Today’s team review is from Jenni.
Jenni has been reading The Fall by Anton Eine.
Full disclosure, Iāve known about, and been looking forward to, this book for over a year. Eine told me he was working on it back when I reviewed his (pretty zany) science fiction novel, Progromagic, early in 2023. At the time, the idea of Jesus taking over the body of a world famously hedonistic rockstar seemed like wacky idea that could lead to some fun and interesting āfish out of waterā situations.
The Fall was many things, but wacky wasnāt one of them. From the jump, readers are introduced to David Headstrong and the boys of his band, Loyal Revolt, a strangely thoughtful gang of rockers that are firmly antiestablishment, and very vocal about it, for good and ill. Along for the ride is Jenny Wright, Loyal Revoltās new manager, a ball-busting young woman who vacillates between sex object and den mother at varying points. Watching all of this, and commenting on it, is Christ himself, somewhere up in heaven, waiting to get zapped into Headstrongās body and start walking among the imperfect of the earth once again.
This cast of characters in tow, the adventures of Loyal Revolt commence as they write, record, travel to concerts, get into barfights, and work very hard to convince us that David Headstrong is the absolute worst person on earth, the exact opposite of Christ. Never mind that concert proceeds go to charity, and Headstrong is shown being incredibly tender with his bandmates and fans, heās a sinner, dear readers, the worst. Look over there! Heās sleeping with another groupie ā No! Ignore the fact that heās actively helping a young band thatās just starting out, and how heās turning his childhood home into an orphanage, heās terrrriiibbllee. Watch him punch this guy who attacked him first!
I was not prepared for how philosophical this book would be. The nature of God, the role institutions play in society, anarchy vs civilization, and free thought vs conformity all come in to play at some point in this book. Donāt get me wrong, thereās also incredibly testosterone fueled plot beats, some more plausible than others (the band getting into a shootout in a bar stretches credulity a bit), but overall this book is far more cerebral than I was prepared for. It’s an interesting mix, philosophy and rock ān roll, one that Eine dishes out with varying levels of grace. Some scenes in the book touched me with their delicate handling, others felt about as subtle as a shovel to the face, a range that I think the character of Headstrong would approve of.
Blunt, beautiful, putrid, The Fall is just the start of a journey that Eine has obviously been chewing on for a while. Now we just have to hang on and see what happens next.
4/5
Book Description:
āThe Fallā is the first book of the powerful gripping rollercoaster rock saga of Christās second coming into the modern world. Profound, vivid, candid and provocative!
For 2000 years, you have been awaiting my second coming. And now Iāve come back to save humanity, itās all gone horribly wrong.
I have found myself incarnated in the body of Dave Headstrong, a controversial rock singer who has dedicated his life to fighting and debunking the Church ā my Church! And to make things worse, this time Iāve come stripped of my divine powers. How can I reveal myself to the world when Iām trapped in this poor deluded mortalās helpless body? Will anyone believe what I have to say or will they write me off as a madman?
I, Jesus, rock star, didnāt choose this path, but Iām not going to give up. I am ready to fight for the salvation of mankind whatever the cost. Social issues, political conflicts, the venality of religion, a crisis of faith, love, hate, betrayal and a lot of loud rock music ā I am willing to go through all of this to complete my mission. So, will you follow me?
AmazonUK |
Rosie Amber 