En el año 2051 se produce la auténtica venida del Mesías. Sin embargo, este Mesías del siglo XXI está más interesado en la venganza que en el amor. Se hace llamar Jeremías el G., y además de ser aparentemente invulnerable a la muerte, es extremadamente tramposo e inmoral.
En este año el planeta está repleto de gente ociosa en rutilantes ciudades de avanzada supertecnología que sólo piensan en entretenerse. Salomon Moody Moore ha erigido un imperio de riquezas con sus espectáculos para excitar a
las aburridas masas humanas. Nadie conoce su existencia excepto Jeremías el G… La lucha por el poder se presenta alucinante…

In a future so full of boredom that people seek out increasingly decadent and sadistic pleasures, a crime lord finds himself troubled by a small-time con man who seems intent on messing with him, possibly in an attempt to impress him into a job offer. The crime lord instead decides to have him eliminated, only to discover that the guy possesses a near-miraculous ability to escape unscathed. No, wait, scratch that. Make it an actually miraculous ability.

It's an odd little novel, combining science fiction, religion, gangsterism, and a very dark, very deadpan sense of humor. I find it really, really hard to know quite what to make of it, except to say that, well, it's certainly interesting. But Resnick has done much better stuff. ( )

The Branch seems to be tautly written story of a mysterious-but-resourceful man on the run, in the not-too-distant future, from a very wealthy and very powerful enemy. Mike Resnick has bigger thematic fish to fry, however, and -- consummate professional that he is -- leads the reader, by small and perfectly reasonable steps, into the midst of a premise that would seem completely insane if presented up front, all at once. This is not Resnick's best work or even in his top 10, but it's short and artfully done and well worth reading. ( )