Review: Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of Temptation

Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of Temptation by James Runcie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Oh, my goodness... I can see most of the reviewers, like me, have watched the series on PBS so are familiar with Sidney as a young priest. I can also see that most did not have a problem with Leonard and Sidney's "explanation" how homosexualism is an accepted kind of "love".

I had a problem with it. I had a problem with the last show that I watched in the TV series where all the strong hints about Leonard's angst about his tendency toward other men. Oh, everything is quite ok because the Church of England doesn't require priests to never marry. You would think that a person who reads his Bible would have come to terms with what God says about that kind of lifestyle, and recognize how the Church's position was a bit more aligned with the Bible than his skewed view of it.

Sidney's problems have never been resolved. As we grow and mature, our problems are resolved and we acquire other problems. That is what's so uncomfortable about this series. The underlying problems are never wrestled with and just fester undercover of the idyllic life.

I enjoyed the references of pop culture because I grew up during the period of the late 60s and early 70s. However, Sidney's old girlfriend, Amanda, said she wore a black and white dress because that is what he is, no gray, all black and white. She doesn't know him at all, because Sidney is all gray taking justice in his own hands by not revealing the culprit who stole the necklace, just as he did not reveal who murdered who in the last TV show. Who set him up as judge and jury?

The whole thing skates along the edge of a dark pit, and I keep seeing that for everything to turn out righteously correct, the whole thing needs to tumble into the pit.

The mysteries were light, fluffy things. They didn't even seem to be well thought out, especially the one in Germany where Gunter was killed. If you enjoy the TV series, just keep watching the series and don't waste your time with the books. They really do not give you any greater insight into this complex character of Sidney Chambers.

I am glad I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review because I'd be really angry if I'd spent so much money on it. If you are a stickler for biblical principles in your spiritual leaders (archdeacon, priest, pastor, friend) then you probably won't enjoy this book.

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