Heaven in High Gear [Hardcover]

Joan Brady (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1997

Twenty-nine-year-old Heather Hurley had come home to the New Jersey shore for a vacation, and was waiting for friends in a bar when the anxiety attack struck. While her cool, sexy demeanor betrayed nothing, her mind raced. The secret of her life as a stripper in L.A. was something Heather worked hard to hide, but now it threatened to overwhelm her. Little did she know her life was about to change forever....

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Heather Hurley escaped from a traumatic and abusive childhood home to become a very successful stripper. There is something missing from her life, however. She discovers just what is lacking when she meets a mysterious man named Joe in a bar. Joe is, in fact, God (in human form), walking the earth to help people solve their problems. As Joe and Heather become close, she begins to realize what a sham her life has been. Accepting God enables Heather to grow and change as she had never thought possible. Fundamentalists may be offended by the idea of God driving around New Jersey on a Harley, but other readers should find this a fun, fast, thought-provoking novel. Brady, who emerged as a talented writer with God on a Harley (see "Signs of the Times: First Novels, Fall/Winter 1995-96," LJ 3/15/96), does an especially good job in her portrayal of Heather, a confused yet oddly powerful and in-control woman. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

It's no great compliment to call Brady's sequel a two-character knockoff of The Bridges of Madison County, as was said here of her debut, God on a Harley (1995). In that earlier work, Christine Moore, generally dissatisfied with her life as a traveling nurse and feeling dead-ended, got straightened out by a motorcycle hunk who happened to be God Himself. Now Joe (as He calls Himself) is dealing new cards to hard-case 29-year-old stripper Heather Hurley. Proud of her body, Heather enjoys supporting her Brentwood condo and BMW with cash from L.A.'s Pink Pussycat, where she shows off a body she keeps in trim shape with a personal trainer. If she shows anything but stomach muscles, it's never mentioned, since this is a novel that can be read by solemnly straitlaced Minnesota PTA members, and if filmed does not need even a PG rating. One night Joe appears at the Pink Pussycat and helps Heather fight off a panic attack without her usual sedative, and the two fall into a cautionary conversation that goes on until book's end. The only slight wisp of suspense has to do with whether Heather will have a sexual thought about Joe-- and she doesn't, even when they go swimming together. Their dialogue, meanwhile, could hardly be more waterlogged. When Joe reveals at the beach that he has a prosthetic leg, Heather declares: ``I desperately wanted to make sure I understood everything he was teaching me. `So how do you deal with the loss of your leg?' I urged him. `Can any lesson really be worth that price?' '' At end, Heather learns seven commandments that lead to spiritual health in her new line of work as a composer of greeting-cards who doubles as a torch-singing lounge act. Lounge act? She goes from selling sex to shilling for booze? One's jaw drops. Smarmalade. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Atria; First Edition edition (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671007726
• ISBN-13: 978-0671007720
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,177,780 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars There's a Message here, September 23, 2000

By 

Marcia L. Hopkins - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heaven in High Gear (Paperback)

Heaven in High Gear is a sequel to the first God on a Harley. The story revolves around a stripper named Heather Hurley who lives high in LA in her condo and drives a BMW. She works out with a personal trainer to keep her body in top form and she judges all men she sees according to their physical form. Joe, God, arrives in her life when she visits her childhood home for a vacation with old friends. Heather is guided and instructed by Joe how she can have a better life, be happy and do what she really loves to do most, which is to write poetry and sing torch songs. In the end Heather learns to love herself and have the confidence and self-esteem to have what she wants, with Joe's help of course.

These books (God on a Harley and Heaven in High Gear) are not heavy duty reading but there's a message given that applies to all human's who need to have faith in themselves. The message that He does hear and He does help. I think the book is a worthwhile read. It's inspiring and hopeful.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joe Rocks Again!, January 5, 2000

By 

carol osbourne - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heaven in High Gear (Hardcover)

Heaven in High Gear is a true sequel to God on A Harley...Joe is back, guiding the young woman he saw in the bar with Christine at the end of "God"...True to his word, he teaches her the guidlines that will change and enpower her life for the better...Great read, never pounding you over the head with scripture, yet getting the point across fully.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sequel to "God on a Harley" and another "Must Read" book., June 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Heaven in High Gear (Hardcover)

This book picks up where "God on a Harley" ends but yet it can be read and bring much joy and self-enlightenment even if the reader hasn't read the first book by Brady. In the book, God, as a biker, reveals himself to the main character and gives her the direction to find and love herself. God, aka "Joe" gives to her her own personal commandments. Very inspiring and uplifting. In the end, God must continue on to his next person for their own one-on-one meeting except this time, it's a....... Can't ruin it for you. If I could personally ever meet Ms. Brady, I would first thank her for helping me so much through her books and then BEG for the next sequel to "Heaven in High Gear".