ABIDING DARKNESS BY JOHN AUBREY ANDERSON I picked this book because of a one star review that complained "...if Anderson didn't stop to preach about God, Jesus and giving yourself to the lord, every 5 pages..." I thought, hey, this story sounds like it's right up my alley.
It turned out, my feelings on this book was pretty well divided between liking the Christian Story and disliking the Fiction Story. Lets look at each.
Fiction Story
It is a battle between good and evil. Between angels and demons. In this super natural, christian fiction story, the demons are out to harm, hurt and kill. Their target is main character, Missy Parker.
Throughout her life, they try numerous attempts to get at her, ultimately failing on account of divine angelic interference, always manifesting in the form of those around her coming to her aide.
What I did not like about the Fiction Story
The Writing Style: Based on the number of positive reviews I'm compelled to remind myself, and you that not every book is for everyone. This might one of those cases. But what I thought about this book was that it was written in a style a little too telling vs. showing and often too play-by-play. But I don't want to throw out the christian story with the bath water based on my preferences alone. You might love it.
The Story Structure: Awkward. At first I thought this story was going to be a slow burn, then suddenly, very early on there was a four chapter climax . (now that's more like it) But how in the world was this going to be maintained for 300 more pages? It wasn't. It went back to the slow burn. For the most part it remained slow other than for a few blips of tension here and there, when the demons reared their ugly heads.
Christian Story
This is a story that reminds us of Eph. 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Refreshingly, this is also a salvation story, full of the gospel. The one star reviewer mentioned at the start was only wrong about one thing; the story did not stop to preach about giving yourself to the lord., it continually did so. And I should add, it was not out of place in the story. It was natural to the characters and the story flow.
What I did Like abut the Christian Story
Right Doctrine: A lot of the time when a book deals with the super natural, even christian books, they tend to go into the world of the occult. This story was able to speak of angles and demons in a manor that was, at least, not biblically wrong. It also got the gospel and salvation right.
The Theme of Sacrifice: There were two different accounts of characters giving their lives to save the main character, Missy Parker. Each was a reminder to Missy that there was another who had done the same, long ago. It was also a reminder that her life was not to be wasted - She was to spend her life getting to know Jesus, and making him known.
My Rant: I was super conflicted by this book because, if it were not a biblically based, christian fiction story, I would not have cared for it, the characters, or the writing style. But I also really enjoyed the book, because it did not stifle a gospel message, themes or doctrine. It is just so refreshing to see that! So I'm divided on it, but I can say that I utterly respect it, and the author. And I am happy to see that it has a lot of positive support on Amazon. I pray to have as much boldness and success in my own writing.
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