American Savior

June 23, 2008
When Jesus Christ turns up in West Zenith, Mass., Catholics, Jews and atheists unite to help him realize his plan of becoming America's next president in this hilarious novel from Merullo (Breakfast with Buddha
). Chief adviser to the “Jesus for America” campaign is Russ Thomas, a cynical TV journalist who sets out to convince the American public that Jesus is the real deal. Jesus' chances of being elected seem slim as he faces skepticism from both ends of the political spectrum over his platform of “kindness and goodness” and the fact that he names his mother as his running mate. But as Jesus hits the campaign trail, Russ and his team begin to have faith in their candidate, themselves and humanity. Most enjoyable are the takedowns of thinly veiled political journalists: there's loud-mouthed, insult-spewing Anne Canter and Bulf Spritzer, “a decent guy can never quite convince the viewer that he isn't ecstatic about being in the limelight.” The result is, for the most part, an uproarious satire, hampered only by Merullo's occasional slips into the preachiness about morality that he so harshly mocks.

July 1, 2008
Russ Thomas, a Massachusetts television reporter, is assigned to do a story about a mysterious man who apparently brought a little boy back to life. Russ is a bit of a skeptica doubting Thomas, evenso he is dumbfounded when the mystery man claims to be Jesus Christ. And if that isnt unbelievable enough, he wants Russ to join his team as he campaigns for the presidency of the U.S. This intriguing novel follows Russ as he embarks on a campaign tour led by a man who might be the son of God or perhaps a charismatic nut. The book is funny but in a mostly gentle way, and Jesus is a totally believable character, more like a good man who believes in the right things than a savior. Readers might find some of Merullos comedic conceitsa little obviouspunny names, for examplebut most of the book is considerably more subtle than that, effectively mixing elements of Vidals Messiah and Mailers The Gospel According to the Son with elements of Joe KleinsPrimary Colors. Like his central character, Merullo doesnt seem especially interested in turning skeptics into believers or vice versa.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)