Review of Antithesis

[Justin Christensen]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Antithesis" by BA Cochrane.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Antithesis by BA Cochrane attempts to tackle an extremely interesting premise but suffers from poor editing and heavy-handed sociopolitical commentary. This was a book that I very much wanted to enjoy, but that I sadly could not.

Protagonist Charles Duncan is an ex-cop who was forced into retirement after being found to have used excessive force when responding to an incident in a mall, ultimately leaving the perpetrator dead. This forcible retirement sent him into a spiral but also led to his meeting a man named Chris Watson, who talked to Charles about God and gave him a pass-along card. Down the road, this card played a key role in a religious experience that put Charles on the path of righteousness and joining the same Baptist church to which Chris belonged. Charles and Chris plan a trip to Jerusalem, during which Israel is invaded by armed troops. The two become embroiled in a conflict that, unknown to them, will shape the future of the world.

Honestly, the bones of this story are phenomenal, and while the introduction of Charles and Chris’s characters is a bit rushed, Cochrane does a great job of teeing up most of the other characters so that everything starts to click nicely at just the right times in the narrative. My primary issues with the book are threefold: First, it does not appear that this book was professionally edited. There were a number of grammar and typographical errors that were a nuisance throughout the whole book. Secondly, the aforementioned heavy-handed commentary. It would be unrealistic to ask an author not to let their biases color a story, but throwing in jokes about “Al Greer” claiming to invent the internet and then dying in a childish attempt to prevent global warming by putting corks in cow bums is just not what I’m looking for in a novel. Finally, Cochrane’s writing style itself could use some refinement. This is a book that tells you what’s going on, rather than showing you. The political climate in the USA is summed up in a short paragraph that essentially says that since the Democrats won an election real democracy died.

There is plenty to love in this book, and if you’re able to overlook some of the things that bothered me, you might really enjoy it. I can only rate it three out of five stars, due to the errors, heavy-handed commentary, and rough writing style. I still think the story is a good concept, and I would be very interested in reading a sequel if these issues were addressed.

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Antithesis
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[NetMassimo]

I see that this novel has good potential, hindered by the issues you explained. I'd be curious to know what the author thinks about democracy with Trump in charge. Regardless, thank you for your honest review!