Thursday, January 1, 2009

Healing Waters by Nancy Rue & Stephen Arterburn

This writing team has done it again.

They hold up a mirror for you to see yourself reflected, making the characters relatable and then show you how to get free from similar patterns in your own life. This isn't like reading fiction, it's like hearing a parable. Their Sullivan Crisp novels are life changing.

Here's the back cover copy:

Overweight, introverted Lucia Coffey has always stood outside the spotlight of her Christian celebrity sister Sonia Cabot, but when Sonia is involved in a devastating accident, Lucia is thrust into that limelight – where she makes some shocking, life-changing discoveries about her sister, her marriage, and herself. Dr. Sullivan Crisp is her guide as he, too, continues his journey of discovery. Their soul-wrenching examination of faith and suffering exacts a great sacrifice from Lucia and a no-turning-back decision for Sully.

Okay, so I didn't relate with every one of Lucia's troubles, but I saw myself in enough of them to feel her pain. I also did something I rarely do, I underlined. And not just for the sake of good prose, but for the content. This "relating with the heroine" was true of me reading their first book, too. (Healing Stones)

Dr. Sullivan Crisp, the psychologist who will walk the heroine down her healing path, is a well-painted character. His warmth, intelligence and vulnerability are striking because this book (more than the first) delves deeply into his own personal pain and the search for answers that is his quest. Readers of the first book will view the follow-up to issues touched on in book one. This quirky, God-loving character will make you chuckle even as the poignancy of his insights moves you toward understanding.

Just like Book One, this fiction transcends fictional entertainment and moves into ministry. And readers will be not only blessed, but changed as they read. That's a rarely achieved goal, but Nancy Rue and Stephen Arterburn excel. Bring on book three!

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