FROM QUIN:
I am delighted to announce that books two and three of my Accidental Prophet trilogy have now been published! Mad Jones, Hero and Mad Jones, Agonistes complete the story begun in Mad Jones, Heretic, which was published last fall. You can order them — in fact, please do order them! — here, here, and here.
The most useful reviews, I have always thought, are those from ordinary readers with no known connection to the author. To that end, see what one Fred Tribuzzo wrote about Mad Jones, Heretic:
“Mad Jones, Heretic is a surprising tale of adventure and solid religious questioning. There are no fill-in, one dimensional characters. Each one is rich in spirit, troubled, and very entertaining. This is definitely an Odyssey Homer could love.”
And from Thomas Cosentino:
“A stunning debut novel from an accomplished political writer, Hillyer tells the tale of a man’s debate with faith that was born from unspeakable tragedy. When Madison Jones shares his feelings with the world, he caught in a wave of sentiment he was not expecting. A captivating read that will leave you waiting for the next edition of the story.”
This link is a good compendium page for anything you might want to know about Heretic.
*****
For those who don’t like to follow links, here’s how I describe the trilogy as a whole, which is literary fiction that serves as satire on modern media, politics, religion, and celebrity culture, all at the same time:
The character Madison (Mad for short) Lee Jones is a young history teacher in Mobile, Alabama in 1998 who, having suffered a series of tragedies, writes a series of religious theses to “vent” at God — and then affixes them (via thumb-tacks) to more than 100 church doors in Mobile and New Orleans. In this, he is like a modern-day Martin Luther, who did the same thing 500 years to the exact day before Mad Jones, Heretic was published. Yet Mad was just venting; he had no intention of anybody taking him seriously. But with the dawn of modern social media, he unexpectedly develops an overnight, national following, abetted by a clueless media (some might call it “fake news”) which misunderstands or misrepresents what Mad is saying.
The thesis the media obsesses about his Mad’s 12th of 59: “God is a jerk!” Never mind that by 59, he has reached an entirely different conclusion. As far as the media is concerned, there is now a national movement that believes God is a jerk.
As this is pure satire, many hijinks of course ensue. It is meant as an entertaining, fun read.
But satire is worthless unless it tries to convey, at a second level, some greater insight, or at least tries to ask some deeper questions. Underlying the satire here are age-old questions (but presented, I hope you’ll find, in a new and interesting way) about faith, about popular culture, and about love.
****
Okay, enough said. Please, if you haven’t bought and read the first one, do so now. If you liked the first one, please buy the next two. And if you like them, please take the two minutes it takes to post a comment at the Amazon sales page telling other potential readers why you liked it. (Those reviews are important!) And please tell your friends!
Again, the books are available for sale only at Amazon (except for a few remaining copies at Carpe Diem coffee house in Mobile and at Page & Palette books in Fairhope). Again, here, here, and here.
****
“I have had the privilege of reading Quin Hillyer for more than 25 years, and I love the way he tells a story. I’m sure readers of this book will agree.” — Clancy DuBos, political columnist, New Orleans Gambit Weekly
“I’ve been enjoying Quin Hillyer’s columns for years, and when I read an early draft of Mad Jones, I told him it had real potential and to keep at it. Today’s culture needs satirizing, and Hillyer does it with verve.” — Winston Groom, historian and author of Forrest Gump
“Nobody knows religion, politics and the South better than Quin Hillyer. His riveting book of Southern
literature takes the reader through Mobile, New Orleans and Washington D.C. to tell the story of a modern day Martin Luther that shakes a nation to its core. This novel may do the same to you.” — Alex Pappas, veteran White House reporter