Helpful Score: 5
This was a MUCH different book than I expected, it had a couple loose ends that were never resolved, but other than that it was an enjoyable read, lots of twists and turns thru the story and interesting subject matter for sure! Worth the time to read!
Helpful Score: 5
I really enjoyed this book. The story is about a virus found near Golgotha in Jerusalem. DNA from bones found near this area unleash an ancient virus that causes a pandemic. The main character, Nathan Lee, crosses the world to reconnenct with his daughter just weeks ahead of massive death. The second half of the book finds Nathan Lee in a scientific community near Los Alamos NM, where scientists try to find a cure for the sickness. Human clones produced from the Golgotha DNA are used to help find a cure. There are strong religous themes here also, of crucifixion, and redemption. This theme becomes obvious when one of the clones begins to say he is the messiah.
Helpful Score: 5
Great read. Apocalyptic page turner. If you like books like "The Stand" by Stephen King you will like this one.
Helpful Score: 2
The sum of this complex tale is more than its parts of medical thriller, archeological fiction, action/adventure and doomsday scenario, as Long (The Descent) thrills with an intricate puzzle. A Greek collector of religious relics searching for artifacts from Christ's crucifixion sends samples of a powder dated to Year Zero to three foreign labs, thereby unwittingly unleashing a plague organism that races through the world's populations. Young archeologist Nathan Lee survives a murderous attack by his crooked professor, David Ochs, but lands in a Tibetan jail as the plague spreads. When the guards open the prison, Nathan makes his way through abandoned territories to Siberia and across to Alaska just ahead of the plague, heading for his daughter and divorced wife in D.C. He finds them gone and is mistaken by his old employer, the Smithsonian, as the messenger expected to take Year Zero bones from a Golgotha dig to the now fortified Los Alamos labs, where scientists are cloning humans who were crucified in the same time as Christ in hopes of finding an antibody from those who had natural resistance. Parlaying the bones for a spot in the restricted compound, Nathan is put in charge of the Golgotha clones by genius young scientist Miranda Abbot. She and Nathan become lovers and the nemeses of a mad scientist, who, along with Ochs, does fiendish things to clones and plague victims while disrupting the researchers. Long mounts one nearly impossible escape scene after another and doesn't miss a step as he builds a no-win scenario, then pulls it out. The shifting terrain is vibrantly portrayed, the religious fallout is deftly handled and the characters engage completely as they face a gruesome end to civilization in this dashing, exciting thriller.
Helpful Score: 2
Very good tale of survivors after pandemic. Makes you wonder if we're worth saving.
Helpful Score: 1
Best book I've read by Jeff Long yet. Excellent account of how the end of the world Might occur and how we would save ourselves. Technical knowledge is topnotch. He researches his books!
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed this book, good end of the world story.
Helpful Score: 1
Quite an interesting "What If" situation AND certainly not what you expect....
Helpful Score: 1
A Greek collector of religious relics searching for artifacts from Christ's crucifixion sends samples of a powder dated to Year Zero to three foreign labs, thereby unwittingly unleashing a plague organism that races through the world's populations. Young archeologist Nathan Lee survives a murderous attack by his crooked professor, David Ochs, but lands in a Tibetan jail as the plague spreads. When the guards open the prison, Nathan makes his way through abandoned territories to Siberia and across to Alaska just ahead of the plague, heading for his daughter and divorced wife in D.C. He finds them gone and is mistaken by his old employer, the Smithsonian, as the messenger expected to take Year Zero bones from a Golgotha dig to the now fortified Los Alamos labs, where scientists are cloning humans who were crucified in the same time as Christ in hopes of finding an antibody from those who had natural resistance.
Helpful Score: 1
Aside from a needless trip into religion, this is a great apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic story of a plague. The religious side-story is arbitrary, and very obviously done just to be able to use an as an eye-catcher on the cover.
Other than that, a decent story. It could be great, but the science gets 'mushy' and tacky simply to accommodate the religious side-story.
Other than that, a decent story. It could be great, but the science gets 'mushy' and tacky simply to accommodate the religious side-story.
Helpful Score: 1
slow starter but then had hard time putting it down.
