The Blue Light Project

The Blue Light Project

The Blue Light Project is a social commentary into today's society. What starts out as a mysterious person takes hostages at a television studio during a children's talent show, it is certainly not the central arc of the novel, but more of an action that somehow connects the characters of the story. You have the street artist, a former Olympic athlete, and a journalist whose points of views are the crux of the novel. This is not a thriller but a study of today's culture and the obsession with fame.

One has to be in the right mind set to read this book as it doesn't follow the norm with no clear plot line. I had a times difficulty getting into it.

67 out of 68 people found this review helpful.

I think the real savior in the book is Rabbit, whose great achievement, his technological message, would seem to be "Let There Be Light!" Reminiscent of the creation, isn't it? Is that all that we need? Are we looking for a way back?

This novel is strange. It is difficult to ascertain a specific time frame or a locality. The story moves back and forth from one location to another, from one character to another and also from one time frame to another. It does come together at some point, but not all of my questions were resolved. It seems to be set in a time when the whole world is suffering from ADD, taking risks, almost just to attract attention and dazzle crowds that love meaningless soundbites to which they assign great meaning, street cultures are revered and have taken on the persona of the "gang" in a completely different, almost more acceptable way, it is as if the street sub-culture is all on drugs, spaced out, looking for trouble, yet they are perfectly accepted by the younger generation and media. They seem hyper, and several rival gangs vie for street space, turf, to voice ideas or plaster walls with them. The defiance is justified and applauded, authority is mocked and disrespected, greed and envy are thriving as is schadenfreude! Does this pattern sound familiar yet? There is little transparency in the world and it sounds awfully close to the way we live today; it makes the premise of the book even more frightening; it is almost too close for comfort. The book comes together around a hostage crisis. Some of the children from KiddieFame, a children's talent show, of sorts, have been taken captive during a "kill" episode, in which one of the contestants is removed from the competition, often the best one, as schadenfreude often does rule. It turns into a real rather than a pretend, game of violence. But, no one knows why, no one knows who is behind this heinous act. Who would capture children, and yet, it is vaguely familiar, isn't it? It is reminiscent of the Russian hostage crisis, in Chechen, which took place on the same date, years before. The populace seems to identify with issues far too deeply, to assume too much self importance and a pretense of having influence to change things dramatically in bizarre and unusual ways. Discontent and anger permeate the atmosphere and this novel surely illustrates what can happen when a "world goes mad", when someone goes mad and tries to infect the world with that madness; in order to achieve redemption for his "crimes" he spreads the feeling of terror, like a disease which moves out into the ether. We have only to think about the cult of people that arose to follow Casey Anthony, for and against. We have only to think of the bizarre ways in which the lawyers used facts to influence judgment, to know that our time is dangerously close to the time in the book. Society is failing. There is an equal feeling of vicarious pleasure and disappointment, shared by the mob. It comes in waves. When the hostage taking begins, there are people making frantic predictions, having no idea whatsoever about what they are saying. They are assuming the hostage taker is a terrorist, they accuse a government they don't trust of orchestrating the event, they think it will blow over, be nothing. They live in a fantasy. They actually seem to enjoy this crisis. They, the people, that is, seem to have been geared up for this. Maybe it is all the reality shows that have prepared them to feel this way. They like being voyeurs, feeling like authority, defying authority, feeling like they are important. One has to wonder why we are obsessed with the dysfunctional, especially after reading this novel. Are we simply obsessed with schadenfreude?

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Wonderfully refreshing, I loved it.

With the mixed reviews I wasn't sure about reading it, but I'm so glad I did. Learned a few things about the physical social world out on another level, one that very few of us ever see. Although the hostage crisis is proported to be the center of the interaction between the characters, I felt that their own stories rode over that crisis - that their stories were really the center of the stage of the book. You can put this book down, and pick it up later, but the veins of the storylines keep running through your brain when you're not reading it. It's a story of hope and change - give it a try, you won't regret it.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Not good

One of the worst books I've evr read. Spends way too much time on character stories with no real conclusion. It took a long time to read as I just couldn't get into the book...I had to force myself to finish it

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Slow build to an interesting story

It took some time to get into this book, but it eventually grabs your attention.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Don't Waste Your Time

Have you ever gone to see a movie and about 20 minutes into it, you're thinking it's a terrible movie, but you stay thinking maybe it will get better? Then more than half way through you realize it hasn't gotten any better, but you stay to the end because you've already invested so much time in it and, who knows, it might get somewhat better, but it never does. That's exactly what happened to me with this book. The story meandered and never quite came together and the language was often very cumbersome .

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not for me

I wish I had not wasted my time reading this book. There was a lot of detailed character development which was unnessary for this weak plot.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Thought it was just another free book.

This was a fun, quick read. Had an interesting plot. It did jump around a bit which was at times confusing, but it was still a good read.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Interesting story

Written well.

Huge Disappointment!

This book went absolutely nowhere! This author has ADD, ADHD, and just old fashioned "keep can't your mind on one idea at a time" so people can follow the story, IF there ever is a story. Ideas and characters hop around like they are from different worlds.

Thought-Provoking and Entertaining

Author did amazing job at telling the stiry from various perspectives and in a non-sequential timeline. Never felt lost even when perapective or time changed. Each character had unique oersonalities that were developed in impressive detail throughout book. Enjoyed the ending, which inspired hope without being an unrealistically perfect happy ending.

Not for Me

This book read more like a first draft than a finished manuscript.

Couldn't really get into this one...

I must be honest. I don't believe I ever really got "into" this book at all. It's well-written and the author did an excellent job of describing the setting and the majority of the characters, but in the end, there are way too many pieces of the puzzle left and none of them fit together. I feel more confused about what I just read than anything else. Three stars for this one. I liked it, but I just don't get it.

Facinating Descriptions

The book was facinating as it explored underground art and pop culture. A great read for anyone interested in seeing through the eyes of another.

Boring

I am on page 79 and finally decided this is not worth my time. To say it is hard to get inti is an understatement.

Makes you wonder

The post apocalypse scenario you don't hear about. Makes the occupy movement look like what could be the beginning of the end. Loved the book!

Not boring but maybe too smart for some people

I love the read the reviews from the bubblegum crowd. It's as if every book has to wow and dazzle them with trendy plot lines and cheesy action or else they fall asleep. It's the same almost every free friday. Honestly, those people ought to stick to reading Chelsea Handler if they can't handle more serious fare.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Glad to be done.

No text was provided for this review.

Not Interested

Read the first chapter and could not get into this book. May try again when I don't have anything else to read.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

READ THIS BOOK

It was hard to get into, but after about 50 pages, I was hooked. Loved it. It's a bit wordy, and it drove me crazy not knowing what city it was set in. The story was well formed. Mr. Taylor wrapped it up well with a bow. No problems downloading onto my Nook, in fact, it was my first Nook book. The characters were believable and the artwork wonderful.