Customer Reviews

God Is a Bullet

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book posed a conflict for me; I was disappointed by the stereotype punks, cops, and junkies, and found a lot of the dialog flat-out stupid. In addition, I thought the copy was poorly edited... Yet, I couldn't wait to get to the next page and see what would happen. I hate to admit that I really enjoyed reading this book.

'God is a Bullet' was an interesting book for me. More than anything it was the cover and the title that captured my attention initially. Normally I don't read a lot of crime/mystery fiction but I am really glad to have gone out on a limb and read this one. Boston Terran paints a vivid picture of the disturbing subculture of drugs, violence and satanism. Other reviewers have complained about the cliched main characters - the punk cop, the ex-junkie and so on. I agree in part, but I think that the incidental characters really helped to 'make' this book. Boston spares no detail in setting the mood and atmosphere. Despite the content I found the book rivetting. Not for the faint-hearted...

So far I've only read the first 100 pages...in one night!!!... but I can say with some authority that this book is perhaps one of the best books of the genre I have read with possibly the exception of Red Dragon by Thomas(Silence of the Lambs)Harris. It starts of in the first chapter with a horrendous murder set in the 70's and each successive chapter fuels the other. It is horrible, brutal and beautiful all at the same time. It has insightful dialogue between characters and harsh disgusting words that make me cringe. It is a paradox full of violence and peace, rape and love, and acts of incredible violence along with incredible acts of heroism and humanity. I highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind peering into the face of evil without covering their eyes. For those of you who are squemish or judgemental stay away! This book is like the author quoted "God is a bullet in your head, you start to feel better the minute you are dead!!!" I give this book 6 stars since amazon only goes up to 5. It is a speedball for hell, but well worth the horrible cathartic trip. That's all, I gotta go read the rest. The only reason I didn't read it in one sitting is that I had to go to work the next day and only got 4 hours sleep that is how good it is. If you read it you won't need any speed or coffee to keep you awake. It is a drug in itself. Literary Crank if you will. Stop what you are doing. Get a copy and start reading it from start to finish. Bye I have to get back to reading it. Peace!

Boston Teran, besides having a great name, has a very powerful writing stye, and that, more than anything else, helps to drive this suspense / mystery forward. The book comes with its share of stock characters--a cop & father looking for redemption, an ex-junkie seeking a purpose to fill the void, and the evil Manson-like genius--but they still manage to create something of an emotional link with the reader. The true problem lies in other areas of the book. Other reviewers have rightly pointed out that the book has only a nodding acquaintaince with everyday reality, that the actions seems too divorced from reality--satanic killers act with impunity, murder is as natural as breathing, etc. But more importantly, too much of the action just "doesn't fit." It doesn't make sense with any ordered sense personal interaction--even if we willingly suspend our disbelief and explore Boston Teran's lawless California / Mexico desert landscape. Characters have existential conversations that do not remotely jibe with their backgrounds or actions, and there are too many uncertain links between the characters for the reader to understand the interations. Overall, an interesting work that is worth reading, but I'm looking forward to Boston Teran's second piece. By that time the tone might be a bit more modulated and the story that much more frightening because of the more believable segments.

Mr. Terans first novel is definitely one with emotional highs and lows! A gritty read! A real page-turner! In 1970, a young boy finds a woman's brutally murdered body. 25 years later, Bob Hightower, a deputy sheriff, is called upon to investigate a similar savage murder. The victims are his ex-wife and her husband. A group called "The Left Handed Path" kidnaps his daughter during this time. They are a satanic cult dealing in drugs and more. God is a Bullet, is about a father who goes through a suspenseful cat and mouse chase to find his missing daughter. If you like an excellent, powerful thriller, then you must read this book! I for one will reread it again in the future. I have to warn the faint of heart this one is graphic.

GIAB is like a wet towel hitting you in the face when you're not expecting it. It is a mediation on the nature of evil, not in abstract sense, but in a very graphic one.

