Review by Ashlly -- Can I Be Frank? by Rob Wyatt

[Ashlly]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Can I Be Frank?" by Rob Wyatt.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Father Francis who calls himself Frank is a young Catholic priest from England who has been invited to to the Diocese of Central Florida in the United States. Here, he will serve as the parish priest of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. Even though he encounters some problems on his arrival at the airport in America, everything gets sorted out and he is allowed to go. Father William, who introduces himself as Bill, Vicar-General of the Diocese of Central Florida, comes to pick him up from the airport. Upon their arrival at their destination in the church compound, Bill welcomes him to his new home which is a single storey house, quite big, set amongst a stand of mature trees. He offers him beer as well as food and they both eat and drink.

His first day as a parish priest proves difficult and challenging as he seems unfamiliar with what goes on. He severally confuses himself and the congregation while conducting his first mass but thankfully everything turns out well. He would later come to the realization that his occasional attendance at church youth clubs and the years of study at the seminary have done little to prepare him for his new life as a priest. He also realises that he has a new challenge of dealing with flirtatious women who give little recognition and meaning to his vow of chastity. He becomes the subject of disturbing, unfounded rumours and soon finds himself without any source of income, congregation as well? as the support of his diocese. Not only that, he stumbles upon dangerous and illegal operations on Gene Charmois' farm. Exposing the criminal activities that goes on here will put him at a great risk that could see the entire town turn against him.

This is a very engaging fiction book. It's well written, the characters are well developed and the emotive reactions of the characters are true to form. The author has a great sense of humor and I could not help but find myself laughing aloud. He has developed a very good plot enough to keep the reader's interest going. The twists and turns in the story will let you hunger for more. It will keep you wanting to know more about what will happen next. Moreover, it seems that whatever he does takes him further to disaster. I like how each chapter unfolds. The scriptures at the beginning of every chapter are also encouraging.

The good thing about this book is that you don't have to be a Catholic to enjoy reading it. Though the initial immaturity of the priests was a little overboard, it was the author's way to bring out their human nature. This book has tension, suspense, mystery, a little bit of romance, a combination of good and evil and a happy ending.

I really enjoyed reading this book despite the fact that I don't really love fiction stories. It's interesting, consistent and well thought. It has an excellent plot and great character development. No editing or grammatical errors and so am rating it 4 out of 4 stars. Lovers of fiction full of humor will definitely love this book.

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Can I Be Frank?
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