If you’re unfamiliar with Shortcovers, they’re a great site to “Discover thousands of bestselling books, chapters, news and magazine articles, short stories, blog posts and more, anywhere, anytime online and on your mobile device” (their words, not mine).

I actually have installed their app on my new Palm Pre phone (they also have an iPhone app), and it’s quite nice. I still prefer my Kindle, but given the limitations of a small LCD screen, it’s a fairly decent experience.

Speaking of iPhone, don’t forget you can now use it to read the Kindle edition of the book (just have to download the free iPhone Kindle app first).

Here’s what she had to say:

“The Trouble with Being God is a great summer read that keeps you glued to its pages! Now we’ll wait with breathless anticipation for the next novel from the very talented Bill Aicher.”

Thanks Lise!  I’m working on my next one!

Now I’m not going to go into huge amounts of detail here, since there are plenty of you who still haven’t bought a copy (wink, wink), but consider the following to contain a bit of spoilers about the ending of the book.

First though, let me be clear: unless there is a printing error out there I don’t know about, the ending really is the ending.  You’re not missing any secret chapters or anything like that.  The story was always planned to end like this, and this ending was always in mind while telling all the parts that lead up to the final act.

(Here’s where the spoilers really start, so if you haven’t read the book yet, stop here and go read the book first).

<START SPOILERS>

Who the murderer is in the story is unknown. What I was attempting to do was have the reader go through the same kind of assumptive process that Steven did, even though in reality there was nothing really tying him to any of the murders. I wasn’t trying to trick anyone with the story, but instead I wanted to reemphasize the importance of understanding self, and the dangers of thinking you are someone you are not.  There is no denouement because crises are not resolved, there is no release of tension, you get no catharsis, and things end up being pretty shitty - kind of like real life.

As for the story ending the way it does, I really consider it to be Steven’s story, and when Steven died his story ended. The main point wasn’t to really find out who did it, but instead to see how these events affected Steven, and those around him.  One reader likened the identity of the killer to the contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction - which is a better explanation than I’ve ever been able to put forth.

<//END SPOILERS>

And so, the book definitely was an experiment of sorts - and this is one of the main reasons I decided to publish it independently. My goal was to write a story in a somewhat traditional pop-thriller style, but to use this style as a way to deliver a different kind of story than what one would normally get out of those types of books.

Much like how Spike Lee used the Son of Sam murders as a catalyst for telling the story in Summer of Sam, The Trouble With Being God is an attempt to use extraordinary circumstances to tell the story of the final stages in the devolution of a man.

Whether I did a good job of this or not, is entirely your call.

I’ve recently gotten a few questions and other feedback regarding these selections, and wanted to clarify one thing: the songs suggested are not the songs I was listening to while writing those sections of the book.  In fact, despite my tremendous love (or unhealthy addiction) to music, I seldom write with music on in the background. I frankly find it to be distracting, as I tend to have a hard time not listening to what music is playing.  Therefore, when I write I tend to either do so in silence, or with something lacking decipherable lyrics, like Sigur Ros.

So, if the songs in the suggested listening playlist aren’t what I was listening to whille writing those passages, then what are they?

They’re exactly what I claim them to be - what I consider to be the perfect musical (and emotional) companion to the particular section of the book they are tied to. During the course of writing The Trouble With Being God I would oftentimes come across a song that struck a chord with me as embodying exactly what was going on in the story, sometimes emotionally, othertimes literally, and was the perfect way to get that across through another (albeit borrowed) artistic medium.

Since this promotion coincides with Scribd’s launch of their e-book store, it is definitely a limited-time promo, and the $1.99 pricing is only available for one week. After May 25th, the price for the e-book is scheduled to return to the standard pricing for all e-books of The Trouble With Being God (including the suggested price of the Kindle edition) of $7.95.

So yes, this is definitely a limited-time offer… if you want the e-book for cheap, you better hurry and buy it now.

Not only is it an awesome deal, but I’ve even opted to allow for the e-book to be in the DRM-free PDF format so you can read it pretty much wherever you want.

Just don’t go uploading it illegally all over the Internets.  If you do, I will hunt you down and checkerboard you.

The Trouble With Being God: A Philosophical Thriller

This is an incredible novel especially for a debut. It reminds me of early Chuck Palahniuk with the tone and the unexpected twist. The story seems very simple at first, but gets complex. … As a reader, you will find yourself going back and re-reading parts just to make sure you understand what is happening because there are turns, and in the end it will all click. Then you will realize that this is more than a thriller novel, it has multiple levels. So if you are interested in reading something that is smart please check out The Trouble With Being God. William F. Aicher I look forward to reading more of your work.

