ARA Review by BRByrd of The Message?

[BRByrd]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Message?.]

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2 out of 5 stars

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The Message follows the experiences of Leah Warner after she miraculously wakes from a coma. Warner was the victim of a head-on collision with a drunk driver and was gravely injured. Severe head trauma left her in what doctors believed to be an irreversible coma. She wakes up three weeks later, her injuries (including broken bones) healed. Leah tells her sister and hospital staff that she's been with God, that He's given her a mission: spread the word that God loves us all and wants us to love Him in return. He also wants us to turn away from our materialistic ways and love each other in a more selfless, charitable way.

When word gets out about Leah's recovery and her claim to have a message from God, it doesn't take long for the opportunists to come out of the woodwork. Politics weaves its way in, of course, and the ages-old conflict between religious folks and secularists rears its head anew.

I have to say, in all honesty, that this was a difficult read. It was apparent after the first chapter that the manuscript could have benefitted from a serious edit before publication. The point of view shifts all over the place, sometimes in the same paragraph. The POV head-hopping became dizzying at times. There are more than a handful of typos that need to be addressed, and sentence structure is sloppy at times throughout the book.

The story is presented mostly through dialogue. Backstory and a lot of exposition are presented in the form of lectures in a college classroom by a renowned professor. The dialogue sequences tend to drag on, with the characters talking in circles at times. Often the heavy dialogue scenes come across as "preachy." There were times I felt like I was reading a collection of religious sermons rather than a fictional novel.

Overall, the storyline was predictable and stale. There are a couple of incidences of violence thrown in but in both instances, it feels contrived. There is speculation that these are professional hit jobs but there's no resolution on that point at the end of the book. The characters lack depth and don't really do anything but talk. It becomes monotonous.

I give this book a rating of 2 stars out of 5 for all of the above reasons. I felt it was deserving of more than 1 star because there is a logical progression in most of the thinking espoused by the characters. I could not, in good conscience, give it above a 2 rating because of the myriad POV issues, the low degree of originality in the plot, the tendency to "preach" to the reader, and the predictability of it all.

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