Rachel Reviews - The Second Coming: A Love Story

The Second Coming: A Love Story by Scott Pinsker

* Book received from the author for review

This book is about religion, politics and the intertwining of the two. The only way it could be more controversial would be if it included a debate about pizza toppings. That being said, my goal in this review is to review the book itself, not its views on religion and politics, though I will admit, the presentation of each throughout the book was, while reading, balanced. You have no idea which one is the messiah and which is the devil until the very last two pages. Even then, there’s some doubt.

Throughout the entire book, you keep going back and forth, wondering which messiah is the real deal. Wondering if all the subversive tactics their respective disciples are using, are worth the pain they cause. You keep reading in the hopes of finding answers, even just a little bit of closure. The most I got out of it, humans are terrible creatures by nature and maybe the devil has good reason to despise us.

Every character in this book is clearly another take on their biblical namesakes. Peter Clay, Mary Magdala, it’s pretty obvious who these people are meant to portray. In addition, while the various members of the media do not have namesakes, it’s clear they are meant to represent various people currently working in radio, television, etc. Throughout all of the mass media attention, siding with one messiah, bashing the other, the only person I felt that truly kept their heads was Professor Solomon Basemath and he was only in one scene. The only person I felt any emotion for was Michael and that’s probably because, like the reader, he was stuck between two realms, with no clue about where he’s going or why he is where he is. Most of the other characters do truly deplorable things al in the name of supporting their messiah and it makes it almost impossible to empathize with them when bad things happen. Yet again, reaffirming one of the final messages of the book, humans are deplorable.

I went through this entire book out of interest in seeing which messiah would end up being real and which would be the devil. I sought closure in the last chapter of this book. I received none. Maybe this is the author’s intent, they do have a sequel coming out this year. Either way, the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. I will give this book credit for keeping me reading; I had no interest in not finishing it. I give this book credit for a consistent storyline. I also enjoyed the devil’s backstory that was interlaced with everything going on, even if it was incredibly confusing for the first several references. But I still feel let down by the ending and that’s the last impression I got from the book. The most I can give this is 3 Gnomes.