Publishers Weekly
Hendra's black-comic Christian fundamentalist dystopia is read with a straight face and a glint in the eye by Lloyd. Lloyd himself sounds like one of the masculinist preachers who run America in Hendra's tale of fundamentalism run amok, his deep leading-man's voice occasionally dropping to a shivery whisper implying forthright conviction. If Lloyd's reading occasionally stays at the same level, it is apropos for Hendra's novel, in which a formerly raucous free society has been dampened by a wet blanket of religious disapproval and smiley-face family values. Lloyd must balance the opposing forces battling in Hendra's story: the spirit-sucking forces of a rigorously fundamentalist society, and the energy of a reborn Christ, now a soft-spoken Hispanic healer. Lloyd's reading makes it clear that he gets the joke and does a fair job of transmitting some of Hendra's impassioned religious conviction as well. Simultaneous release with the Henry Holt hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 16). (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
In Hendra's debut novel (see his hit memoir, Father Joe), the Christian Far Right totally controls the U.S. government. The most powerful man in the country, then, is not the president but his spiritual advisor, the Rev. James Zebediah Sabbath, who has carved a political path of righteousness that's left countless lives destroyed. One of the Reverend's victims, Johnny Greco, is barely surviving this new church-state regime. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist has been reduced to working for an online newspaper of ephemeral reporting, for which he investigates the rumors of a new messiah wandering the East Coast performing miracles. His search leads to Jos Francisco Lorcan Kennedy, or Jay, a quiet, unassuming man supported by disciples made up of society's lost and reviled. As Greco's reporting brings Jay's activities to the attention of the Reverend, the inevitable turn of events converts Greco's bitter cynicism into true faith. Hendra has created a darkly humorous and sincerely spiritual version of the Second Coming of Christ. Recommended for popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 12/05.] Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Hendrana founding editor of National Lampoon; a player in This Is Spinal Tap-follows his bestselling memoir about his spiritual mentor (Father Joe, 2004) with a debut novel detailing the near-future Second Coming. The United States is a theocracy. The Christian Right has triumphed. Mere blasphemy is a crime in this militarized and vengeful nation. The second messiah will not be crucified but lethally injected in a Christian-run prison in Texas. All of this we learn from the prologue. Narrator Johnny Greco claims to be the Judas figure here, though that's a misnomer. He's an aging journalist who has seen better days, which, for one thing, brought him a Pulitzer; now he works for a sleazy Internet outfit, pursuing rumors of a miracle worker in the northeast. What sets this charlatan apart from others is his lack of interest in publicity. Johnny first catches sight of him in a Connecticut court, where he's charged with practicing medicine without a license after curing a woman's leukemia. He gets six months. The messiah is known as Jay. He was raised in the Bronx by his Guatemalan immigrant mother; his Irish father was seldom around. Jay is not exactly the picture of ethereal beauty, but he posseses undeniable charisma, as Johnny discovers once they've met one-on-one. Jay has returned to "refresh the message," he says; contemporary Christianity he finds "unrecognizable." Johnny's sessions with Jay are the novel's high points-Jay's combination of strength and sweetness is remarkably poignant. Hendra's narrative is less compelling when he satirizes the "fundos" (fundamentalists) and their leader, the Reverend James Sabbath, who's in cahoots with the presidential administration, which isplanning an attack on Israel and Europe. Could this be Armageddon? The author relies too heavily on spectacle (a faith-based Oscars ceremony; a rally at Madison Square Garden) and miracles, though Jay would have his followers "believe without miracles." Once Jay publicly preaches pacifism, the jig is up. His "blasphemy" is tantamount to treason, punishable by death. A moving portrait of a messiah within a so-so satire, but with just enough edge to get media and readers' attention.
From the Publisher
Hendra's writing sparkles.” —The New York Times Book Review
“I was prepared for my usual serving of sharp Tony Hendra satire; I was not prepared for his sensitive and highly convincing exposition of the true teachings of Jesus Christ. I love this book.” —George Carlin
