Grim Reaper: End of Days by Steve Alten

New York Times Bestselling author Steve Alten has had a spiritual experience and decided to create a new apocalyptic series as a result.

Grim Reaper: End of Days is the story of what could possibly happen if the plague was released in Manhattan.

Patrick Shepherd has been wounded in one of his tours of duty overseas. He has lost his arm and is looking for his wife and daughter in New York City.

There is a crazy religious woman who has worked on a genetically altered bug, called Scythe, in a military biological facility. She feels called to infect the world leaders at the U.N.

Shepherd and his therapist must traverse the landscape in order to find his family. All the while, death is taking control.

Grim Reaper is part Stephen King, part Dante's Inferno with a heavy dose of Kabbalah thrown in.

Alten is a skilled writer who can keep you guessing long after you've finished his novels. I loved his MEG series and his 2012 books as well. This new series may go a little too far for me.

While the story touches on the human condition, the teachings of Kabbalah are the thrust of this book. The last couple pages is the full on push.

There are so many characters and strange circumstances that you'll need to remind yourself that you're not reading The Stand - even if this is just as gruesome.

That being said, I did finish this book and enjoyed it thoroughly.