Genre: Armageddon / End of the world.
Publisher: Obsidian Point
Publication Date: 10th Jan 2016
Pages: 374
MY REVIEW:
A copy of The
Nephilim and the False Prophet (Armageddon #2), was sent to Confessions of
a Reviewer by the author, David Dubrow, in exchange for an honest review. This
is said review. This book is published by Obsidian Point.
So David Dubrow. Dirty Dave as he is sometimes known. I
have known him for a while now, since reading part one of the Armageddon
Trilogy, The Blessed Man and the Witch.
You can read my review of it here.
Now I have a lot of respect for Mr Dubrow,
both as a writer and as a person. He has been a tireless supporter of
Confessions since it first started and for that I am truly grateful, and he
knows this. He also knows that because I think he is a decent guy, this will
not grant him any favours when I read his stuff and post a review.
That being said, here is what I thought of The Nephilim and the False Prophet.
****Warning**** this book follows on from The Blessed Man and the Witch. As such, this may mean spoilers for you if you have not read book one. So, go
buy it and read it first then come back and read this review!
The final run to Armageddon has started. The Slaughter of
the Innocents is inevitable. It can’t be stopped. Or can it?
Hector, his wife Reyna and Siobhan are fighting on the
side of the good guys after the sounding of the horn. Aren’t they?
Kyle is doing the lords work as he has been called to.
Isn’t he? People are calling him the False Prophet saying he has no powers and
no claim to his position. Is he?
The end is indeed in sight but what can be done to stop
it. If anything.
Continuing the epic battle between the various planes of
existence, everyone is battling their own demons, both real and imaginary.
Everyone is searching for the answers.
No one can be sure what they are.
I have been sitting staring at my screen for about an
hour now because I don’t know where to start with this one. I quite honestly do
not know how to describe this book in a review. An epic? A masterpiece? Those
are certainly words that spring to mind. One thing is for certain though, no
matter what I write down here, and you read over the next few minutes, can ever
do this book, and indeed this entire story, any sort of justice and give it the
credit it deserves.
Characters wise we have some of the same from book one
and we lost a couple. Are they the same type of characters as book one? Some
are, some aren’t. Not telling you which are which because that would give
things away and spoil things for you. People are hard when they need to be and
soft when they don’t want to be. The one thing I will tell you about these
characters though is that you will believe everything about them. You will
believe everything they do and everything they say and everything they think.
You have no choice. They are written in such a way that you can’t help but let
them fully under your skin.
The plot? Hmmm. Let me think. I want to try and make it
easy for you but it isn’t. I don’t want to make it sound complicated either
because it isn’t. It is confusing at times but that is purely because the story
is going in so many different directions and has sub plots and sub stories and
sub worlds that are all intricately intertwined. You know they are all going to
come together at one point. You think you know when that point is going to be
only to be fooled again by another little twist that Mr Dubrow shoves in your
face. This book has more twists and surprises than any rollercoaster in the
dark.
I guess the easy plot is that the world is coming to an
end. Some people want to let it happen and some don’t. Easy. But then there are
others who want to do their own thing and set up different things and then
others who have some other agenda and…….see what I mean? The end plot is not
something that I have totally figured out yet. This is obviously going to become
clearer in book three. Well I have. Sort of. It’s like I said the end of the
world, heaven versus hell, good versus evil. Demons versus angels. I have been
trying to think what I could maybe compare it with and one thing that sticks in
my head is Constantine. Only this is Constantine on speed.
Do you know your bible? Do you know The Book of Enoch?
The Missing book of the bible (missing for many reasons but that is another
story). Well you don’t have to but that is where I think Mr Dubrow took some of
his inspiration from for this story. It is very very clear that he has spent a
lot of time and effort researching for information and studying the plight of
the fallen angels. I’m not a religious man by any means but religion interests
me. The Book of Enoch interests me. In some ways, this trilogy is bringing The
Book of Enoch to life.
Some scenes in this story are set on earth in the present
day. They paint a very bleak picture of the earth in these times of turmoil and
tribulation. Everything seems to be very dark. At the start of each story there
is an excerpt from either a newspaper, or radio show, or television news
programme. They describe things that are happening all over the world in the
run up to the end of the world. They get progressively worse as the story
progresses. They describe unrest in many major cities. Crimes against property
and people alike. Crimes against the world. You know what is striking about
these excerpts though? They are in a story, but it could very possibly be
something you or I could see or hear on the news today. This is a story. Made
up for entertainment. It is rather worrying though that through the expertly
subtle writing and inclusion of things that could happen in our normal day to
day lives that: is it made up? Are we already heading for Armageddon but just
don’t know it yet? This book for me is so very powerful in its subliminal
messages sometimes that it is scary in the extreme to be able to make you
pause, and think it is possible.
There are other scenes that are set in other worlds.
Other planes of existence.
These are magical. Written in such a way that you
get a very vivid and intricate picture in your head of the locations and the beings
in them. One thing is very prominent when you read this book and it’s something
I can say without doubt: David Dubrow has some imagination going on inside that
head of his. It must be like the Tardis in there.
To summarise: the continuing story of the end of the
world. Armageddon is coming. The bad want to accelerate it, the good want to
stop it. Who is going to win? You know at this point it could be either. Roll
on book three!
General rating:
★★★★★ just superb.
Horror / armageddon rating:
★★★★★ ditto!
If you would like to help support Confessions of a Reviewer,
then please consider using the links below to buy The Nephilim and the False Prophet or any other books from David. This
not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy
books after reading my reviews.
Thanks.
Book Synopsis:
Fuelled by brutal, random violence and a worldwide
leprosy epidemic, the Earth descends into chaos. Preparing for Armageddon, Hell
plans an atrocity called The Slaughter of the Innocents while Heaven’s
scattered agents fight a cold war against superstar evangelist Kyle Loubet, who
they believe is the False Prophet foretold in the Bible.
The Eremites walk the Earth: black magicians kept alive
through unholy relics. Terrible visions assail the world’s remaining psychics,
promising an eternal night of blood and fire and endless agony. Caught in the
middle, Hector, Ozzie, and Siobhan face terrible dangers from all sides. Now
free from their infernal prison, what are the Watcher angels planning? With
only days before the Apocalypse, can humanity be saved?
His Puritan work ethic saw him through years of hard labor in Philadelphia at thankless tasks, and the skills he acquired amaze supermarket cashiers and assistant produce managers even today. Belatedly heeding Horace Greeley's admonishment to "go west, young man," he drove his beater in the direction of the setting sun and fetched up at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with few prospects and fewer friends.
It was in Colorado that he found the love of his life and a career in publishing with "the most dangerous press in America," in reverse order. Over a decade later, he condensed the techniques of combat shooting, knife fighting, martial arts, and survival skills he'd learned first-hand into a book titled, "The Ultimate Guide to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse." Lavishly illustrated by a baker's half-dozen of talented artists, it was written under the pseudonym F. Kim O'Neill and published by Paladin Press in 2010. Scott Kenemore, author of "Zombie, Ohio" and "Zombie, Illinois," called it, "One of the most capable and engaging how-to zombie survival books I've encountered."
Eventually, the stories in his head needed to come out. Eschewing the more old-fashioned technique of trepanning, he instead went digital and began to write e-books. His first novel is titled "The Blessed Man and the Witch." The beginning of a trilogy about a Biblical apocalypse, it addresses western occultism, angelic phenomena, demonic possession, and the slow dissolution of American society within a credible and original framework.
Dave, his wife, and their son now live on the west coast of Florida, swatting alligators and wrestling mosquitoes.
And for more about David, see his site or find him on social media:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page
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