Customer Reviews

Weapon In Heaven

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Don't let the length of this book fool you, or the subject matter give you pause. What you will find between two covers is humorous, ironic, heartbreaking, and human. David Bulley tells his story in third person - with panache - but with an intimacy that made me feel a part of everything.

Eddy Licklighter is a common man, soft hearted and humorous. Friends and acquaintances can't help but like the man. Eddy has simple hopes and dreams. Those dreams include a firm belief in God's miracles and blessings. He's happy with his lot, and does his best to make the most of what he has. He loves his wife and adores his little girl. Something breaks in Eddy when his wife and daughter are burned up in a house fire before his eyes. Friends can't believe that Eddy can still smile and share his sense of humor after such a loss. But behind that smile lives fiery rage, rage against the God who allows all thing horrible and heart breaking to happen.

Eddy buys a bed and breakfast in the shadow of Mount Katahdin with his wife's insurance money. He hires Melinda, a Native American straight off the Reservation to run it for him. In and out of Eddy's life move his friends Dan and Chief of Police Bruce Telyawhig. Added into this odd mix are Paul, a Baptist minister, and Stephen, a young gay man in search of safety and acceptance. Paul has left his church in disgrace when he's discovered in a sexual situation with a teenage boy. Fate brings him to Eddy's bed and breakfast and enlightenment.

Eddy's plan is to destroy God fast and neat. The world, according to Eddy, would be a happier simpler place without God in it. The more Eddy blasphemes and rages in the face of God, the more things go his way. He figures God is trying to win him over after stealing everything Eddy holds dear. Still, everywhere he looks is death and poison in the world, awful misery that God allows to happen. Eddy says a resounding no to such a God, no to every question God ever asked and every suggestion He'd ever made. His friends love Eddy, believe in him, including Paul. Paul learns lessons of "pleasurable destruction" from Eddy - smoking, drinking beer, giving God the finger both literally and figuratively. He buys into Eddy's wry philosophy: "Just when things get from horrible to tolerable, just when you start to figure something out about life, God screws you over again."

Eddy's master plan is to kill God and then kill himself. How this plan plays out is both funny and heart rending. I don't want to give it all away. Let's just say that in the end, Eddy understands truths that humans this side of the veil cannot know and should not judge.

The premise is different than anything I ever read, and author Bulley masterful. Staunch Christians may not see beyond the blasphemy. The stark sexual and sometimes violent content are portrayed realistically, along with language some may find offensive. But the meat of the story itself is thought-provoking and sometimes beautiful. If you want something different, give Weapon in Heaven a try.

On the face of it, this should be a profound read, given that its core subject matter is God and the nature of `his' existence. That it doesn't quite make it does not take away from the fact that it is a brave book tackling major subjects in a decidedly quirky manner.
Having lost his beloved wife and child in a fire, Eddy Licklighter decides that he will take his revenge on God by killing him. He begins his campaign by daubing the sides of all the churches in Millinocket with bright red five foot high insults to God.
Alongside this central thread runs the story of Reverend Paul Peterson, who when me meet him, is struggling with the notion of his homosexuality. Paul is forced to flee the Houlton Maine First Baptist Church of our Saviour after being caught in the act, as it were, by a couple of young would-be marrieds. He happens upon Eddy's efforts with the paintbrush and decides that Millinocket looks like the place for him. Paul of course has his own conflicts with God, not least a degree of resentment about his sexuality and the inevitable responses to it from people around him.
The rest of the book sees Eddy in combat with a God determined to outwit him. Eddy eventually hatches a plan to smuggle a gun into heaven - the downside being of course that he'll have to die to do it.
In story terms, Weapon in Heaven is an original and clever idea, told with humour and pathos, although the rather grabbed-at ending fails to do it justice. At times also, the book cried out for a good hard edit. The writer has a tendency not to trust his readership, or on occasion, himself. Some passages are overwritten and over-explained, and at times, vernacular character voice nudges into narrative, with phrases such as: `would of' (for `would have') creeping in, to the bewilderment of this reader at least.
Another concern, from the viewpoint of a general reader picking up the book in response to its Fiction/Religion classification is that some of the homosexual scenes are overly graphic, with the `plumbing' rather too much in evidence. This fact alone may well work against what for me was a thought-provoking and memorable read.

I tore through Weapon in Heaven in only two days. Though the book was relatively short, about 150 pages, that's a feet for me. For that to happen a story has to move me along, interest me and make me beg for more when I put it down--and I couldn't. The characters are as strong as biblical heroes. They speak with a very real backwoods believable prose. I know these people Bulley writes about. He is truly a master of the craft and I applaud the challenge of taking on such an idea. Killing God--whoda' thunk it. Bulley, that's who.

