A book about an existential crisis has no right to be this funny.
Preparing for his Bar Mitzvah, a young Chris Decker starts to have big doubts about God and religion in general. Years later, as a scientist, he asks the most powerful computer available the question, and gets the answer he knew to be true. What follows is a highly funny, irreverent, satirical take on faith, belief, and human nature.
While Chris is openly sceptical of philsophy, “misery in a cashmere cardigan”, the novel itself is rooted in it. The prose is wonderfully readable with lots of fun word-play, and it’s a book you want to devour in one sitting, with characters you really care about right from the start. With more than a few nods to Douglas Adams, Error 404 feels like an expansion of the DeepThought plot line, and is a thought-provoking read.
I loved watching the chaos unfold as the world gets to grips with the news that God is a man-made story, and the humour helps the reader swallow some harsh home truths about humanity.
A brilliant debut novel that will have you laughing and thinking.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Ferrer has spent his 30-year career as a magazine and newspaper journalist and editor, working for publications including the Daily Mail and Jewish News. Richard lives in north London with his wife and children. Error 404 is his debut novel.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Thursday 1st September 2039. On the centenary of the Second World War, atheist scientist Chris Deckers exploits the planet’s most powerful computer to reveal something so cataclysmic it makes five thousand years of recorded human history – wars, empires, revolutions, the lot – seem as trivial as a typo on the back of a book.
ERROR 404: GOD NOT FOUND.
Deckers should be rejoicing as his rational Eden is born. Instead, the baby’s screaming. Civilisation has lost its existential marbles and the God-shaped hole he crowbarred open is being rapidly filled by something far more sinister.
In a race to save humanity’s soul, Deckers must face the one question he never thought to ask. What if faith matters more than facts?
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