It starts with a fiendish crime and then follows the perpetrators and one of the victims as they try to sort out what might be called rough justice. There are some appealing characters from what the villains might call "the sheep", including a local lawman named Bob Hightower (okay, not the most subtle technique with his last name, I'll admit.) Watching Hightower come to grips with the depths of evil here, and change himself to face it with any chance of survival is really impressive.

There's a scene in the middle of the book where he has a conversation with a former victim who is out for revenge. The dialogue between them as she tries to explain just how bad real evil is, is quite fascinating. It's been two years since I read the book, and that passage still stands out for me.

Boston Teran is a fearless writer. This is his best book. If you like meditations on good and evil and what to do about it (and the courage and knowledge that takes), this book is for you.

Bob Hightower is a "cardboard cop", he patrols from a desk, and does fill-ins on night shifts. He gets a call that his ex-wife and her husband have been murdered by a "Manson" style cult, who have also kidnapped his fourteen year old daughter. While trying to track down the killer, he gets the feeling that the Sheriff doesn't seem to be in a hurry to solve this murder, in fact he seems to be getting in the way.

After a couple of months without hearing from his daughters kidnappers, and without any real clues, he begins going through letters and phone calls, no matter how strange. He finds a letter from Case Hardin, who spent seventeen years in a satanic cult. She thinks she knows who has his daughter, the only problem is that she's been a junkie for years and has just got 'sober' for the third time.

Case then takes Bob (who she calls Bob Whatever) on a hunt for her old leader "Cyrus". Cyrus has taken Bob's daughter for 'blooding'; which Case says is payback for something someone in his family has done to Cyrus. After taking Bob through the underbelly of civilization (including a tatooing, so he will fit in better), they battle Cyrus and his cult and get his daughter back.

If you're interested in a 'different' style of detective novel and want to learn about the 'other side' of faith (isn't the devil the flip side of god) this book is a good place to start.

I couldn't find a photograph of Boston Teran anywhere on the internet after I finished this book. I'm not sure why that bothered me so much, but it did. Anyway, this is a very engaging and graphic tale of revenge and repentence in a lawless Southern California setting.

Bob Hightower's daughter is kidnapped by an ultraviolent sex cult, and Bob learns a lot about himself as he goes to extreme lengths to save her. The one woman who can help Bob used to be a member of this cult--she's kicked her drug habit and really has no reason to live until she reads about Bob's daughter's kidnapping. She knows who did it by some crimescene details, and she knows how to find the head of this cult so Bob can save his daughter. What follows is an adventure for Bob and Case (the ex-junkie) as Bob changes his entire life and appearance to hunt more effectively, and Case puts her life on the line to save at least one other.

The writing is a bit rambling and is sometimes hard to follow, but it is quite thoughtful at times with streaks of a sort of stark philosophy of desperation and atheism that is quite convincing. The head of the cult is truly horrible, and it helps us like our protagonists more when we know their enemy deserves anything he gets by way of punishment.

Reading Teran's debut novel was an eyeopening experience--much like reading Kim Wozencraft's Rush was for me a few years ago. If you can tolerate the violence, there's some stark realism in this violent novel of retribution and redemption.

Where to begin? For this author's style, less is definitely more. His poetic imagery of the austere, harsh desert landscape is almost palpable, yet as compacted as it gets. Every word, each phrase is like a single jewel that becomes a glittering mosaic seen through a kaleidoscope. Not one word is wasted, and every single, simple phrase evokes a multitude of images. The language sets the stage for the unforgettable characters. Cyrus has got to be the most monstrous sociopath in the history of literature. Case is the most interesting and unique heroine I've ever met. And bumbling Bob is a decent, average guy caught up in extraordinarily traumatic circumstances that turn an ordinary man into a hero. This is a story of cruelty and greed, of the power of love, of triumph over evil. The ending is perfect, but it made me long to know how Bob, Case and Gabi made out after the end of the book. I would hope they all lived reasonably happily ever after.

More than worth the all-too-short time it takes to read it from cover to cover.

Yes! Another great find among all the bland crap that is passed off as good crime writing. This guy is another killer with a keyboard.