J.J. Ace Judgment Day

Judgment Day

J.J. Ace

Five Star, Sept. 2005, $25.95 286 pp.

ISBN 1594143889

After being force fed several Ecstasy tablets at a rave, Elias jumps off a forty story building and dies. When he comes to Mephisto, second-in-command of the legions of hell and the archangel Michael, leader of God's army, tell him he is the new Forerunner of the millennium. A Forerunner is given the powers of the angels and demons to decide who will be in control of the earth for the next one thousand years, Heaven, Hell or humanity.

The former Forerunner Matthias lived when Byzantium was a world power. Elias doesn't want the responsibility of deciding mankind's fate but when he saves the people who killed him and the woman he loved as a mortal, he accepts the mantle of responsibility thrust upon him. The fallen angel Warrish doesn't want Elias to make any choice and repeatedly tries to kill him so he can rule over all the realms by bringing about Armageddon. Elias with the help of several allies does all in his power to stop him but while the hosts of heaven and hell clash, Warish reads the scrolls that bring about uncreation. That opens Elias's eyes so he makes a decision that changes heaven, hell and other entities.

This apocalyptic thriller is also a coming of age story (even though the hero is dead). Abandoned by his father and feeling that his mother neglects him, Elias goes from a pleasure seeking rebel to a man capable of choosing what he deems is best for mankind. There is non-stop action, great character development and an exciting and storyline in this unique work of speculative fiction work J.J. Ace has written a work that will be put on the readers' keeper shelf.

Harriet Klausner