The Holy [Paperback]

Daniel Quinn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2006

They knew us before we began to walk upright. Shamans called them guardians, mythmakers called them tricksters, pagans called them gods, churchmen called them demons, folklorists called them shape-shifters. They’ve obligingly taken any role we’ve assigned them, and, while needing nothing from us, have accepted whatever we thought was their due – love, hate, fear, worship, condemnation, neglect, oblivion.Even in modern times, when their existence is doubted or denied, they continue to extend invitations to those who would travel a different road, a road not found on any of our cultural maps. But now, perceiving us as a threat to life itself, they issue their invitations with a dark purpose of their own. In this dazzling metaphysical thriller, four who put themselves in the hands of these all-but-forgotten Others venture across a sinister American landscape hidden from normal view, finding their way to interlocking destinies of death, terror, transcendental rapture, and shattering enlightenment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A detective goes demon hunting in this supernatural mystery from the bestselling author of Ishmael. Chicago sexagenarian private eye Howard Sheim is hired by millionaire Aaron Fischer to probe the existence of Baal, Ashtoroth and Moloch, "false gods" named in the Old Testament book of Exodus. The search leads him to a self-styled mystic who, after reading his future with tarot cards, refers Howard to a teenage seer, Richard Holloway. The boy tells him that there are those living among us-he calls them "yoo-hoos"-who are not really human, though he has no idea exactly what they are. After consulting a rabbi and a warlock, the skeptical Howard is about ready to throw in the towel and go back to his missing-person cases. The narrative switches to follow the quixotic odyssey of 42-year-old Midwesterner David Kennesey, who suddenly abandons his wife and 12-year-old son and heads west without a thought to his destination. Separately, his wife and son embark on their own quests to find him. After adventures in Chicago and Vegas, David stumbles into a mountain Shangri-La inhabited by a woman named Andrea and her coterie of oddball denizens. Back in Chicago, Howard-now with David's son-tracks David to Andrea's, where he finds out that the gods are alive and up to their old tricks. Quinn's playful metaphysical sleuthing and cast of chimerical figures are entertaining, but fans of Ishmael and After Dachau may feel that this book doesn't have quite the originality or moral weight of his earlier efforts.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Beginning with Ishmael (1992) and proceeding to After Dachau [BKL F 15 01], Quinn has used fiction to entice readers into questioning the increasingly destructive nature of Western civilization. In his sixth novel he wisely skips the bossy lectures that burden his earlier works and presents an electrifying, provocative, and dryly amusing thriller with cosmic dimensions. The quest begins when wealthy Chicagoan Aaron Fisher hires nearly retired private investigator Howard Schiem, an ex-boxer with the face to prove it, to undertake a very strange case: Aaron wants to know what became of Baal, Ashtaroth, and Moloch, the old gods whom the Old Testament castigates as false. Howard ends up having his Tarot cards read and helping young Tim from Indiana look for his father, who has inexplicably abandoned his orderly life and headed west. Howard and Tim follow suit, and the terrifying supernatural events that transpire on dark highways and rugged mountains, in neon-bright Las Vegas and a desert mansion, do indeed uncloak the old gods, and reveal the holy life force that blazes in everyday splendor right here on precious earth. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Zoland Books (January 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581952147
• ISBN-13: 978-1581952148
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Quinn's Best, September 23, 2002

By 

"ubixxy7" (Sacramento CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Holy (Hardcover)

Anyone familiar with this author's work knows that there's no one quite like him writing today. It's as if he starts every book saying to his readers, "You think you've got me pegged, don't you. Well, take a look at THIS!" Then he proceeds to write something unlike anything you've ever read (and unlike anything he's ever written).

I've read all his books, most of them several times, and I can tell you that in THE HOLY he outdoes himself--and everyone else around. It's in a class of its own. The only book that comes close is John Fowles' THE MAGUS, and I personally think THE HOLY is a better, deeper, and more enthralling novel.

In my opinion, the thematic heart of Quinn's novels is not Saving the World (as many might say) but rather The Quest. Quinn's heroes aren't looking for love, happiness, or wealth. They want THE ANSWER--to the profound questions that trouble us all in a world that seems to be going mad. But not all his heroes are asking the same questions (or getting the same answers). Two seemingly unrelated quests drive THE HOLY--both strange, both even a little mad--but they ultimately converge in a maelstrom of passion, violence, death, and transfiguration that is unmatched in any book I've ever read.

This isn't just Quinn's best. I honestly can't name a novel that I'd rank above it.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mind-Blowing Metaphysical Thriller/Horror Novel, September 23, 2002

By 

"howierowan" (Detroit MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Holy (Hardcover)

When you read Stephen King or Anne Rice or Clive Barker, you know they're only kidding. They don't really believe in demon-possessed cars, immortal vampires, or faerie worlds hidden in large carpets. When you read The Holy--a novel as fantastic, as gripping, and as terrifying as any produced by King, Rice, or Barker--you'll know that Daniel Quinn isn't kidding.

In this regard (and this only), The Holy is similar to The Exorcist, another book by an author who wasn't kidding (it was based on the true story of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s). People reacted powerfully to The Exorcist, both as a book and as a film, because they perceived clearly that William Peter Blatty wasn't just giving them a fright they would later laugh about. (I've always believed The Exorcist probably brought more people to the Roman Catholic Church than The Song of Bernadette did.) Even if you aren't a believer, reading or seeing The Exorcist can make you teeter in your disbelief.

Quinn's book will have the same effect on you. It will have the same effect, because you'll recognize that the supernatural realm he's exploring is not one he just made up to give you a scare. It's a realm that humans have acknowledged and taken seriously for as long as there have been humans, a realm familiar to shamans in every land, a realm discussed in the scriptures of every religion (including the Bible), a realm that was alive and thriving before the first humans walked the earth and will be alive and thriving when we're gone. The jacket notes describe the inhabitants of the realm this way: "They knew us before we began to walk upright. Shamans called them guardians, myth-makers called them tricksters, pagans called them gods, churchmen called them demons, folklorists called them shape-shifters. They've obligingly taken any role we've assigned them, and, while needing nothing from us, have accepted whatever we thought was their due--love, hate, fear, worship, condemnation, neglect, oblivion."

The publisher describes this as a metaphysical thriller, and it is. But it's also much more. Like any really great book, it's one you'll definitely want to read more than once.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Deep End, April 7, 2003

By 

S. C Sochet "samerator" (syosset, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Holy (Hardcover)

Well, here we go again. Daniel Quinn is not an instant access author. The first time I read Ishmael, I got so impatient with the book that I tried to throw it into an active fireplace. Luckily I missed and decided to put it back on my shelf. That was 7 or 8 years ago. About two years after that I decided to pick it up again, because I was trying to make my then fiance' happy. I didn't like it all that much more, but stayed with it anyway. And that patience made all the difference. The Holy is a different type of book, but the mechanism is the same. I know that almost doesn't make sense. You see, in order to appreciate Quinn, you really have to "listen" while you read, which is a strange necessity for reading a book. His characters can infuriate you because of their godawful myopia, and then all of a sudden, you realize it's you that's the nearsighted one. At least I think that's his point. He is an acquired taste that is worth pursuing. Don't give up on him. Hear him out. You'll be glad you invested the time.