Official Review: The Passions & Perils of the Prodigy
Posted: 04 Jul 2019, 11:59
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Passions & Perils of the Prodigy" by GJ Neumann.]

4 out of 4 stars
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Christopher Martin Storm was born on April 1, 1951, in New England. During delivery, his mother developed a complication and had to be rushed to the hospital. She was pronounced dead on arrival, and this had a huge impact on Martin Storm, Christopher’s dad. He blamed his little son for the death of his wife and could not leave the hospital for many days. Therefore, the little Christopher was taken care of by Mrs. Wolf. Christopher Storm had a latent memory gift that astonished many people even before celebrating his first birthday. He preferred storybooks to baby toys and would hold them and make noises pretending to be reading. This boy prodigy most certainly had a promising future ahead of him. This book chronicles the life of Christopher from his birth in 1951 to the time of his disappearance from a farm in Cambodia in 1980.
I really enjoyed reading The Passions & Perils of the Prodigy: The New England Boy Prodigy Becomes the World Renowned Memory Genius by GJ Neumann. The book is made up of thirty-seven chapters contained within its 262 pages. This is a religious historical fiction told in the present tense thus I felt as though I was an observer looking on as various events unfolded. The plot of the story was meticulously built, and all events flowed in a manner that was easy to understand. The characters were also adequately developed. Their qualities and dialogues were so realistic that I felt like this was a nonfiction historical novel. Christopher Martin Storm had a strong personality and a firm faith in God. However, he also possessed weaknesses that made him relatable. This was the same for all the characters in the book.
The author intertwined several themes to produce this fascinating novel. The most prominent themes included love, family, faith, diplomacy, sacrifice, slavery, salvation, faithfulness, pain, and child-trafficking. My favorite themes were love and family. The author did not describe superheroes and superheroines who had perfect relationships but people who experienced challenges in their relationships and had to seek ways to resolve them.
What I liked most was character development. All the characters were endearing, and I found myself looking up to most of them. Every character had a significant role to fulfill. The author also employed vivid description in the book. When describing Duluth, the author reveals a delightful place that most readers will definitely desire to visit. On the other hand, one is left pitiful when the deplorable condition in Phnom Chisoris is described. The ending seemed rushed, though, and this is what I did not like.
The book was well edited although it had a few grammatical errors. These errors did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the book, though. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to fans of historical fiction. It will appeal mainly to Christians although anyone with an open-mind will most certainly enjoy devouring it.
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The Passions & Perils of the Prodigy
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Christopher Martin Storm was born on April 1, 1951, in New England. During delivery, his mother developed a complication and had to be rushed to the hospital. She was pronounced dead on arrival, and this had a huge impact on Martin Storm, Christopher’s dad. He blamed his little son for the death of his wife and could not leave the hospital for many days. Therefore, the little Christopher was taken care of by Mrs. Wolf. Christopher Storm had a latent memory gift that astonished many people even before celebrating his first birthday. He preferred storybooks to baby toys and would hold them and make noises pretending to be reading. This boy prodigy most certainly had a promising future ahead of him. This book chronicles the life of Christopher from his birth in 1951 to the time of his disappearance from a farm in Cambodia in 1980.
I really enjoyed reading The Passions & Perils of the Prodigy: The New England Boy Prodigy Becomes the World Renowned Memory Genius by GJ Neumann. The book is made up of thirty-seven chapters contained within its 262 pages. This is a religious historical fiction told in the present tense thus I felt as though I was an observer looking on as various events unfolded. The plot of the story was meticulously built, and all events flowed in a manner that was easy to understand. The characters were also adequately developed. Their qualities and dialogues were so realistic that I felt like this was a nonfiction historical novel. Christopher Martin Storm had a strong personality and a firm faith in God. However, he also possessed weaknesses that made him relatable. This was the same for all the characters in the book.
The author intertwined several themes to produce this fascinating novel. The most prominent themes included love, family, faith, diplomacy, sacrifice, slavery, salvation, faithfulness, pain, and child-trafficking. My favorite themes were love and family. The author did not describe superheroes and superheroines who had perfect relationships but people who experienced challenges in their relationships and had to seek ways to resolve them.
What I liked most was character development. All the characters were endearing, and I found myself looking up to most of them. Every character had a significant role to fulfill. The author also employed vivid description in the book. When describing Duluth, the author reveals a delightful place that most readers will definitely desire to visit. On the other hand, one is left pitiful when the deplorable condition in Phnom Chisoris is described. The ending seemed rushed, though, and this is what I did not like.
The book was well edited although it had a few grammatical errors. These errors did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the book, though. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to fans of historical fiction. It will appeal mainly to Christians although anyone with an open-mind will most certainly enjoy devouring it.
******
The Passions & Perils of the Prodigy
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon