The New Messiah

Daniel Biskar 
iUniverse (2007)
ISBN 9780595460953
Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (1/08)


Mr. Biskar has written a very unique book that reads more like a screenplay. The scenes are set by a narration, as if for a stage play, which makes it nice for the reader. The dialog between the characters takes the form of a script. It is not the most exciting, but then the dialog is not the main point of the story.

Neal Shelly is a young man that is on a quest to bring the world a new Messiah. He begins his journey hitchhiking across America to the Olympics in Montreal, Canada.  While doing this, he is struck with the idea that people need to know the truth about what is happening in the country, how people have become so lost and distant and have no soul.
 
With the help of his friend Andrew Moore, Neal starts to vocalize sermons on the Venice Boardwalk, trying to convince people that Andrew is the modern-day savior.  They continue to broaden their sphere of influence till such a time as Andrew begins to live the lie. This unexpected turn of events does not sit well with Neal. He becomes resentful of Andrew and the monster he created that could not be undone. But just as he begins to lose hope of bringing Andrew back to reality, Andrew gets picked up by the cops and is taken to the psychiatric hospital.

The book culminates with Andrew realizing he is not the Messiah and beginning the slow mental recovery process, meeting the girl of his dreams along the way. Neal goes on to be with the love of his life and everybody lives happily ever after.
 
Although it was written in a different manner from most books, reading it did not present much of a problem after a few pages. The book was a slow-paced read and dragged on a bit due to the dialog between characters. I gave “The New Messiah” a B and I just think it could have been made a little more exciting.

Make comment on weblog