The Jehovah Contract [Paperback]

Victor Koman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2006

THE JEHOVAH CONTRACT Victor Koman's Prometheus Award-winning novel is back in a new edition! A dying assassin is given one final assignment and one last chance for survival. The job: find God Almighty and destroy Him. The payment: eternal life. With the aid of a mysterious trio of women -- a beautiful lady gambler, an ancient Hollywood witch, and a telepathic hooker -- Dell Ammo breaches the gates of Heaven and Hell to pull the Cosmic Trigger. Before The DaVinci Code, before the Left Behind series, The Jehovah Contract set the standard for adventurous, over-the-edge religious fiction. Hard-boiled assassin Dell Ammo must become a harder-boiled detective in order to track down a God he doesn't even think exists. He enlists the reluctant assistance of blond bombshell Anne Perrine -- a woman with the uncanny ability to beat the gaming tables of the underworld metropolis Auberge. In that crime-ridden realm buried beneath the streets of Los Angeles, Dell discovers an even greater danger -- the religious conspiracy known only as the Ecclesia, dedicated to protecting God at any cost. In a climactic final battle worthy of Philip K. Dick at his most imaginatively paranoid, Dell Ammo clashes with the Almighty in all His varied forms, leading to a confrontation that rocks the universe. "A fascinating concept, imaginatively delivered." -- Ray Bradbury "A most unusual and entertaining work of satirical SF." -- Publishers Weekly "A novel of cosmic -- and comic -- proportions." -- Library Journal "Explodes like a string of firecrackers ... The suspense never lets up ... I highly recommend it." -- Robert Anton Wilson "THE JEHOVAH CONTRACT will surely be excoriated in religious and literary circles, but this damnation of God should be pondered objectively by both believers and nonbelievers. It is a good, thought-provoking effort that is that rarity in fiction: philosophy that entertains." -- Piers Anthony "A parody of a Chandleresque detective novel that can hold its own with Chandler and the best of his followers." -- San Jose Mercury-News "Crammed with elements calculated to outrage nearly everyone...." -- The Denver Post "THE JEHOVAH CONTRACT... is conceptually audacious to the max." -- Norman Spinrad "Audacious ... a fine combination of logic and madness." -- Robert Shea "I wholeheartedly recommend this Mission Impossible/Phillip Marlowe/Mike Hammer/John Milton Faith Opera." -- Philip Jose Farmer Victor Koman's screenplay of The Jehovah Contract has been optioned for film. Ray Bradbury says of him, "Would that there were a dozen more writers like him in the field." Koman's short stories have appeared in publications such as The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Galaxy, and the anthologies Weird Menace, The King is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem, the Dark Destiny collections, and Free Space. He lives in southern California with his wife, Veronica, and daughter, Vanessa, as well as their cat, Kali. Koman graduated summa cum laude from Redlands University in 2001 as a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems. In 2004, he received his MBA from Pepperdine University. His weblog and bookstore are accessible via http://www.komansense.com/

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Self-consciously styled after a hard-boiled detective novel, this is a most unusual and entertaining work of satirical SF. An assassin by trade, Dell Ammo works in a bombed-out section of Los Angeles that has been irradiated by a nuclear explosion. Terminally ill, Ammo is offered immortality by a millionaire evangelist if he will do one job: kill God. Accepting the assignment, Ammo embarks on a bizarre hunt through postnuclear L.A., assisted by Ann Perrine, a woman claiming to be an accountant but whose skills are considerably more interesting, and a nymphet with powerful, sexually telepathic abilities. In his search for God, Ammo encounters a powerful group of clerics eager to protect God, the source of their power, whether he exists or not. In other hands this could be pretentiously silly, but Koman carries it off with wit and energy.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"...a tightly written, well-paced suspense fantasy that succeeds on many levels.... a satire, adventure, and suspense novel told with great skill and interesting invention. The Jehovah Contract... is conceptually audacious to the max." -- Norman Spinrad

"The Jehovah Contract will surely be excoriated in religious and literary circles, but this damnation of God should be pondered objectively by both believers and nonbelievers. It is a good, thought-provoking effort that is that rarity in fiction: philosophy that entertains." -- Piers Anthony

"A most unusual and entertaining work of satirical SF." -- Publishers Weekly, 3/6/8

"Audacious ... a fine combination of logic and madness." -- Robert Shea

"Crammed with elements calculated to outrage nearly everyone... I hope some readers will enjoy it as much as I did." -- Don C. Thompson, Denver Post

"Explodes like a string of firecrackers ... The suspense never lets up ... I highly recommend it." -- Robert Anton Wilson

"I liked it." -- Larry Niven

"I wholeheartedly recommend this Mission Impossible/Philip Marlowe/Mike Hammer/John Milton Faith Opera." -- Philip Jose Farmer

"One of the most difficult assignments any writer can undertake is to imitate a famous style of this kind with both serious and comic intent. And Koman pulls it off beautifully. His book is a parody of a Chandleresque detective novel that can hold its own with Chandler and the best of his followers." -- San Jose Mercury-News, 5/17/87

"We need to have the genre shaken up from time to time; The Jehovah Contract does just that -- and does it better than most. Highly recommended." -- Charles de Lint, Fantasy Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: KoPubCo (March 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977764907
• ISBN-13: 978-0977764907
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,178,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Made me laugh, made me think., August 30, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Keith Hartman) (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jehovah Contract (Paperback)

The book is almost worth buying for the premise alone: a hitman is hired to take out God. The idea is an intriguing one (how do you kill a target you can't find?) and allows for some really interesting philosphical questions-- like, does the Big Guy deserve to get wacked or not? The book is written in the style of a Sam Spade novel, and I found myself laughing out loud at some of the narrator's wise-cracks. Any book that can make me both laugh and think is a winner.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hitman Kills God - Film at 11, January 11, 2000

By 

Bill Tennant "igordamad" (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Jehovah Contract (Paperback)

What else can you put down in words that can't be told with a simple 5? Hitman hired to kill God. It catches you from the beginning. You laugh at the whacked humor. It takes turns you don't expect. It poses questions people don't want answered. It's more than a work of science fiction. It's a review about the nature of man and what drives him. Beliefs, philosophy, pyschology, religion...it's all there. Buy the book. It's well worth your time.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars God isn't dead--yet., May 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Jehovah Contract (Paperback)

When the World's Greatest Hit Man (real assassin of Kennedy, King and others) is diagnosed with cancer, a mysterious stranger makes him an offer he can't refuse; his cancer will be cured if he agrees to the Ultimate Contract--assassinate the Supreme Being. He's aided on his quest by a beautiful witch and a 14-year-old telepathic prostitute. Koman ingeniously explores human perception of God, religion and death as his hero tries to determine _how_ to fulfill his contract, and discovers that little of what we believe is what it seems