A God in Ruins (Hardcover)

by Leon Uris (Author) "A Catholic orphan of sixty years is not apt to forget the day he first learned that he was born Jewish..." (more)
Key Phrases: helicopter mode, exhibition tables, tanker plane, New York, Thornton Tomtree, Troublesome Mesa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Veteran bestselling author Leon Uris (Exodus, Trinity) stays true to form with A God in Ruins, delivering yet another vast and vigorous novel about politics and history, right and wrong, love and loss. This time his country of choice is the United States, on the eve of the 2008 presidential election.

The incumbent, Thornton Tomtree, is running against the Catholic governor of Colorado, Quinn Patrick O'Connell. Thornton, who grew up playing in his daddy's Providence junkyard, made billions on a computer invention before becoming president. Brainy, calculating, and stiff, he lacks both charm and scruples--qualities that the honest and open Quinn, an ex-Marine, has in spades. Though set in 2008, A God in Ruins has its roots firmly in the past. In order to flesh out his characters, Uris casts his net all the way back to World War II, highlighting some of the more dramatic moments in Thornton and Quinn's lives as they move inexorably from youth towards a run for the White House. In the process, Uris takes up some of the attention-grabbing political issues in America from the second half of the 20th century: gun control, terrorist attacks, and Clinton's sex scandals.

Uris can always be counted on to inject the political with the personal, and Quinn is the perfect vehicle for this when his presidential bid is threatened at the eleventh hour by potentially damning information about his past. A lively supporting cast of characters--from Quinn's delicious wife Rita to Thornton's conflicted right-hand man Darnell--adds spark to this emotional story. At one point, when the campaign has reached a fever pitch, Thornton says about Quinn, "Our jingle-jangle rope-a-dope cowboy is going to be a handful." So is Uris's engaging book, which positively spills over with simple heroism and hot-button political issues. --Katherine Anderson

From Publishers Weekly
Veteran writer Uris (Exodus; Redemption) begins his 12th novel with a compelling premise: Quinn O'Connell is certain to become America's second Roman Catholic president, except that he discovers, a week before the 2008 election, that he was actually born Jewish. Adopted 60 years ago by a Catholic couple, and newly informed by his long-lost Jewish half-brother of his heritage, O'Connell now asks a difficult question: Is America ready to elect a Jewish president? This initial introduction of the issue of anti-Semitism seems promising. Uris obviously is aiming to put the religion of a world leader in perspective: what does it matter if he's at heart a good and honest man? But then he virtually ignores the theme for the next 300 pages. Even when the national reaction to O'Connell's identity results in epidemic violence against Jewish people across the country, an event compared to Kristallnacht, the national issue that gets the most play in O'Connell's presidential race is gun control. His opponent in the election is Republican incumbent Thornton Tomtree, whose administration is struggling to repair his reputation in the wake of violent national tragedies like the Four Corners Massacre, in which 400 Eagle Scouts and their troop leaders are killed in a catastrophic explosion set off by a drugged-out militia group. O'Connell goes up against the gun lobby and calls for repeal of the Second Amendment as part of his presidential campaign. This issue dominates the bulk of the novel, making the opening and closing sections feel like a cut-and-paste job on a totally different story. Years are dismissed in sentences and events are outlined instead of described. Gun lobbies, neo-Nazi militias and tensions between black and Jewish communities eventually get worked into the plot, as does O'Connell's family history, but Uris's apocalyptic tale is too stylistically scattered to generate much suspense. In fact, readers may think they are reading a miniseries teleplay that hasn't been fully fleshed out. Author tour; 15-city TV satellite tour. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (May 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060183772
• ISBN-13: 978-0060183776
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (157 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #334,536 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I can't believe Uris wrote this book!, October 27, 2000

By	Richard P. Maguire (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A God in Ruins (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a long time fan of Leon Uris and was excited to begin another of his novels. I have been greatly influenced by his previous works- to the extent that after reading "Battlecry" at the age of 18 I enlisted in the Marine Corps and served for 20 years.

I am distressed to report that this novel is poorly researched, poorly edited and profoundly ideological.

The book is replete with anahronism. One of the secondary characters, a Marine Major General, is supposedly a WWII vet still on active duty in the 21st century. Can't happen, wouldn't happen, didn't happen. Uris describes a former Marine Major who served on active duty from 1978-1986 as a Viet Nam vet. Umm, I was on active duty from 1976 to 1996, the US was out of the war three years before I enlisted. Quinn O'Connell rose to the non-existent rank of Master Technical Sergeant in a five year career? Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.

Uris' attempt at the techno thriller genre would embarass even the least talented Tom Clancy wannabe's. His description of the equipment, tactics and weapons used on the fictional raid into Iran strain the loosest credibility. Nor does he provide believable justification for this goofy mission. How exactly does freeing an Iranian criminal/dissident exact revenge for a terrorist bombing? It's obvious that the only reason for this little plot line is to provide an opportunity to ascribe heroic actions to O'Connell.

Uris' description of the thinly disguised surrogate for the NRA, AMERIGUN, is directlty drawn from the rantings of the farthest left opponents to the Second Amendment. His efforts result in laughable caricatures of any prominent opponents to his point of view.

Most distressing is the shift in the quality of writing about half way through the book. The story starts as vintage Uris with the epic sweep and characterization that made his previous work so enjoyable. When the story moves into present times the writing become less clear, less concise and .....just less good, in fact, not good at all.

Avoid this book at all costs. I only gave it one star because I had no lower choice.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed by poor editing., May 24, 1999

By	Vivian Barning ([e-mail]) "vbarning" (San Diego, California) - See all my reviews

I love Leon Uris. I've read all his books and several have had specific influences on my life. Therefore, I was very excited when I learned of A God in Ruins and I preordered immediately. I am only 86 pages in but was compelled to do this review to register my shock at the poor editing job done by Harper Collins. Snyder and Camp never played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Snider and Campy (Campanella) did. Columbia Law School has no basketball team. No grad schools do. Columbia University (undergraduate) issues no athletic scholarships. The most egregious error, however, is that the list of the authors previous works is inaccurate. Uris never wrote a book entitled Milta Pass. He did, in fact, write a fine book years ago, Mitla Pass. How sad. Heads should roll. I'm almost afraid to read on to see what other errors mar this work.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Say you didn't right this, Mr. Uris., July 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A God in Ruins (Mass Market Paperback)

...I checked this audiotape out at the library. But I do a lot of purchasing here and I also rely heavily on Amazon.com customer reviews in making my book purchasing choices. Unfortunately, somehow I didn't consult them when selecting Ruins. Man I sure should have. After listening to Ruins, I honestly felt betrayed. I haven't anything new to add that hasn't already been covered in the other reviews. I would like to offer a challenge though. I challenge anyone to find a book from an author as great as Leon Uris that is as bad as this one. I grew up on Leon Uris. He is the reason I became a historical fiction devotee. For that I will forgive him (maybe not his editor), and I can only hope we will see a return to the writing standard of his previous works.