Customer Reviews

Cloud Drops

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Mr. Ifkovits somewhat satyrical portrayal of televangelisim is sure to strike a familiar and sympathetic chord with everyone who's ever asked themselves how anyone can have THE TRUTH and still declare that everyone else is headed straight to hell (unless, of course, they repent and send a monetary donation to a certain P.O. Box#). The lead character's revelations from God sit poorly with his father, a nationally known televangelist, and the resulting conflicts threaten to engulf them. Meanwhile his messenger from heaven must defend both himself and his charge to no less a personage than Jesus. A fine mix of humor and tragedy with an unexpected ending.

On my way to lunch in a crowded mall, a voice spoke up from a small table outside a bookstore. "Do you like to read novels?" I turned to see a wiry man with wild hair and sparkling eyes grinning at me. Nick Ifkovits was not your typical author plugging his book, and Cloud Drops is not your typical novel. I obliged him, intrigued by the jacket description, but more by the man who wrote it and his obvious excitement over its message. Cloud Drops is a novel of clarity, particularly the blinding kind that creeps up when you watch televangelists and their religious furvor. It unifies world religions and their understanding of a higher power, and how all men can come to acknowledge and appreciate that power in their own way. The central characters; Ledyard, the son of a famous Televangelist; and Cambian, an agent of god, are charged with the task of turning Ledyard's father away from his 'wealth theology' to the true messages of Heaven. Ifkovits paints with natural prose, his images of Utopia bring memories and feelings of satisfaction. His unification of the worlds religious and peace icons in the 'House of Kings' is humorous and revealing. Cloud Drops is tragic in its identification of the masses, and what inspires true hate and prejudice. In that lies a dichotomy, that as a flock we can be led astray, even with the best intentions, but as a group of individuals focused upon one common goal we cannot falter. This book is an affirmation for those who share Ifkovits's ideals, and an awakening for those who never thought beyond the stained glass windows...