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Title: All Things Bright and Strange
Author: James Markert
Narrator: Gabe Wicks
Format: Unabridged
Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-30-18
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genres: Fiction, Religious & Inspirational
Publisher's Summary:
In the wake of World War I in the small, Southern town of Bellhaven, South Carolina, the town folk believe they've found a little slice of heaven in a mysterious chapel in the woods. But they soon realize that evil can come in the most beautiful of forms.
The people of Bellhaven have always looked to Ellsworth Newberry for guidance, but after losing his wife and his future as a professional pitcher, he is moments away from testing his mortality once and for all. Until he finally takes notice of the changes in his town...and the cardinals that have returned.
Upon the discovery of a small chapel deep in the Bellhaven woods, healing seems to fall upon the townspeople, bringing peace after several years of mourning. But as they visit the "healing floor" more frequently, the people begin to turn on one another, and the unusually tolerant town becomes anything but.
The cracks between the natural and supernatural begin to widen, and tensions rise. Before the town crumbles, Ellsworth must pull himself from the brink of suicide, overcome his demons, and face the truth of who he was born to be by leading the town into the woods to face the evil threatening Bellhaven.
Members Reviews:
Christian with a supernatural twist
This is a Christian novel, but with a decidedly supernatural twist. You see, there's this chapel in the woods in which visitors can hear voices of their dear departed offering love and forgiveness. It sounds nice, but it has a weird and in fact demonic effect on people. The novel is set in South Carolina in 1920, after WWI and before prohibition.
The story is quite well written. This is the second book by the author that I've read, and I quite like the way he makes the geographical and time settings seem real and well informed. Highly recommended.
Strange, Yes; Bright, Not so Much
Evil masquerades as good in a small South Carolina Town. At the center of the story is ellsworth Newberry, a suicidal world War I veteran. His dark thoughts have some justification. His wife died and his injury has snuffed out any chance of a pro ball career. but peculiar happenings at a mysterious chapel in the woods leads him to investigate. Initially it seems like a miracle place, like Lourdes, where all manner of woes are miraculously healed. but something insidious has infected the town and its people. tolerance has disappeared and the once congenial population has soured, turning on each other. ellsworth leads the charge against a powerful but unidentified evil.
While I generally enjoy books with supernatural elements, this one left me cold. It felt contrived. The cast, while colorful, is way too large. Many story elements are left unresolved. while there are fatih elements, they are a mishmash of religious ideals and political correctness. the premise was interesting but alas the story failed to satisfy.
vivid settings and prose, well-fleshed character development
Surficial faultlines and cracks - geological, social, emotional and historical - permute a magical tale set in post World War I South Carolina.
In the woods of Bellhaven sits a chapel; and a mansion on the hill overlooks the town and the wood.
With vivid settings and prose, well-fleshed character development, and poignant yet inspirational themes; a town and its predestined heroes face a returning evil.
I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson--FICTION in exchange for an honest review.
Waste of Time - Not. Christian.
