The Last Day

From Library Journal A combination of scientific thriller, religious satire, and New Age mysticism, this debut novel offers a view of what might happen as the end of the millennium approaches. At a remote research facility in the Negev Desert, a meteor wreaks massive destruction. Meanwhile, at midnight on New Year's Eve, 1999, in Jerusalem, a young and mysterious woman appears who seems to have a powerful gift. She calls herself Jeza, and soon everyone wonders whether she is a prophetess, the Messiah, or the Antichrist. On hand is Jon Feldman, a skeptical reporter for the World News Network. Beset by his own doubts and lack of strong faith, Feldman is nevertheless fascinated and attracted by the mysterious Jeza. Is she truly a manifestation of God, or is she simply the result of a bizarre experiment of bioengineering? Feldman won't rest until he finds out the truth. Kleier's novel offers a view of how organized religion would react to such a threat. Though the prose is pedestrian and the dialog often overwrought, the story is so well paced that most readers will perhaps forgive the other deficiencies. For large fiction collections.?Dean James, Murder by the Book, Houston, Tex.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist This book is so full of hot topics, readers might burn their fingers turning pages. It's the turn of the millennium, things are getting very hyper, and plenty of folk are flocking to the Holy Land just in case the world is going to end. Jon Feldman, a star reporter for WNN, a cable news outlet, is on the job, but he is not prepared for the story that begins on Christmas Day, when a powerful and beautiful young woman steps out of the Negev Desert and proclaims herself the new messiah. Her gospel includes an admonishment to abolish all organized religions--a position that causes the considerable power of the Catholic Church to be turned against her, beginning a series of events that just may lead to Armageddon. Kleier, a first-time author, doesn't miss a beat in this story, capturing all the craziness of the last decade of the twentieth century, firing it with the latest scientific advancements (like cloning), and wrapping it all with the gauze of mysticism. Complex plotting seems smooth as silk here, and the idea of using a CNN-style reporter as the messiah's confidant is a perfect touch for today's media-crazy world. The question of whether the enigmatic Jeza is the daughter of God or the anti-Christ engages everyone from the pope to the president, and it will keep readers enthralled until the very end. Expect to hear a lot about a new subgenre called the "millennial thriller" in the next couple of years, but don't expect to find one any better than this. Ilene Cooper From Kirkus Reviews An impressively imagined debut offers a devilishly cunning speculation on how a sinful world might greet news of a messiah's appearance come the millennium. Jerusalem-based WNN-TV correspondent John Feldman gets appreciably more than he ever bargained for on New Year's Eve, 1999. Expecting to provide only cursory coverage of local observances, the journalist and his cameraman, Breck Hunter, wind up investigating the mysterious destruction of a hush-hush Israel Defense Force (IDF) lab in the Negev Desert. The sole survivor of this cataclysm is an ethereal young woman called Jeza, whom millennarian groups throughout the world soon hail as their long- awaited redeemer. Spouting gnomic parables, citing a gospel known as Apotheosis (from the so-called ``Newest'' Testament), and performing the occasional miracle, the arriviste divinity travels the holy lands of the Middle East, urging ever larger congregations of Christians, Jews, and Muslims to forsake the distractive trappings of formal liturgies. With logistical assistance from Feldman's ratings-obsessed network, the deity is soon able to present her provocative message (fiercely resisted by established religions) to a wider world from forums in Salt Lake City, the Vatican, and Washington. Meanwhile, word leaks out that the IDF facility was engaged in genetic engineering projects, which could make Jeza a robot with artificial intelligence of a very high order rather than anyone's savior. During the Lenten season, hopes for peace on earth evanesce as Armageddon-scale violence racks key venues, and the Antichrist or True Prophetess is martyred at the close of a Good Friday sermon before the Wailing Wall. While cooler heads in Rome ponder, IDF renegades, die-hard ecclesiastics, and others with apocalyptic axes to grind vie to ensure--or abort- -Jeza's resurrection on Easter morning. Deliciously wicked entertainment that combines biotech with theological arcana to mount an effective (and often offensive) assault upon churches militant, affluent, and complacent. (TV rights to Columbia/Tri-Star) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. KIRKUS REVIEWS: An impressively imagined, devilish speculation on how the world might greet a female messiah. Deliciously wicked entertainment that mounts an effective assault upon the militant, affluent, and complacent.PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: "Intense, entertaining. Kleier's story will have readers racing through the narrative with its many plot twists--political, scientific and theological."NEW YORK POST: "Warner paid more than $1 million for the book in a lively auction.xa0 The publisher promised booksellers a first printing of 500,000--a huge commitment."CHICAGO TRIBUNE: "There are dozens of thrillers trying to grab our attention and dollars, but few are as entertaining as this novel. The pace is furious, the plotting handled with style and wit."NEWSDAY/L.A. TIMES: "I was transfixed by this imaginative work.xa0 If you'd like to give your mind, faith, cynicism or theories an intellectual workout, try this novel." From the Inside Flap PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: "Fascinating debut!" AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BOOKLIST--HOT FICTION (starred review): "This book is so full of hot topics, readers might burn their fingers turning pages. Kleier doesn't miss a beat, capturing all the craziness, firing it with the latest scientific advancements, wrapping it all with the gauze of mysticism. Complex plotting seems smooth as silk here. Will keep readers enthralled until the very end.xa0 Don't expect to find one any better than this." ARIZONA REPUBLIC: "An Apocalyptic tale entertaining AND intriguing. What better way to spend a winter weekend than snuggled around a book that pits Armageddon against the Rapture? Kleier does a masterful job, entertaining as well as provocative.xa0 He has dissected the yin and yang of the human psyche confronted by spiritual crisis. CLIVE CUSSLER: "One of the most intriguing tales of the decade." LARRY COLLINS: "Provocative, insightful, devilishly entertaining." PETER HERNON: "Starts fast and roars to a spellbinding finish." Read more