All of the reviews of this book that I’ve read have been favorable. Maybe that’s because lib reviewers don’t want to trash one of “us.” So they’re leaving it to a curmudgeon like me to say that the plot of this novel is stupid. My objection is this: if God doesn’t exist you can’t kill him. Furthermore, many of the arguments presented against the existence of God also apply to a Mother Goddess, Satan, witches, and similar claptrap that this novel pretends do exist.

If you can get past the dumb story, you will find some value here. It’s suspenseful and competently written in symbolized detective style. It takes place in a believable setting— deteriating near-future Los Angeles reminiscent of Atlas Shrugged. It features the Auberge, an outlaw shopping mall more clandestine than the one in Alongside Night because it’s libertine, not squeaky-clean, and because it’s known to the government but more trouble than it’s worth for them to control.

The setting is wonderful. I wish Koman had done something better with it—used it for a realistic story or even a consistent fantasy.

But no. What he gives us is this contradiction on legs. He jazzes up the plot with fantasy elements—a telepathic hooker, a sorta invisible woman, mass psychic attacks, and a Satan-character who cures cancer and lights cigarettes with his finger. At the same time we’re supposed to give rational consideration to arguments against the existence of God. Give me one or the other, rational argument in a convincing story, or a rip-roaring fantasy with no pretense of philosophical credibility. But don’t mix the utterly incompatible.

In the climax, Koman compounds the problem. After arguing in many chapters that God doesn’t exist, he gives us a real God! Okay: Koman’s God is an overgrown, spoiled brat. But he exists. Koman has forgotten (if he is trying to promote atheism) that the medium is the message. His arguments will be forgotten while his portrayal of an existing God will not.

My recommendation to Koman is to salvage the wonderful setting—especially the Auberge and private space enterprise—and use them in a realistic story. But get rid of those damn witches and the Satanic and psychic slop.

A longer version of this review appeared in The Skeptic (c/o Erwin Strauss, 4271 Duke St. #D-10, Alexandria VA 22304.