Love in the Time of the Apocalypse [Paperback]

The first word that comes to mind in describing Gregory Blecha's Love in the Time of the Apocalypse is unique. Surreal and farcical on the one hand, satirical and poignant on the other, this novel follows its own drum of apocalyptic imaginings. If you have any preconceived notions about where this story will take you, you might as well leave them at the door, as Blecha will undoubtedly surprise you one way or another. This isn't Left Behind, nor is it a soporific recitation of man's ills in a hopelessly maudlin, post-apocalyptic setting. The writing is sharp and oftentimes pointedly funny, and no Four Horsemen come plodding in to overshadow the main character's personable manner of dealing with monumental change.

Economic collapse has led to the disintegration of American society into several radical spheres: Southern agrarians, Pentecostals aligned with the Aryan Nation, a welfare queen system in the east, eco-terrorists running amuck, etc. It's a mess, but life isn't all that bad for our protagonist, Bryan. When we meet him, he's enjoying a vacation with his girlfriend Char and some friends at an Amish casino in Las Vegas (yes, the Amish staff are rather ichthyne in appearance thanks to some unbridled genetic experimentation, but try not to stare). Bryan has no idea that he's about to become one of the most wanted men in what is left of America. In the wake of a spat with his girlfriend, he finds himself kidnapped by the Aryan Nation/Church of the Creator; here, he first learns of his possible supposed importance, but he can't figure out what is really going on. Even the Feds are after him, launching an attack on his captors which allows him to escape across a river. In time, he survives two weeks in solitary confinement, falls into the hands of the Earth Liberation group (who are intent on defaming or destroying everything resembling an American monument), survives a helicopter crash only to be captured by a drugged child army, falls into the clutches of some extreme scientific researchers, and finally, after a lot more trials and tribulations find outs the truth about himself (a truth that almost everyone seems to already know except for him). The ending takes something of a strange turn, but it's a perfectly fitting conclusion that does answer all of the questions generated by the story's numerously disparate elements.

On the surface, especially in the opening chapters, Love in the Time of the Apocalypse reads primarily as a comedy, and the author indeed fills the entire book with great wit and light-hearted moments. The novel definitely has its serious overtones, however. The fractured American society of the story is in some ways a distorted mirror image of American society today, one which could well come with a notice saying the images appearing in this mirror are closer than they may appear. I would not take this notion too far myself, however, as I think Blecha's true subject matter is human nature more than it is economics, government, or the social structures of society. Love is a word which features prominently in the title, but the very notion of love seems to me to be a secondary aspect of this novel. Bryan does indeed love his girlfriend Char, which he proves by resisting a number of randy women who accost him during his increasingly surreal adventures, but I personally would not think of this novel in terms of a love story.

Basically, Love in the Time of the Apocalypse is a refreshingly sharp and singular novel that is impossible to encapsulate in the form of a review. No religious conviction is required because this is not that kind of apocalyptic story. With its quick pace, wonderful narrative flow, and propensity to surprise the reader at several turns, this is definitely a book worth many a reader's time and attention.

A casino owned and operated by the Amish? The Mormons operating a sort of underground railroad for couples wanting to have children? Religious organizations joining forces with far right wing paramilitary units? What's going on here? Why, nothing more than an America caught up in the throes of the apocalypse (four horsemen optional), that's what! I went into Gregory Blecha's "Love in the Time of the Apocalypse" expecting a love story set amidst the incandescent blooms of mushroom clouds. At the very least, I thought I'd see a couple snuggling as a killer virus wiped out most of the human race. Perhaps a bout of footsie as an asteroid races toward a rendezvous with our planet? How about a young girl staring at her beau with doe eyes as a horde of flesh eating zombies tear them and the rest of the human race to pieces? Nope, Blecha's book is none of these things. The apocalypse we see here is more down to earth and less chaotic than what we would think, yet still full of the sort of surrealism one would expect to see at the end of the world. It's an apocalypse as Luis Bunuel might imagine it.

We come into the novel with an introduction to Bryan, the protagonist of the story, as he and his girlfriend Char revel in the tawdry accommodations that only Las Vegas can provide. Then again, this isn't Sin City as your parents experienced it. The Amish do indeed run a casino, loaded with gambling devices that run without the aid of electricity, as well as a hotel with the best amenities the nineteenth century has to offer. Problem is, it's the twenty-first century. Oh well. The food is good, the beds are comfortable, and Bryan and his gal (along with a few friends) can always motorbike up the road to see the Hoover Dam in operation. Of course, tooling around the countryside is a dangerous proposition in this day and age. Members of the wealthy and spoiled bourgeoisie, such as Bryan and his companions, could easily fall into the clutches of bandits, ecoterrorists, religious fanatics, or the totalitarian grasp of the federal bureaucracy. Our hero knows for certain that criminal elements in society often kidnap members of his social class in order to collect hefty ransoms from rich families. It sort of goes with the territory. Nonetheless, off they go to see the wonders of the Hoover Dam only to discover that the structure has already been defaced by the ecoterrorists. Darn.

