From the Dead, by John Herrick

Jesse grew up the son of a preacher, whose mother died in childbirth with his little sister, Eden.  At the age of 18, Jesse longed to escape his small town life, as well as his father's shadow, and left Ohio for California.  Over the next 11 years, he struggled to catch a break as an actor, as well as to maintain his relationship with his long time girlfriend.  After hitting rock bottom, Jesse decides to return to his roots, recapture his life, and right so many wrongs from his past.

What a phenomenal treasure of a story this turned out to be.  The book echos strong Judeo Christian sentiments, without being a Christian novel, so there is much wide appeal of the story.  The themes of forgiveness and the reparation of the father/son  relationship (both biological and spiritual), and healing from all different types of brokenness are ones to which so many can relate.

I thought the story flowed very well, and I liked that the pace picked up quite a bit as the book wore on.  It made the book progressively harder to put down.  I loved the character of Jesse, mostly because he was so flawed, and fought so hard to regain his sense of self worth.  I thought this was a very powerful story, with a strong and positive male figure, something I find refreshing after reading a lot of stories with female heavy casts.

I would definitely recommend this book to many, many readers.  It is suitable for Christian readers, but do be advised that there are some episodes of strong language and swearing, sexual situations, and drug use in the book.  Still, I think the message of redemption makes it a worthwhile read for pretty much any adult reader.

A touring review copy of this book was provided courtesy of Crazy Book Tours.