SJ Hill

As an avid fan of mystical/religious themes, I had high hopes for this book. I wouldn't say I'm exactly disappointed so much as I was underwhelmed. In the beginning of the book, the main character Coop comes off as a Shadow Moon type, strong, a little scary, not so silent but full of sarcastic humor and quick jabs. The trouble comes with all the other supporting characters in the book. Most of the main antagonists act like stupid caricatures of what they should be or are reduced to the most basic level of character to move the plot along.

From reading the little blurb on the back, I thought this was going to be more like a Good Omens situation. I was not correct. The character whose POV the snippet is from is rarely seen in the book, and he is not very compelling when he is there. Think of an early Castiel, and that's about the gist. He is very innocent and bored and does not have much going on in general. The book proceeds to jump between multiple points of view, ranging from our main character Coop, to a doomsday cult leader who feels like a suburban white dad who happens to crave the end of the world and has very stupid followers, another Apocalypse cult leader who is old and frail and is basically just waiting to die who also has very stupid followers, to a mysterious stranger travelling by foot to get in on the action and just causing fuckery and being cryptic along the way (and I absolutely loved this character until the end). In the end, everyone comes together in a (to me) very anticlimactic ending.

Now, I may be too harsh on it. I was hoping for a cool book about the possible end of the world with interesting themes and some weird world building thrown in. Maybe some re-told biblical stories or hidden information. What this book actually gives you is mostly a LaCroix version of a heist / crime novel. Enough to count and be recognizable, but not enough to be completely satisfying.

All in all, I enjoyed the book for what it was, but I would not put it on my list of favorites. It's a fun read that is easy to follow with characters that are sarcastically funny and entertaining.