J Greg Deane

Eschatological conundrums, passive pigeons and boiling saucepans J Greg Deane

His present novel is an insightful examination of generational conflict between sets of brothers in an influential and powerful family somewhere in the Middle East, that combines black comedy with a sense of the absurd that highlights the difficulties that prevent the best intentioned individuals with leading a virtuous life. The story combines the dilemmas that beset those doomed to struggle with the challenges confronted by the Biblical figures Cain and Abel as well as Abraham and Isaac. The reader is forced to ask himself if a brother can ever be justified in committing the sin and crime of fratricide; or if a father can save a wicked son from perdition by filicide and still hope for personal salvation in the afterlife. A thoughtful reader will also consider whether those who contravene a social contract, like Adam and Eve after they were exiled from the Garden of Eden, can justly expect resurrection in this life or the next if they demonstrate a suitably penitential acceptance of their errors and a willingness to atone. The reader may also inquire to what extent the films of Gene Tierney could serve as a role model, whether as an Ethiopian merchant princess; a Tahitian chieftain's daughter who dutifully awaits the return of her European husband who may never return;or the widow of a ghost who takes a necrophiliac interest in her posthumous love interests, can provide guidance for weak women who are morally confused.