There's an affectionate nod towards Monty Python's Life of Brian near the beginning of John Niven's novel about God and Jesus. Life of Brian caused plenty of controversy in its day but also benefited from its notoriety; perhaps Niven is trying just a little too hard to épater the poor old bourgeoisie again, especially if they happen to be Christians too. God is, like, a real cool dude who swears and does drugs  are you shocked yet? But his heart's in the right place, so he sends his son back down to Earth to have a second go at sorting out the human race. Jesus is a sweet, dope-smoking boy who enters a TV talent show presided over by a ruthless Englishman with his eye on the money. This Stephen Stelfox is the devil of the piece (the Devil, by contrast, is a Tony Soprano type who you just gotta love) but his badness is already outdone by reality. There's an uncomfortable irony to Niven's blazing contempt for organised religion and so much else: in turning his verbal flamethrowers on all the bad guys in the world, he elevates himself to Messianic levels of sanctimony.