The Last Days of Jericho [Kindle Edition]

"Jericho" is a whiplash-paced gem. At just 162 dead-tree pages, a thorough review could embarrass a lesser book, but sophomore author Thomas Brookside's pricing delivers at about a third of the cost per-page of the legacy authors. Buy, borrow, or download this book. You will not be better entertained in the necessary timeframe, or for a better price.

Overall, the svelte story is its own biggest enemy. Brookside's likable characters cry out for subplots -- most notably smirky Bensakal, ethereal Nahara, and the condescending Egyptian contingent -- and more than one passage hints at a whole world of intrigue (political, romantic, and otherwise) just beyond the narrator's perception. As deft as Brookside is at realistic dialogue and characters that act like human beings, I would have enjoyed seeing more of those stories play out. "Jericho" positively shines, however, as a supernatural historical thriller. Despite the frenetic pace, Brookside manages to draw the reader fully into a dense setting steeped in recognizable Biblical history, with a brilliantly enjoyable twist of perspective.

An author -- especially a self-published author -- can do a lot worse than to edit his work too well. And a reader can do much worse than to be left wishing there was more to read.

This is Thomas Brookside's follow up to his incredibly creative and well executed "De Bello Lemures or The Roman War Against the Zombies of Armorica". Let's make one thing clear. Thomas Brookside may be self-published, but his writing is as crisp and descriptive as any big house publisher. Both stories take place in a very particular historical setting, and Brookside nails the narrator's tone and leaves readers with an extremely genuine exposition.

"Last Days of Jericho" tells the story of the fall of Jericho. Brookside's fictional account represents Joshua's god as a supernatural near-monster-like entity that destroys everything in its path.

The first-person narration is handled by a citizen in a fictional Jericho who manages the King's travel and trade. Brookside only teases his "monster" in the first half of the book, and the first hard-core supernatural activities don't occur until mid-way through the 130-page story. Bookending the horror, the reader is immersed in middle/late bronze age society, presented through day-to-day life, religion and cross-country diplomacy.

I'll hold back on the details so as not to divulge any key plot points, but as the second half of the book winds towards its conclusion, our narrator takes the reader through an almost metaphysical, and symbolically poetic journey. The author's afterword provides a nice perspective on his approach to writing the story.

This is a terrific book, and I can't wait to see Brookside score big. He's proven himself in his first two books, and I'll proudly state that I "read him when...".

I strongly recommend this book.

`The Last Days of Jericho' is a fantasy novel set in biblical Palestine and tells the story of the conquest of the holy land from the perspective of the conquered. Thomas Brookside has done his research and states where and why he deviates from the actual events, as far as they are known, in an informative afterword.

I liked the premise and despite the known outcome the story holds your attention until the end. Where the book fell flat for me was in the depiction of the actual acts of god. These to me had a comic book quality a la Indiana Jones to them that I found ill-fitting to the tragedy of a culture putting up a defiant struggle against inevitable doom.

The depiction of the life in bronze-age Levant on the other hand is spot on and Brookside creates characters whose fate you care for.

Overall a good read the fantasy part of which didn't quite work for me. I will check out other works by the author.