665 The Council of Twelve: (Part One) [Hardcover]

Merréll O'Brian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2008

What’s been the purpose of your life if not to love and be loved? That’s the story of humanity, and the story of 665. The drama of finding, the needful hope in uncertainty, the dominance and submission, and the grinding within us all to become more together than we are alone. 665 TCT is all the ways we excel in our nobility and fail in our stupidity. It’s about social justice and despite our beliefs, what we all share as human beings. Okay, admittedly, not all of us are human…or at least all human…or, well anyway…there’s other sides to the story. Twenty-six thousand years ago, an Aries named Adam, was selected to lead the first Council of Twelve. Adam made a decision that ignited the Great War between the Four Prime Evils…and us all. Although formed to govern humanity, the Council only exists now to prevent its destruction. This is the story of the 665th Council. You’ll laugh, cry, get angry, maybe annoyed and yet, come away enriched over a vortex of sensory engagement. You meet us all: An Asian family, two southern rednecks, a gay couple and Mark: half the Council of Twelve. We circled the world to find the others with the help of a few angels and demons. From humble beginnings in 1962 to the Holy Roman Templar Knights, to Africa, Russia and home again, it has been one hell of a ride! 665 TCT is my honor to share with you. No matter what you’ve read in the past…you haven’t read anything like this. This historical fantasy autobiography is shamelessly erotic, hosting the most elegant and explicit sex in print today. It’s drama, comedy, horror and epic fantasy, yet somehow, as familiar as humanity itself.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Merréll O'Brian didn't have a choice in being born half human and half...something else. So his father is arch-pillar of Hell. Big deal! Lots of families have "issues". His choice to create the world of 665 The Council of Twelve, came easier but slower than most. It took the first half of a lifetime to garner the experience, philosophy and ideal required to write the vastness of 665 TCT. Merréll was born to entertain, first seeking presence as a lead singer and rock guitarist of many high school and college bands. He was a Kung Fu instructor in early life who later moved on to stand-up comedy while studying to be a Baptist preacher. He changed course and as all his other evolutions, he adapted what he learned into his writing and personal philosophy.Merréll paints and reads up on astrologically-based pyschology and the occult. He works as a network engineer creating computer networks in his "day job". He is also extremely proud of being a ScorpioSagittarian and all the chaos that brings. He currently lives in Florida with his hybrid Mccaw, Nah T'uk (Canaanite for "Shut up"), and rides his hybrid bicycle on nature trails when not obsessing over some new talent. For information about Merréll, please visit www.merrellobrian.com and for his charities and organizations www.merrellobrian.org --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 740 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (October 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434383091
• ISBN-13: 978-1434383099
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,409,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book! You'll be surprised!, October 28, 2008

By 

J. Williams "Byrowill" (Mt. Dora, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 665 The Council of Twelve: (Part One) (Hardcover)

I've read this book twice actually. It reminds me of one of those epic movies in which you watch the first time through and ride the roller coaster of emotions Mr. O'Brien imbues in his prose...and then you put the book down and you think. And you feel. And then you actually start to miss the characters. So you pick the book up again and, like me, linger a bit more, and pick up on the beautifully constructed sentences you may have missed the first time around (which is always a treat to us literary snobs). Then you feel Scorpius, David, Mark, Randy, Dohna (to name a few of the characters in Mr. O'Brien's mind? Life?) and their relationships with each other, their personalities (and you inevitably identify with one or more of them). You grieve, you roll your eyes along with some of (usually Merrell's quips), and you cheer for them when their victories, no matter how great or small, come to fruition. And you really do want good to triumph over evil (when's the second book coming out, Mr. O'Brien?)!
What's amazing too is how much sense this book makes. Combining the zodiac with religion (there's some "Oh wow - that completely makes sense" moments you have) and people (as their personalities and comments subtly weave the thought: "Oh - what a typical Aries..."), angels with demons, the Bible and history (other eureka moments come through again), the gay and straight (and you realize that while some of the relationships in the book are gay, it's still about love - pure, unadulterated love)...it's so imaginative that it becomes believable. It's very The DaVinci Code in that sense.
The book makes you question your own belief system, your own values, and you think: I learned all of this by reading a romantic/action-packed/religiously-based/dramatic book based on people - special people with gifts (and not always of the "chosen" kind either) - living their lives. And I'll admit: there were a few times I stopped reading, got up and looked in a mirror, secretly hoping to see my own glyph light up.
The bottom line is this: if you want to immerse yourself in a book that lets you believe in magic, the supernatural, hope, the angels and demons among us (both metaphorically and physically speaking) the powers we all have inside us (and maybe some hiding!), and most of all, love, then this is your book. And even if you're a bit skeptical, try it out - it may rock your world like it surprisingly rocked mine.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Great Read, January 29, 2009

By 

M. Myers (Pa.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 665 The Council of Twelve (Kindle Edition)

I really enjoyed this book,The characters and emotions grap you at the first chapter and the action continues until the last page .I hope to see my own glyph appear
each day so I to can join this group of characters that I have fallen in love with.Mr OBrain there must be a part 2 and 3 and 4....

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing/Fascinating/Disturbing, November 12, 2011

By 

Mary "happycamper" (maine) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 665 The Council of Twelve (Kindle Edition)

Firstly, I recommend getting the paper copy since the Kindle edition distracts from the novel with its many typos. I can only say "ditto" to the first well written review above! I need to do the "second read" now that the roller coaster of the first has come to rest. That said, Merrell Barry O'Brien is so courageous as to become one of his own characters in 665 The Council of Twelve. 665 is a wonderful camouflage for a very real and intense experience in life. Scorpius has my admiration for being able to weave his life's experience into a fantastic fantasy world...or, is it? Your story thus far, Merrell, is courageous in the living, the revelation and the telling; astounding in the surviving, the healing and the overcoming. I'm devastated for your pain and thrilled for the love you have found! I like the strengthening and beginning composure of Scorpius toward the last chapters of 665 and I'm eager to know what is next.