Mark Gimenez continues to stretch the genre of legal fiction with Book of Days: Con Law II. This is the second novel featuring John Bookman, the UT law professor who has a side avocation as a vigilante for justice. When people are in trouble, they write to Book. Sometimes he will come and help.
In Book of Days, Book, who has just been nominated by a Twitter-loving president to the Supreme Court, gets a letter from a grandmother who is worried about her granddaughters. Their meth-head mother has taken them and disappeared in a religious compound near Waco, Texas. Book and his intern, the spoiled daughter of a Texas oil billionaire, head to Waco, but just before they arrive a band of ATF agents attempt to raid the religious compound, but get gunned down by the well-prepared and well-arms residents.
If this sounds familiar, it should. The compound and ensuing standoff in Book of Days is, of course, inspired by the Branch Davidian debacle from 1993. Other than the broadest details, this is not the Branch Davidian story, not historical fiction, not alternative history. But had the Branch Davidian episode not happened, Gimenez's story would have been too ridiculous to believe.
The leader of Gimenez's group is Jesus Christ. Or at least someone who says he's Jesus. He has the scars to prove it and the stories to tell. His followers are convinced he is the second coming of the Son of God. Book can hardly believe the government attacked the compound. He asks an ATF agent, "Why didn't you let them live in peace? They live out here in the middle of nowhere--look around. . . . Why come to Waco and start a fight?" Answer: "That's what we do."
At Jesus' request, Book enters the compound to be a negotiator. Book finds nothing nefarious going on, against the expectations of outsiders. It's full of people who became disillusioned with life on the outside, "insourced, outsourced, fired, foreclosed, convicted, sued, destroyed" by the ways of the world. It's a self-sustaining community full of happy people who want to be there, and who all believe that Jesus truly is Jesus.
On the other hand, the federal agents are a bunch of trigger happy Keystone cops. The FBI agent in charge has a murderous streak, exacerbated by his CTE. Much to his frustration Jesus' followers have a defensive answer to every offensive move. The media are extreme caricatures of their real-life counterparts. The screeching liberals screech about these white Christian jihadists and think Christian churches are hate groups, that Christians shouldn't be allowed to vote, and that "adherence to Christianity should be designated a hate crime."
The exaggerated characterizations set End of Days apart from Gimenez's prior novels, giving it a madcap tone. But it has a serious side, too, as the characters deal with their own faith, and as Jesus comments on American culture. Jesus would make conservatives mad with his anti-Wall Street beliefs, but would make liberals mad with his anti-environmentalist position.
You may not believe in Jesus after reading End of Days, but Gimenez makes this Jesus from Texas a likeable figure. This Jesus' theology may be a little off (he mixes grace with a works-based salvation), but he's not a madman like the real-life Waco cult leader. Book is the real hero of this story. He's a level-headed, independent thinker ("He hates liberals and conservatives.") who values the lives of others above his own and is willing to sacrifice to rescue the downtrodden. (Sounds like Jesus. . . .)
End of Days is a fun book, with a great mix of over-the-top satire, well-written action scenes, snappy dialogue, and a little something to think about. Keep Gimenez on your list of authors to watch.
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