I love the premise of this book... Four men with completely different perspectives faced with bizarre happenings, trying to decipher the truth from fiction... Trying discover who or what is behind it all.
But, because I love the premise, doesn't mean that I love the book. There is just too much going on and too many perspectives, and that causes such a tangled web that as the reader is juggling the head jumps from one perspective to another something gets terribly lost.
There are some great things about this book. The writing is very good. Character development is top notch. This study of demonic affected psyche is so on target. There needs to be much more of this kind of in-your-face dealing with how demons work in Christian lives.
However, as you know, I hate head jumping from one character to another especially when the transitions are poor. I hate editorial tactics that try for some unique storytelling but actually makes the story appear jumbled and disjointed. This story line is full of them. As a result, the story flow is jerky, and hard to follow at times. Reading a start-stop-jerk-stop story is very annoying and tiring. For this kind of story, it would have been much better to have charted a storyboard using two characters instead of seven. You have the main four characters, and then there is the supporting cast so you have a jumble of people you are trying to keep track of, and it clogs the story flow so it is more of a seepage rather than white water rafting. The premise of this story promises white water rafting, but you don't get those thrills.
I blame the editor not the author for the above problems. These are things that could have been smoothed out before going to press.
I give it 3 of 5 stars.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Pub Date: September, 2013
When a wave of bizarre phenomena hits Houston, Texas, four reluctant strangers are brought together in a surprising battle against deadly spiritual forces.
Something strange is happening in Houston and its rural suburb, Trumbull. It starts with the bizarre mutilation of a farmer's cow, sparking rumors of UFO sightings and alien visitations. It's all an annoyance for the police, who would prefer to focus on the recent murders in the area. Mike Walsh is a journalist with a nagging editor and a troubled marriage who finds himself inexorably drawn into the deeper story creeping up on all who dare get close enough: a grizzled small town police captain, a depressed journalist, a disillusioned pastor, and a little old man. They are unlikely allies against the otherworld.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
His first novel, Otherworld, a supernatural thriller, is recently released from David C Cook.
Jared's articles, essays, and short stories have appeared in Rev! Magazine, Tabletalk, Exponential's Leadership Learnings, Pulpit Helps Magazine, Disciple Magazine, Collegiate, Family Life, and at Christianity.com among numerous other publications.
You can encounter his passion for the ongoing reformation of the evangelical church almost daily at his blog, The Gospel-Driven Church.
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