The Last Day

It is moments before midnight on New Year's Eve 1999, when something incredible happens. It is a geological event of staggering proportions, followed by reports of the emergence of a woman with divine powers. Is she a divine emissary, the product of bizarre science, or something moresinister?Amazon.com ReviewJust in time for the millennium, Glenn Kleier mixes bio-engineering and religion, miracles and modern warfare, politics and physics to produce a gripping tale set in the Middle East at the dawn of the 21st century. When a mysterious explosion destroys a top-secret laboratory in the Negev desert on Christmas Day 1999, Jonathan Feldman, a reporter, isn't satisfied with the official explanation. Neither is the Vatican, nor an American fundamentalist preacher, nor the patriarch of the Jehovah's Witnesses, all of whom believe that Armageddon may truly be at hand. After a New Year's Eve earthquake strikes the temple at the Well of David and a mysterious figure appears in the ruins, strange things begin to happen. Reports of miracles filter in from throughout the region, and the legend of Jeza takes on a life of its own. When the young miracle worker chooses Jonathan to connect her to the world and broadcast her warning of the cataclysm to come, the world's religious leaders are plunged into conflict. Seeking to discredit her, they spread the secret of her high-tech, bioengineered birth. But their actions backfire; Jeza's influence grows. Holy wars break out in the Middle East and chaos erupts all over the world. As Easter 2000 approaches, the political situation grows even more tense: Will there be another crucifixion, another resurrection? Kleier handles this complicated plot with ease, and fans of futuristic thrillers won't be disappointed. --Jane AdamsFrom Library JournalA combination of scientific thriller, religious satire, and New Age mysticism, this debut novel offers a view of what might happen as the end of the millennium approaches. At a remote research facility in the Negev Desert, a meteor wreaks massive destruction. Meanwhile, at midnight on New Year's Eve, 1999, in Jerusalem, a young and mysterious woman appears who seems to have a powerful gift. She calls herself Jeza, and soon everyone wonders whether she is a prophetess, the Messiah, or the Antichrist. On hand is Jon Feldman, a skeptical reporter for the World News Network. Beset by his own doubts and lack of strong faith, Feldman is nevertheless fascinated and attracted by the mysterious Jeza. Is she truly a manifestation of God, or is she simply the result of a bizarre experiment of bioengineering? Feldman won't rest until he finds out the truth. Kleier's novel offers a view of how organized religion would react to such a threat. Though the prose is pedestrian and the dialog often overwrought, the story is so well paced that most readers will perhaps forgive the other deficiencies. For large fiction collections. -Dean James, Murder by the Book, Houston, Tex.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.