Have you written a review, or found any reviews or discussions online that I’ve missed?  Let me know.  My goal here is to give all you potential readers the best overview of what others have thought of the book so you can make an informed decision as to if you should or shouldn’t buy a copy for yourself.

Henry Baum is the author of The American Book of the Dead (coming in 2009), North of Sunset, listed as the #1 self-published novel in Entertainment Weekly and winner of the Hollywood Book Festival Grand Prize, and The Golden Calf. He’s also a songwriter and blogs at Ash Tree.

Here’s a bit of what he had to say about TTWBG:

The novel begins with the brutal murder of a Catholic priest – a scene described in gory detail.  In this day and age, the murders in this book – while grotesque – aren’t much more shocking to the system than the series of murders in the movie “Seven.”  They’re effective and well-drawn, but nothing that is entirely shocking to the system, given how violent movies and horror fiction has been for some time.

… as a novel about a reporter covering a series of brutal murders, this is an enormously fast-paced, thought-provoking, and entertaining read.  Steven covers the murders for the newspaper, his personal life unravels, and his behavior becomes progressively more erratic - making for a multi-layered mystery into who committed these murders.  The movie “Seven” is a good comparison - as that was a story about a serial killer that was also a study on the nature of sin, and even celebrity. If this book was fleshed out, it could be on that level.

You can read the full review online here.

In addition to this review, we have a few more reader comments to share:

Joe [last name preserved for Anonymity]:

(via email) I must say that, “The Trouble With Being God”, is one of the best books I have read in years. In my opinion, its up there with older Palhniuk, Clevenger’s Dephamoria, and Baer’s Phineas Poe Trilogy. … there are fewer and fewer “original” authors out there that challenge you think about what you have just read.  The other problem is that there are too many people that try to copy this style of writing, and its becoming harder to find the authors that are “legit”.

Danny Moody says:

(via Twitter) I just finished your book, I really liked it! … I might be disturbed, but I have many of the same religious views steve has in your book, Is this life destiny or choice?

(via Amazon) “The Trouble With Being God” is exactly what a Philosophical Thriller is supposed to be. It will challenge your beliefs on all things religion with points of view those Hayseed religious folk tend ignore, or can’t answer. The morale decisions Steven is faced with is something we all can learn from, everybody lives with a dark side and the way we control it is ultimately how we are defined. The serial killer in this novel is very creative with a very sick and twisted mind that will leave you breathless. Aicher is a rising author that will be mentioned with the best and this book is a must read.

Amy Satinger:

(via Twitter) I loved it!  … Good job.

In the interview we discuss The Trouble With Being God, my next project, why I decided to self-publish, and other things.  You can read the full interview online here.

And if you’re not following me on Twitter yet, feel free to do so.

From Horror Bound Online Magazine:

The juxtaposition of Steven and one of the victims as dramatic foils is very interesting. They are both emotionally involved with Karen, and one could say that they are both preaching, albeit about very different things.

Overall, it was an interesting story. If the main characters had been more likeable, the ending would have had more impact. The killer twist ending was very good, as was the red herring. This is definitely a book to read on a rainy day and an author to watch out for in the coming years.

(read the full review)

From Flames Rising:

Dubbed a “philosophical thriller,” The Trouble With Being God delves into heady themes while we watch Steven’s struggle with one question, “Did he do it? Did he really commit those murders?”

…

The best written parts of this story were the descriptions of the murders. Poetic and languid, Aicher has a flair for describing the things that lurk in the dark. The weakest parts of this story happened toward the end; I don’t want to give anything away, but I felt that it was not an appropriate ending for this sort of a novel. Give me justice, give me conflict, but don’t give me open questions.

(read the full review)

From Readers:

Aicher’s novel is very well-crafted and extremely well-written. The soundtrack aspect of it also added a great bit of extra insight and was a feature I particularly enjoyed. The book is indeed a thriller, and held my interest to the very last page.
(by Eric at Goodreads :: full review)

[William] dove right into it with a climax. His flow of words captured me from the beginning. I greatly enjoyed his descriptions as well as commitment to the back story. He let me get to know the characters personality along with their mannerisms. Overall I thought the character development was great, but for some reason I had a hard time with Karen. Maybe I just did not like her.  Either way, I felt like I knew them personally, which is something that is very important to readers!
(by Tracy at Goodreads :: full review)

This story is full of suspense & murder. It touches on a serial killer. Follow along in the day to day life of Steven Cavelle, a local news reporter journalist as he tries to report the news from his first hand view.
(by Abigail Christy at Shelfari :: full review)

Have you read The Trouble With Being God yet? If so, send me your comments and reviews.

If not, isn’t it time you bought your own copy?