Helpful Score: 1
i thought this was an enjoyable read
Helpful Score: 1
A new virus threatens the existence of the world and a small community of scientists stationed at Los Alamos are the last hope.
An archaeological manhunt is on for the historical Jesus. Nathan Lee Swift, a young American field researcher is in on the action. From a Roman landfill to the Greek island of Corfu this story leads you through a pandemic of a 2000 year old plague to Nathan helping to find the cure. But that is just the beginning, the cure leads researchers on a elusive journey before they find the answer.
This was on hell of a read!!!!! Lots of stuff going on and on and on..... Great ending and lots of food for thought!
I really enjoyed this book - especially the whole premise, but it did have some holes and it definitely skipped over parts that I wanted to know more about. Also, the end seemed a little abrupt. Still, I would recommend this one.
Very complex plot, some totally unbelievable scientific nonsense (you really have to suspend your belief during parts of this book after multiple incredulous reactions); entertaining, but ultimately very unsatisfying. The author could have made much more of the "jesus" subplot and turned this into a humdinger of a post apocalyptic myth; but, oh well.
Interesting book. I liked the idea of combining Religion with Science Fiction.
One day when I had a bunch of credits I was browsing books and came across this one so I ordered it and it sat on my TBR shelf for quite a while.
Recently I picked it up to read(I'm going through an "apocalypse" phase:) and I had a hard time putting it down.It was really good!I was a bit confused at first but kept reading and pretty soon I "got it".
I learned a valuable lesson with this book.I almost didn't order it because at teh time there were quite a few posted in teh system so I figured it couldnt be that good but I was so wrong.Glad I ordered it.
Recently I picked it up to read(I'm going through an "apocalypse" phase:) and I had a hard time putting it down.It was really good!I was a bit confused at first but kept reading and pretty soon I "got it".
I learned a valuable lesson with this book.I almost didn't order it because at teh time there were quite a few posted in teh system so I figured it couldnt be that good but I was so wrong.Glad I ordered it.
I just may be short-sighted but can someone really get excited about a book when the main character's first name is "Nathan Lee?" Otherwise, the book was pretty depressing overall; also, various story lines started up and were then dropped without any sort of followup. We will be putting this one right back on the swap list; I'm not recommending that my spouse or any friends read it.
Okay book but not great. It wasn't really a survival story. It was as much or more science fiction. It had something of an anti Christian slant that I (who is not Christian) found very irritating. It is worth reading.
Very scary, suspenseful novel.
An apocalyptic thriller with a mix of religion.
Year Zero
On Corfu, a wealthy artifact collector Nikos seeking the DNA of Jesus opens up a twenty-century-old artifact. He has unleashed Pandora's box containing an extinction event in the form of an airborne plague, last seen early in the first century. All die who come into contact with this particular disease.
Nathan Lee Swift has fallen from grace in the field of archeology and is reduced to grave robbing in war zones. Incarcerated while the historical plague sweeps through the world, he crosses half the globe and ends at Los Alamos where a group of scientists are tasked with saving what is left of humanity.
The shifting terrain is vibrantly portrayed, the religious fallout is deftly handled and the characters engage completely as they face a gruesome end to civilization in this dashing, exciting thriller.
On Corfu, a wealthy artifact collector Nikos seeking the DNA of Jesus opens up a twenty-century-old artifact. He has unleashed Pandora's box containing an extinction event in the form of an airborne plague, last seen early in the first century. All die who come into contact with this particular disease.
Nathan Lee Swift has fallen from grace in the field of archeology and is reduced to grave robbing in war zones. Incarcerated while the historical plague sweeps through the world, he crosses half the globe and ends at Los Alamos where a group of scientists are tasked with saving what is left of humanity.
The shifting terrain is vibrantly portrayed, the religious fallout is deftly handled and the characters engage completely as they face a gruesome end to civilization in this dashing, exciting thriller.
Like The Descent, this is a clever and provocative book. Also like Descent, it leaves a skein of loose ends. Not in the sense that a continuation seems in the offing - rather the fate of characters and the explanation for major plot issues are not given. That may be on purpose, but I personally like things tidied up. Also, I am ready to accept unlikely science fiction plot elements, but in a book set in the present the author should get his science straight. Cloning an individual (unlikely as it is from the type of samples used) does not recreate their memories.
