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61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
There are no Coincidences, November 11, 2008
This review is from: The Ezekiel Code (Paperback)
After taking over as director of a homeless shelter, seminarian dropout Ezekiel "Zeke" Banyon stumbles upon a mysterious document listing a strange series of phrases and numbers in his predecessor's office. He and Angela Martin, a recently hired employee of the shelter, become fascinated with the odd phrases and codes. They set out on a journey which leads them to believe that the English Alphabet may in fact be a cipher of some kind; that built into the very fabric of the language itself are coded messages that have been there for centuries. But where did this code come from? What message does it contain? What are the implications to humanity?
Zeke and Angela soon find they are not the only ones interested in discovering the secret of the code. Other more nefarious and conspiratorial organizations' power and future are in Zeke's hands. Some want to protect him while others want him destroyed.
Gary Tenuta's Ezekiel Code has elements of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code as well as the adventure of Preston and Child's The Ice Limit. Mostly, however, this novel is like an entire season of the X-files packed into one book. Tenuta covers a lot of ground and topics including: acoustic levitation, out of body experiences, area 51, ancient Catholic Church and Jesuit secrets, Mayan calendars and predictions, Isis and the great pyramids, Gematria, parallel universes, the Illuminati, conspiratorial organizations, parallel universes, electronic voice phenomenon, and more. This requires a fairly high suspension of disbelief factor by the reader and Tenuta does a good job integrating these diverse concepts into the story.
While English Gematria, which is the assignment of numerical equivalents of words usually associated with Hebrew, is the main concept driving the Ezekiel code, the pace of the novel can occasionally be interrupted by its frequent appearance. Regardless, I found myself engaged throughout the story and googling a number of the curious and fascinating concepts raised in order to learn more about them. Gary has clearly done considerable research in writing this novel. Fans of the X-files will enjoy The Ezekiel Code.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
HIGH-CONCEPT ADVENTURE, AN UNFORGETTABLE BOOK, November 6, 2008
This review is from: The Ezekiel Code (Paperback)
The Ezekiel Code is one of those rare books, that once you read it, you will never see the world in quite the same way - a mark of excellence in storytelling. It changes you because it opens a portal to so many fascinating concepts, some of which are right before your eyes, laced throughout our lives and history, and others, which exist just beyond our general understanding, that it will keep you thinking and wondering about what it presents long after you've read it.
As a story, The Ezekiel Code quickly became a `place' I wanted to escape to every day. I grew attached to its main characters, Zeke and Angela, and accustomed to being a part of their world, and I didn't want it to end. The characters are alive, fully formed people that seem very real, in richly detailed surroundings. They start out in the most ordinary of circumstances, but are drawn, through many twists and turns, through synchronicity, into a captivating mystery that begins to surround them and take over their lives. Their path is a dangerous and winding one where dark and light continuously battle for supremacy. Slowly, subtly, the main characters, and you, the reader, are taken down the rabbit hole, and you will wonder over & over again, could many of the things the author presents, be real, be true? There is a great deal of evidence to say that yes, much of it could be, and that only enhances an already engaging and compelling story. Indeed, this book is so loaded with mysteries & intriguing theories that a reader could then proceed to spend the next twenty years studying them with immense interest & zeal. Note: The Ezekiel Code could very well be the beginning of many an addiction to uncovering hidden truths, deep mysteries, secret societies, metaphysics, ancient knowledge, quantum physics, (and many other sciences and theoretical concepts that I will not mention for fear of giving too much away) - you have been warned!
I was struck by the breadth of knowledge and passion the author obviously has for his subject matter. In fact, this is one of those instances where I am as fascinated by the author, who embodies his work, as I am the story. Loads of research went into crafting this book. There are many novels that will *razzle-dazzle* you with technology, weapons, and smart, sophisticated "super-people" that none of us could ever relate to. These can be formulaic and forgettable. They may be good reads at the time, but they don't stay with you, simply blending into a sea of similar stories. The Ezekiel Code transcends this, because it is at once relatable, yet so dense in what it offers, that you will find yourself bringing things up that you learned from this book in conversation with your friends & family, and engaging in absorbing and lengthy discussions for a long time to come.
The Ezekiel Code is high-concept fiction, with great action & adventure, and is a completely unique story with a powerhouse ending. An unforgettable read!
Rai Aren
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointing, September 9, 2010
I was so excited to see that this book was available for a great price on Kindle, and it didn't take me long to figure out why.
Don't get me wrong; I love this theme. Anything where you pull in history, religion, mythology, scavenger hunts to save the world or locate some ancient artifact definitely appeal to my tastes. I love codes and mysteries and ideas along that line for books. When I read the synopsis for this book, I thought that this was right up my alley.
The premise is a good one; Numerology is fairly interesting, and finding patterns within certain words and texts definitely made an effort to draw me in. Why the one star, then?
I couldn't get past the rather simplistic and borderline offensive writing style that the author employs. The overall tone of the book appeared to me to be on the shallow side, and several times I felt as though the author was trying to lead me by the nose to his conclusions rather than trusting me to make those leaps of logic on my own. What was worse was, it wasn't hard to draw those conclusions in any case. I managed to make it through seven chapters before I finally deleted it off of my Kindle. I couldn't take reading about the main characters coming across like love-shy teenagers who made numerology connections after six pages when I had made them in six lines.
In short, great potential, even greater disappointment. :(
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