The Long Journey To Jake Palmer

As Jake crawled out of the canoe and slipped into the chilly water, the cry of a ron ten yards to his left startled him. The bird jerked its head back and forth as if puzzled by what Jake was about to do. What was he about to do? Place his trust in a… uh… man he knew but didn’t know? Choose to believe that whatever journey he was on would lead to light in the end? He stretched out his arms and stroked the water. The debate could rage in his head all day. Right now, there was only action or inaction.

Book: The Long Journey To JakePalmer by James L. Rubart, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2016

  

Genre: Speculative Fiction, Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Adults, especially men

Subjects: Faith, Divorce, Friendship, Identity, Abuse

Summary: All he was doing was helping a damsel in distress. Isn’t that was

All he was trying to do was rescue a damsel in distress. Isn't that what good guys are supposed to do? What else was he supposed to do - drive off and leave her in the hands of the thugs who were obviously dealing in human trafficking, forcing the woman to prostitute herself over and over in an attempt to earn her freedom? But the price he pays for it is heavy - when all is said and done he is scarred from the burns that devoured his body from the waist down. His wife has left him in search of someone more attractive. One friend seems to have turned on him, another friend is setting him up with blind dates. He has lost his faith. And he has no hope of life ever becoming what one might call "good" again. His journey isn't over though. A forced attendance at the annual friends vacation reveals a hidden corridor where hope springs to life, wild and out of control. Maybe he can find faith again, love again, even confidence in who he is.

Notes: The Long Journey To Jake Palmer is a stand alone novel exploring the long-term effects childhood abuse can have on a person and how much of our true identity and what we believe about ourselves effects how we respond to crisis and tragedy. Jake Palmer is a very successful man, running his own business, telling others how to find their identity and believe and accept good things about themselves. In an instant, a heroic stand against evil wipes that out and leaves him doubting everything he thought he knew. A journey into the mysterious sort of magical corridor reveals he has not dealt with his childhood and has to let go of the responsibility he has taken for his parents' abuse and eventual suicide.

The spiritual content comes with the being he meets in the corridor being an angel who is sent to help Jake accept the truth about his childhood and help him learn to see himself correctly, rather than being defined by the scars from the burns. It's almost a "discover who you are in Christ, how He sees you" but stops before it gets there. It's merely a recognition of natural talents and skills and learning to have a positive view of oneself. During his final presentation in the book, he references stepping back and letting God's Spirit lead.

Overall, there is definitely a spiritual thread running through the book, but it's not the main thing. The main theme is merely learning to believe positive things about yourself despite any circumstance that may have taught you to believe otherwise.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 3/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Ephesians 1:17-19 – I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Thank you to Book Look for giving me a free book in exchange for my honest opinion.