Customer Reviews

The Apocalypse Parable: A Conspiracy of Weeds

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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.

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.

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.

One of the joys of doing this column is discovering books published by small outfits that rarely get wide distribution. Such is the case with this novel by Colorado resident, Brian Kaufman. It is also one of those books difficult to slap a genre label on. It is part mystery, part thriller with a good dose of philosophical debate thrown in for good measure.

When widower Daniel Bain is hired by reclusive millionaire, Mordecai Ryan, to find Jesus, he at first thinks the dying old man is orchestrating some sick-twisted hoax at his expense. Bain is a skip-tracer who locates missing people, primarily through the use of computers and the internet. He's as far from being a private investigator as a counter clerk is being the head of a bank. Still, the obscene amount of money Ryan dangles under his nose is too much to resist and he reluctantly takes the job.

From that point on Bain's life is systematically turned upside as he experiences one bizarre event after another like a cosmic chain of good and bad luck interwoven together to confuse the hell out of him. Years earlier Bain's wife had run off to be with another man. She took their baby daughter with her and then both of them died when their car hit a patch of winter ice and flipped off the road. Bain's grief became so mixed up with his anger at her betrayal, he's become an emotional zombie and cynic.

Now his search for Mordecai Ryan's Jesus leads him to a nineteen year girl who sells pornographic tapes and pictures of herself over the internet. Like Bain, she too is a wounded soul and they instantly find a kinship together. Neither is aware of just how strong that bond is a stalker threatens the girl's life and Bain finds himself cast in the role of her protector. All the while he finds himself getting closer and closer to find Ryan's
lost Messiah.

Kaufman writes with courage in tackling spiritual themes. He clearly recognizes the human condition for its broken state, yet through Bain he refuses to accept the tired old platitudes that come from thousand year old gospel. Yet the book's gruesome climax hints at a begrudging acceptance of the greatest mystery of them all, love. This is a well written book with weighty themes. If you aren't afraid to think about the big questions, then this is a book you should seek out and read. Whether in the end, you agree or disagree with Daniel Bain, you won't easily forget him.

While Mr. Kaufman's newest novel has Christian aspects to the story, I did not find it to be a novel about Christianity. I am not a Christian, even if I do find some of their purported values to mine as well. If this had been a novel of Christianity, I probably would not have read it. No, for me, this was a novel of self exploration, of psychological and philosophical juggling, dealing with the darker side of man's nature. That nature can be destructive, as is portrayed by the antagonist, it can be self doubt as portrayed by our protagonist or it can be a loss of faith, exemplified elsewhere in the story as an on going theme. This is a story of a hero going on with his life, not appearing as a hero to anyone, not even himself. These heros exist in our daily lives, such as fathers going to jobs they hate, so that they can provide for their families.

Mr. Kaufman's writing is layered with meaning, most of which is lost on me, if not pointed out. The structure of this story is precise, with every scene and chapter having a specific purpose and meaning, and having an evil twin elsewhere in the book.

The ending is, in my opinion, what makes this story worth reading. If you are tired of being spoon fed a plot with a conclusion you can see from the second chapter, then read this book. It'll leave you wanting more from Kaufman, even if he does jump genre, keeping us all guessing what is next from him.
Aaron Spriggs