Quite a story. Jones begins in Indianapolis. Mother strong-willed, but not loving, person. Father ill and weak. Jones odd as a child, but charismatic. Preaching in the woods; organizing baseball league. Hints of cruelty. Luring a puppy to death. Good: orderly, concern for poor, integrationist. Evil: sense of personal importance. Builds a church. Learns from Jealous Divine, a Philadelphia preacher with strong following. Brings about change in Indianapolis racial politics through charm and the help of his canny (politically) wife. Fear of nuclear war sends him to Brazil looking for a new place for his church. While he's gone, church weakens. Returns . . . nuclear war fears take him to Ukiah in California. Harder to fit in. Redneck country . . . but he tries. Church isn't growing . . . no population to exploit. Where to next? He looks at Vancouver and Guadalajara. MLK and RFK killed in rapid succession. Visits San Francisco.
Follows Sadie and Sam (Mazer) from childhood to mid-thirties when both are feeling old and a bit out of it in the gaming world. Characters are well-rounded, develop throughout the novel in interesting way. Plot is involved but sensible. Not a single, "Oh, come on!" moment. The book could have been faster paced. Odd, since the main topic is video games which are not for their speed of engagement and Gabrielle Zevin clearly knows her video games. Recommended by Michael Connelly in an interview. He also has Bosch pick up the book in his novel, Resurrection Walk, as Bosch tails a possible witness to a crime as she moves through a bookstore. Sadie and Sam do not get together at the end, which is good. Marx killed by homophobic nutcase who really wants to kill Sam, but Sam isn't there. Marx is father of Sadie's child.
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