THE APOSTATE

by Paul Lonardo
Hollis Books; ISBN: 1928781381

This is the author's debut novel and it shows. However, it is not without some merit. As with other books and films out recently it deals with the end of the world and a battle with the Devil. However, the book seems to have been written to a formula, including gratuitous violence, an obligatory sex scene and unfortunately an anti-climactic ending (the book not the sex scene!).

The Apostate starts by introducing the main characters and why they are in Caldera: Chris, a runaway teenager pursued by his uncle for killing his abusive father; Julian, an environmentalist studying the effects of a rapid growing city on local ecology; and a psychiatrist called Saney (?!) trying to understand why the city's inhabitants are experiencing unusually high mental disorders.

Each of them seems to stumble around until a murder brings them together to share what information they have. This leads to a very rapid conclusion and a confrontation with a man they believe to be the devil. This man hardly puts up a fight and is vanquished very easily, at which point an earthquake forces the three main characters to leave Caldera just in time to see the city destroyed in a natural disaster.

The story idea is fairly good and there are plenty of clues as to who might be behind what is going on. However, the setting fails to convince, and the rapid ending lets down what could have been a very good first book.

A.F. Heaton