When the body of Harry Injurides - playwright, provocateur and bodybuilder - washes up on a beach, his friends are shocked, but not altogether surprised. But when they meet to mourn Harry, he shows up and says he's been resurrected.
Pharoni is the story of those friends. Tommy Pharoni tries to overcome his shock by writing about his friend's resurrection, and accidentally starts a religion. Roy Sudden starts a tech empire based on digital empathy and digital pain, drawing in billionaire investors, femme-fatale programmers, and tsunamis of capital. And, Roy's on-again, off-again girlfriend Maud works in secret to bring radical justice to the most neglected and abused corners of society.
As Tommy's religion grows, Roy and his backers try to take control of it. The battle, about more than doctrine, engulfs Tommy's marriage and threatens his life, leading to a conflict with strangely humane results that no one could predict.
REVIEWS
Completely fresh and utterly surprising, Pharoni is an off-the-wall novel that will keep you scratching your head until the last unpredictable scene.
- INDIES TODAY (5/5 STARS)
(T)he storyline itself is ingeniously mysterious... miraculous spectacles in quick succession... sharply limns... the spirit of New York ... provocatively mocking the ambition of artists...
- KIRKUS
Filled with fascinating ideas... technology transmitting pain... that a modern-day religion would be subsumed into corporate "wellness" ... he writes about them with zest.
- INDIE READER
A mercurial story that takes many satisfyingly surprising twists and turns... religious, social, psychological, and criminal processes come to life... intrigue and wry humor... a strange journey, indeed.
- MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Pharoni, with its philosophical and social commentary, shows the face of the world that we often ignore... captures readerly attention until the very end
- INDEPENDENT BOOK REVIEW
