Stolen Soul: In the Beginning - book review

The blurb for this book tells of the scene that constitutes the climax yet doesn’t give away the plot or the ending.  As tempting as it is to do so, this review will also refrain from giving away the ending.  Readers are encouraged not to skip to the end of this one, even if that is your normal inclination.  Gathering the background, savoring the plot, and discovering the culmination of the story line is worth the wait – and, beside that, the book isn’t all that long so one gets to the climax soon enough.

S.R. McDaniel has written a story that mixes the physical with the metaphysical, the real with the surreal, the concrete with the spiritual.  He has done so in a way that shows care was spent in the development of this story and a likely genuine concern for the reader.  While reading the book, the question of “how would I react?” kept looming.  Do we respond with revulsion when faced with the reprehensible, can we remain calm when faced with violence, can we express grace in the face of the unlovely?  God can and does.

The book has shades of Charles Williams, the writer of dark and penetrating works who died in his native England in May 1945.  McDaniel is in good company of the scholarly Williams, a fellow member of the Inklings who counted Dorothy Sayers and C. S. Lewis among his distinguished friends and literary sponsors. Like Williams, McDaniel writes in the margin between the physical world and the spiritual world.  At times, the line between the two is blurred and the reader can cross from one to the other without effort.  We see in this work that there are very real contrasts of good and evil and very real opportunities for cashing in the proverbial redeeming value.

This story tells us, once again, that God’s ways are not our ways.  Anyone who wants to stop and think about the important issues of faith and forgiveness – and we all should – needs to read this book.

 

Disclosure of Material Connection:  This book was received for free from the author but a positive review was not required.  The opinions expressed are my own.  This disclosure is in accordance with the United States Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”