God Is a Bullet

by Boston Teran

Book Overview

An ex-member of a bloodthirsty cult must pair up with a police officer to take down the group's murderous leader in this dark, wrenching thriller about personal conviction, retribution, and survival.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375401881
• ISBN13: 9780375401886
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 301 Pages
• Weight: 1.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Not for the squeemish!

GIAB is like a wet towel hitting you in the face when you're not expecting it. It is a mediation on the nature of evil, not in abstract sense, but in a very graphic one. It starts with a fiendish crime and then follows the perpetrators and one of the victims as they try to sort out what might be called rough justice. There are some appealing characters from what the villains might call "the sheep", including a local lawman named Bob Hightower (okay, not the most subtle technique with his last name, I'll admit.) Watching Hightower come to grips with the depths of evil here, and change himself to face it with any chance of survival is really impressive. There's a scene in the middle of the book where he has a conversation with a former victim who is out for revenge. The dialogue between them as she tries to explain just how bad real evil is, is quite fascinating. It's been two years since I read the book, and that passage still stands out for me. Boston Teran is a fearless writer. This is his best book. If you like meditations on good and evil and what to do about it (and the courage and knowledge that takes), this book is for you.

In the desert.

Where to begin? For this author's style, less is definitely more. His poetic imagery of the austere, harsh desert landscape is almost palpable, yet as compacted as it gets. Every word, each phrase is like a single jewel that becomes a glittering mosaic seen through a kaleidoscope. Not one word is wasted, and every single, simple phrase evokes a multitude of images. The language sets the stage for the unforgettable characters. Cyrus has got to be the most monstrous sociopath in the history of literature. Case is the most interesting and unique heroine I've ever met. And bumbling Bob is a decent, average guy caught up in extraordinarily traumatic circumstances that turn an ordinary man into a hero. This is a story of cruelty and greed, of the power of love, of triumph over evil. The ending is perfect, but it made me long to know how Bob, Case and Gabi made out after the end of the book. I would hope they all lived reasonably happily ever after. More than worth the all-too-short time it takes to read it from cover to cover.

Powerful thriller

Mr. Terans first novel is definitely one with emotional highs and lows! A gritty read! A real page-turner! In 1970, a young boy finds a woman's brutally murdered body. 25 years later, Bob Hightower, a deputy sheriff, is called upon to investigate a similar savage murder. The victims are his ex-wife and her husband. A group called "The Left Handed Path" kidnaps his daughter during this time. They are a satanic cult dealing in drugs and more. God is a Bullet, is about a father who goes through a suspenseful cat and mouse chase to find his missing daughter. If you like an excellent, powerful thriller, then you must read this book! I for one will reread it again in the future. I have to warn the faint of heart this one is graphic.

NIGHTMARE RIDE THROUGH HELL

I wish there were more than five stars, for I would surely give this book the highest possible rating. It is at once horrifying, disturbing and likely to offend many readers. However, for those readers, of which I am one, who can take themselves out of their comfortable, mundane existences and allow themselves to accept that true evil exists in this world, and that heroes are not always pure and righteous, but often damaged, as are the protagonists in this story, then this book will enthrall and captivate. This book has graphic violence, and acts so evil that the reader is left gasping. And yet there is utlimately a sense of redemption at the end. The effects of this book will not soon leave you. There is nothing pretty here, but the raw courage of both Case and Hightower, and their ability, in spite of their own intense demons, left me to admire them more than the usual "good guy" protagonists of many other thrillers. It has been several weeks since I read this book, and the experience is still with me. Boston Teran is a tremendous talent, and I will eagerly await any new books he may write.

Yes!

Yes! Another great find among all the bland crap that is passed off as good crime writing. This guy is another killer with a keyboard.