2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An original, engaging and complex suspense novel depicting the life of a wealthy man, June 14, 2006
This review is from: The Apocalypse Parable: A Conspiracy of Weeds (Paperback)
The Apocalypse Parable: A Conspiracy Of Weeds by Brian Kaufman is an original, engaging and complex suspense novel depicting the life of a wealthy man, Mordecai Ryan and his pursuit of Jesus Christ the services of Daniel Bain, a small-time private investigator for missing persons. Readers will be enthralled as Bain's pursuit of Christ leads him through a twisting and evermore intricate plot involving Hitler, discovering rewrites of the Gospel, and many more modern and estranging studies. The Apocalypse Parable is very strongly recommended to all readers of fantasy-fiction, particularly those inclined to the Christian faith.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Intrigue, Character, and Great Writing, June 6, 2008
This review is from: The Apocalypse Parable: A Conspiracy of Weeds (Paperback)
Author Brian Kaufman has woven a tight mystery around a sympathetic protagonist. Daniel Bain, a down-on-his-luck skip tracer, gets a bizarre job offer from a wealthy old geezer. "Find Jesus Christ," states Mordecai Ryan, "and I'll pay you a hundred thousand dollars." Daniel struggles with the case while recovering from personal problems that haunt him. His demons include a humorous battle with weight loss, a tender friendship with a seductive internet porn star, and bouts with his slightly dysfunctional family. Add dry wit, a dash of murder, and a touch of the biblical--you've got a well-written, page-turning thriller as well as a great read.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well written. I wish I hadn't read it., October 3, 2010
This review is from: The Apocalypse Parable: A Conspiracy of Weeds (Paperback)
I wish I hadn't read this book.
The book itself was extremely well written, and very difficult to put down. It's also the kind of book that really gets into your head and teases at your thoughts while you're not reading it. As another reviewer mentioned, there is undoubtedly meaning here, probably layers of it. I'll admit that it's possible, even probable, that I'm too dense to make sense of it. In either case, I didn't take away meaning as much as I did a feeling of depression and confusion.
From the outset, I suppose I was expecting a novel along the lines of Hjortsberg's Falling Angel. The first third of the book certainly read that way as well. Somewhere along the path, though, it changed course and became more of a dissertation on the human condition than a mystery or suspense novel. Yes, the mystery is there, as were the gripping plot twists, and the pieces of the mystery which are actually explained at the end were very difficult to guess ahead of time. And as I mentioned, it's extremely well written, so what was explained and teased out was done with skill.
Now to what I didn't like. As I mentioned, I didn't get it. I also felt depressed at the end, and very confused. It's possible the author knew this was a possibility, considering in the afterword he offers to discuss the book with readers via email. The closest I can come to describing how I felt when the book was over is to liken it to Donnie Darko. There was surely a point to everything I had just taken in - some of it possibly ironic - but I couldn't put the pieces together in any meaningful way. Both Donnie Darko and this book explore the human condition through the psyche of the protagonist. Both left me feeling "ookie" for a lack of a better word. Both suggested greater meaning. Both spoke in riddles and teasers without really getting their message across (and once again, I'll admit that this may be more my fault that the author's). I get the feeling that the author, in this case, actually did know the message(s) he was trying to get across, though, unlike in Darko. Still, both left me depressed and confused, and as I say, I wish I hadn't read it. This book was close to the opposite of what I needed to read at this point in my life. This isn't the author's fault, obviously, but the fact remains.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the kind of thing I just described. The writing is absolutely top notch, and the characters are mostly very well fleshed out and very believable. Just don't go into it thinking you're going to be reading a book where things are tied up neatly at the end. They aren't. There is quite a bit in the book left open to interpretation, and quite a bit left unanswered. I get the feeling that this was done intentionally.
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