Shortly after returning from their trip, Bryan and Char argue and separate. The consequence of this action is the abduction of Bryan by a religious organization that joined up with the Aryan Nations. They've kidnapped Bryan because he possesses something they wish to acquire, but the leader of the church, a Colonel Bouchet, won't tell him what it is. No one will tell Bryan anything, actually, but it soon becomes clear that every fringe group in the decaying country wants this guy to themselves. After the federal government launches an assault on the Aryan Nations headquarters, our hero finds himself set free in San Francisco. It's here that he runs into an ecoterrorist group that, predictably, kidnaps him for their own purposes. Again, they won't tell him why. And so it goes as Bryan falls into the clutches of corporate executives, a group of kids taken straight out of a horror movie, and the federal government. His travels take him from one corner of the country to another, from coast to coast, as he tries to stay alive long enough to figure out why he's such a valuable commodity. The truth outs in the end, of course, but I won't spoil the wacky conclusion for you. It's certainly one long, strange trip from cover to cover.

The most intriguing aspect of this story is the picture Blecha paints of a fragmented America. He seems to think our country will break down into semi-autonomous sections comprised of religious groups and class elements. How else to account for the prominence of the Mormons, the Amish, the evangelical groups, and the various social classes seen in the book? Presiding over these fractured mini-nations is a federal government totally given over to bureaucracy. There are bureaucracies in charge of killing off entire towns to stop the spread of plagues, police forces that carry out very public assassinations and abductions, and agencies that monitor traffic on the Internet. Conspiracy theories to explain all this nonsense run rampant among the population. Ecoterrorists play a role too as they blow up monuments and other structures associated with American strength and identity. Hmmm, perhaps some of these things aren't too different from stuff going on today. In that respect, Blecha's book falls under the rubric of satire. The book owes a debt to Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" in that Bryan takes a similar journey across a weird yet at times wonderful land that mirrors in no small way the problems most readers will recognize as relevant to their own time and place.

At first reading there seemed to be little love anywhere in the book, at least beyond the first chapter or so. But love does exist in Bryan's mind. It's his love for Char that gives him the strength to plod on through weirder and weirder lands and experiences. It's love that gives him the strength to resist myriad temptations in the form of numerous females encountered all across the country. Whether that love will be enough to cure a dying nation of its ills seems unlikely, if the conclusion is any indication, but it might on an individual level. And isn't that all any of us really have, apocalypse or not?

Imagine a collapsed government, plus a few local terrorist bombs destroying national landmarks, and you have an apocalyptic landscape with several strange factions left running the country.

Told in first person by Bryan, an ordinary guy living his bourgeoisie lifestyle with his girlfriend Char, and friends Dawn & James, and Jenny & Mark, the book starts at the Amish casino in Vegas - the only casino without electricity. Bryan doesn't always think before opening his mouth to jokes, and when he asks Dawn if she's pregnant his world falls apart. For Dawn is indeed pregnant, which is against the Zero Child Policy enforced by The Abortion Authority. Now his friends and girlfriend flee without him to The Mormon Underground in Utah where its safe to have children. Left alone, Bryan manages to get into all kinds of trouble, but for the life of him he can't figure out why. For some reason, all the strange factions peppering the country are after him.

First kidnapped by The Aryan Nation And Church Of The Creator - Western States, Bryan meets Colonel Bouchet and Sister Julia, with whom he shares stigmata and a mental link. From his home in Tijuana to Fresno, he's then ejected from the Church after a scuffle and sent to Sodom And Gomorrah (San Francisco). Here he's captured by Lawrence Tribe, leader of the Earth Liberation faction. He stays with EL and its unique members until swept into a high rise building and winds out in a board meeting with Augie Craft, who takes him via helicopter to his penthouse. Paranoid of Earth Liberation, Augie flies to Houston, leaving Bryan alone in a hovering helicopter running out of gas.

It gets better. Bryan is kidnapped several times, swims the length of the destroyed Golden Gate Bridge, gets caught up in a crossbow fight in a coffee shop, spends two weeks in solitary confinement, plays with corporate plebes in a boardroom, fights with a group of drugged children protecting opium fields, gets caught up in the breeding programs of the research group for The Department Of Overpopulation, and that's just half of his adventures.

He's passed from faction to faction, including the anarcho-terrorist group Earth Liberation, The Mormon Underground, The Aryan Nation And Church Of The Creator - Western States (where everyone has a "miracle" story about their recruitment), The Federal Bureau Of Worship, The Society Of The Second Chance, the Seedy-See (CDC), and more. From Tijuana to CA to TX to Vatican City, Bryan runs from one faction into the arms of the next, always wondering just what it is about him that attracts the factions. All the while, he pines for his one true love, Char.

'Love In The Time Of The Apocalypse' is a fun, breezy novel filled with twists of humor while following Bryan's rapid pace through the New World. At only 170 pages, it's easy to read in a single day. As a fan of all types of apocalypse books, this novel was a humorously welcome addition to my collection. Highly recommended. Enjoy!

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