Really cool read. Great imagination by the author. A page turner with all kinds of surprises.
Absolutely loved this book! Who doesn't love a little human annihilation with the possibility of finding Jesus. If you're into apocalyptic fiction then this one is for you!
An archealogist tries to find proof of Jesus.He digs into a landfill at golgotha and releases a 2 thousand year old plague.
they clone some dna and the clone claims to be Jesus
they clone some dna and the clone claims to be Jesus
In Jerusalem, an American archaeologist working on Project Year Zero---the search for the historical Jesus---crosses the line between science and theft when he helps plunder and old Roman landfill beneath the crucifixion ground known as Golgotha. Nathan Lee Swift's crime will have devastating consequences. When an ancient relic is opened on the black market, a two-thousand-year-old plague is unleashed-and the dying begins.
Nathan Lee Swift is forced to commit an archaeological crime. That crime eventually unleashes a terrifying plague on the world. This book describes the plague years, mainly following the stories of Nathan Lee and of Miranda, who is a vulnerable young genius involved in genetic manipulation.
An archaologist working on project Year Zero-the search for the historical Jesus-finds an ancient artifact that,when opened,unleashes a 2000 year old plague which threatens to wipe out humanity. Human remains found in the Year Zero landfill beneath the crucifixion grounds known as Golgotha, are cloned, one of the clones claims to remember who he is...Jesus Christ!
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"An archaeological manhunt is raging in the holy land - a hunt for the historical Jesus. For Nathan Lee Swift, a young American field researcher and expectant father, the line between noble discovery and the plunder of ruins is sacred until the night he crosses it. At a Roman landfill beneath the crucifixion grounds known as Golgotha, Nathan Lee yields to his professor's greed and turns common grave robber. His world - his unborn daughter - seems lost to him." "Hundreds of miles away, on the remote Greek island of Corfu, a wealthy collector pries open his latest black-market purchase - a fourteen-inch holy relic containing a vial of blood dating back to the first century - and unleashes a two-thousand-year-old plague. As the pandemic explodes from the Mediterranean basin and threatens to devour humankind, Nathan Lee gets a chance at redemption. He embarks on an Odyssean journey back to the United States to find his family." Skirting the edges of the world, Nathan Lee's path finally leads him to New Mexico, where the greatest minds of science have converged at Los Alamos to find a vaccine. There Nathan Lee meets Miranda Abbot, a nineteen-year-old prodigy. As the cure continues to elude them, Miranda launches a desperate final strategy: the use of human lab rats cloned from the year zero. Nathan Lee, the thief of bones, comes face to face with men made from the very relics he looted, one of whom claims to be Jesus Christ, but may also be Patient Zero.
"An archaeological manhunt is raging in the holy land - a hunt for the historical Jesus. For Nathan Lee Swift, a young American field researcher and expectant father, the line between noble discovery and the plunder of ruins is sacred until the night he crosses it. At a Roman landfill beneath the crucifixion grounds known as Golgotha, Nathan Lee yields to his professor's greed and turns common grave robber. His world - his unborn daughter - seems lost to him." "Hundreds of miles away, on the remote Greek island of Corfu, a wealthy collector pries open his latest black-market purchase - a fourteen-inch holy relic containing a vial of blood dating back to the first century - and unleashes a two-thousand-year-old plague. As the pandemic explodes from the Mediterranean basin and threatens to devour humankind, Nathan Lee gets a chance at redemption. He embarks on an Odyssean journey back to the United States to find his family." Skirting the edges of the world, Nathan Lee's path finally leads him to New Mexico, where the greatest minds of science have converged at Los Alamos to find a vaccine. There Nathan Lee meets Miranda Abbot, a nineteen-year-old prodigy. As the cure continues to elude them, Miranda launches a desperate final strategy: the use of human lab rats cloned from the year zero. Nathan Lee, the thief of bones, comes face to face with men made from the very relics he looted, one of whom claims to be Jesus Christ, but may also be Patient Zero.
