Rating: 6/10
Synopsis
Psychologist Loche Newirth becomes hunted when he sees a painting that opens a window onto the afterlife. An ancient order of men seeking to control the art pursue him across the world, through centuries, into madness and beyond.The first part of Michael B. Koep’s The Newirth Mythology-The Invasion of Heaven is mystery, adventure, myth, betrayal, murder and madness. Psychologist Loche Newirth wonders if it was his fall: the fifty foot drop from the rocky cliff to the icy water below. Is this why he has been hallucinating? Or is it because one of his clients is dead, or his mentor has gone mad, or that his wife is leaving him? He can’t bring himself to believe what he has been seeing. Insane things like a massive, searching eye. He sees it in the water below the cliff. He sees it in mirrors, on walls: a massive, crystal blue iris and fathomless pupil there in the center of his life, looking at him. To find the answer, Loche pens the recent events of his life into a book and leaves the work behind for his mentor Doctor Marcus Rearden to interpret. As Rearden reads he plunges into the harrowing depths of Loche’s reality: his loss of a client, the discovery of an unknown past, an ancient conflict over possession of the human condition, the awesome reality of the gods walking among us, and the crimes of humanity invading the hope that lies beyond the grave. And along the way, Loche tells of unforgettable characters: the torn and manic housewife that teeters on the edge of sanity, and a depressed, swashbuckling swordsman that believes he is over six hundred years old, the stoned and prolific painter and his perilous work he must keep secret, and the beautiful business woman that abandons her life’s work for a love she never expected.
Review
THE INVASION OF HEAVEN was something of an enigma for me. Honestly, I spent much of the Book not really liking it. In the end, though, I found it did have some redeeming qualities that boosted it into a higher rating.
One if the biggest issues I have with this book is that the storyline is WAY out there. People that somehow have this innocuous connect to God or The Gods (this is left open-ended as to which deity or deities we are talking about). The actual connection is never fully explained, either, but it takes on almost Gods-created-things-with-power-so-there-must-be-some-left-over kind of vibe. And certain people are able to control the experiences others by imbuing this power into their art (painting and writing, in this circumstance). I did not find this narrative to be all that interesting.
The writing itself did not do much to keep me all that interested, either. I was not a fan if the dialogue, which was often cheesy and did not differentiate between the characters much. There was not a lot of oomph in the story, either: no real tension-building moments. It just kind of felt like one big plateau.
But then… the author pulled off something interesting off at the end. I was not expecting it, and it certainly surprised me. The story comes together in a very unexpected way; and, while I would have never guessed it, it is one of those endings where you think to yourself about the clues along the way that pointed the story in this direction. The clues were sparse and subtle, but they were there, nonetheless. Author Michael B. Koep pulled off a magnificent ending.
In all, I am happy I stuck with it. While this book for the most part is not really for me, you might like THE INVASION OF HEAVEN overall more than I did. If you do read it, I recommend sticking with it until the end. The payoff is worth it.
Sounds like a dud to me and I probably would have DNF it, but then again, it doesn’t sound like a book I would pick up anyway.
I almost did. But, happy I stuck with it because the end was really interesting.
Well, as long as you got some reward at then end. ☺️