depict it as a waste of time. Having just finished it, the reason is apparent. The Last Day is the most intelligent expose of religious chicanery, hypocrisy and manipulation since Christ Himself took on the false scribes, pharasees and high priests of His day! It's a fast-paced thriller, full of shocking and scary moments, but also with a surprisng and sensitive message that will make you think long after you finish it. Don't trust the nay-sayers. This is dynamite.

Rating:
Summary: BEST BOOK I HAVE READ IN A LONG TIME!
Review: For me, the book did just what it was supposed to do. It made me evaluate what I truly believe and most of all, IT MADE ME THINK! I don't think this book was anti anybody, I think it was anti a certain mindset that can be found in any religion or any group of people. I saw a messiah that was saddened by the hypocrisy found in too many of today's churches - too many people caught up in following religious tennents rather than conveying the simple message that God sent to us. The story hit the nail right on the head.

Rating:
Summary: Hooray!
Review: Finally, somebody had the courage to tell it like it is! The real god of the world's organized religions is money, backed by powerful men hell bent on preserving their patriarchal bureaucracies. This novel explores so many explosive issues in such surprising and fascinating ways, all bundled into a nail- biting suspense story...

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining/Make-You Think Book
Review: Not being a religious person, I was quite enlightened by this book. I know it's not meant to be the end-all word on religion, but it really gets one thinking. There was a very simple message about God at the end that left me feeling peaceful and hopeful (which is a lot of an old Athiest like me). This really is a thought-provoking piece and I highly recommend it.