The Chair by James L. Rubart

The Chair, James L. Rubart's latest novel, releases in print today!

Let’s begin with the summary:

If someone gave you a chair and said it was made by Jesus Christ, would you believe them?

When an elderly lady shows up in Corin Roscoe's antiques store and gives him a chair she claims was crafted by Jesus, he scoffs. But when a young boy is miraculously healed two days after sitting in the chair, he stops laughing and starts wondering . . . could this chair heal the person whose life Corin destroyed twelve years ago?

As word spreads of the boy's healing, a mega-church pastor is determined to manipulate Corin into turning over the chair. And that mysterious woman who gave him the piece flits in and out of his life like a shadow, insinuating it's Corin’s destiny to guard the chair above everything else. But why?

Desperate, he turns to the one person he can trust, a college history professor who knows more about the legend of the chair than he'll reveal. Corin's life shatters as he searches for the truth about the artifact and the unexplained phenomena surrounding it. What’s more, he's not the only one willing do almost anything to possess the power seemingly connected to the chair.

And now, my review:

James Rubart is developing a reputation for seamlessly including supernatural elements in his true-to-life novels. His methods result in supernatural stories that are not forced, where everyday people encounter the unusual in believable and unpredictable ways.

As expected from this author’s work, outdoor sports play an important role. The hero, Corin, takes his sports addiction to another level, though, with extreme sports, the riskier, the better. He’s battling demons of the past when he faced drowning, and now he’s bent on beating death again and again. Gets him in trouble more than once. 

The hero’s relationships are mostly all rocky, especially with his brother. Corin’s unsure he can trust anyone. Even his girlfriend Tori isn’t sure about this chair he found and how his beliefs are changing. The author’s depiction of Tori’s unyielding hostility toward Christianity seemed believable, creating lots of tension.

The story will keep you guessing through the twists and turns. Looking forward to more great fiction from this author. If you like supernatural elements which glorify God mixed with real-to-life scenarios, you’ll like this novel.