When Eddy Licklighter's wife and daughter are killed in a house fire and Eddy survives by an act of God, he's not one bit appreciative. No, in fact, he's mad as hell. Not content with an acceptance of God's 'mysterious ways', he sets out to demand some kind of accountability. If God is so all-loving and all-knowing, why doesn't He manage things better? Eddy carries his personal vendetta to an extreme, deciding to take matters into his own hands.

Along the way, he meets Reverend Paul Peterson, a Baptist preacher with some disillusions of his own. If God makes man in His image - how did some men end up homosexual? Why did God give Paul these desires if they aren't acceptable?

Between them, Eddy and Paul conceive a plan to bring justice. Eddy will defy God's so-called plan by killing Him. He'll bring a weapon to Heaven.

I was intrigued with the story's main argument - how can God get away with treating His people in a manner that He wouldn't want them to treat others? What happened to the Golden Rule? If mankind is supposed to relieve suffering wherever they see it, why isn't God held to that same standard? I have to admit, I've had a lot of questions like that myself.

This story isn't pretty-reading, but it's very human. There's anguish and pain, humor, vulgarity, love and hope. I wanted to know how it would end, would Eddy be able to achieve his plan and - if he did - what would happen. The ending of the book didn't let me down.

For a unique perspective on some age-old questions, I recommend Weapon in Heaven.

this book is great the authors idea for the plot is totally orginal. Once i started reading thisd book i could not put it down. The cast of characters are great. Eddy or Paul both are well thought out characters with totally different beliefs and they become friends in spite of it. people can learn alot about acceptance of others from this book.

...Reading Bulley is like reading the Maine version of Faukner. The third person narrator reads like another character in the book. This make for two invisible characters in this small novel, because God also makes his presense known in a million ways, both tiny and huge, but without a speaking part.

This is the brilliance of the book: the way he makes the intagibles as real as rocks you've tripped over, or water you've swum in.

This book has changed the way I feel about religion and the universe. It has rocked my faith. That's a good thing.

Go, Eddy, go.

This book starts right out so fast you feel like your head is spinning; you can barely keep up. The action is nearly relentless. Even so, it is not a plot driven work at all. THe core of the novel are two characters: Eddy, and Paul. Eddy wants to kill god. Paul comes to want to help.

Lots of reviews hit on plot points so I won't bore you with that. Things I thought worthwhile: Scenes where Bulley, the author, takes way too many words to describe a simple act like lighting a smoke. These passages slow down the pace and make us notice time passing in the same way that some real person might take his time to light a cigarette and think. Also, I thought the language used sometimes by the third person narrator was just awesome. So many books written in third person come off as dry and cold because the language is so detached. THe wtiter here uses everyday common speech, through the whole book. THe result is that you feel as if someone is telling the story. I like it a lot. I will buy Bulley's next book. And the next...

This book was utterly fancinating. I was completely captivately, yes by the Main character Eddy, but also by the extremely well done supporting chacter, Paul the gay bapist minister. I am gay, and so my heart went out to this character as he struggled with his sexuality, and with his new and uncomfortable status as a gay man. From minister to pervert is a LONG drop! let me tell you!

There is this one passage in the book where Eddy is trying to teach paul how to get along better in society by being more "out." Eddy does this by, basically ... assulting other straight men in the restaurant. I laughed out loud! ...

Great, great book. Everyone should own one...

Eddy Licklighter's wife and daughter are killed in a housefire even though Eddy allowed a masterpiece of nature to remain standing.

Eddy is not happy that he is left alive, and sets out on a mission. He is helped by a 'fallen' priest.

It all sounds simple, but the story is anything but. For such a small volume, this story covers a great deal. Eddy voices thoughts that will upset religious fundamentalists. The questions asked here are very valid: IS God a selfish puppeteer, using us for his own amusement?

I may not be as eloquent as the other reviewers, but I would recommend this book to any intelligent, discriminating reader.

Weapon in Heaven tries to turn you away almost from the first page. But instead you find yourself turning pages. The protagonist, Eddie Licklighter, turns on God with a hatred so palpable you may squirm, especially if were raised in any of the major religions. Another major character, a minister named Paul, commits a graphic and unpardonable sin, which ratchets up the discomfort another notch or two. But these two people find each other and begin a journey which challenges the traditional God-view in a humorous and thought-provoking way. This book will offend the devoted believer, but is truly an intellectual exercise for the believer who likes to think for himself. It challenges that which we grew up with -- forces us not to coast on our faith. It won't necessarily change your mind about anything, but it provides the alternative point of view that is fundamantal in any intellectual endeavor. And faith should be an ongoing examination.