ARA Review by Meversgerd of The Message?

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Meversgerd
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ARA Review by Meversgerd of The Message?

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[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Message?.]
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4 out of 5 stars
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The Message is a mind thrilling tale about how one woman, Leah Warner, meets God, who gives her a message for humankind. But what seems like a straightforward task, becomes anything but. Within months, Leah learns the dangers of spreading God's wishes to her and her family. Selfless love. Avam Hale accentuates Leah's journey by including intermingling philosophical chapters posing outside-the-box questions about human knowledge, reason, and wisdom.

Avam introduces Professor Steven Bradshaw into the stories mix. The Professor's unique approach to teaching allows the story to flow uninterrupted. As Leah warner's tale unfolds, Professor Bradshaw's lectures and interactions with his students, offer different perspectives of events, thoughts, and underlying conversations between characters.

Leah Warner, a widower, is a housewife living a simple life with her two young sons in the Midwest. But what happens to her and the country is anything but simple. The story begins with Leah in a coma from a head-on collision with a drunk driver. She's not expected to live. Days later, two nurses rush to Leah's hospital room, expecting to find her in cardiac arrest. Instead, Leah is sitting up in bed, praying. Later, scans reveal she has mostly recovered from severe injuries that should have taken months to heal. But that's not all. She claims God gave her a message of love for all humankind. What ensues is nothing short of civil war. When tragedy hits close to home, Leah experiences moments of doubt about her purpose. She can't understand how a simple message of selfless love could cause such hate and strife.

During it all, Leah makes friends and enemies, but can she tell one from the other?
While Leah's simple message of love causes opposing protests to pop up across the country, Bradshaw's lectures paint a picture of why people think the way they do. And why most of the time, humankind is unable to accept a simple worded truth. Various human perceptions of how to honor God's message cause the economy to spiral, corporations to fail, and the job market to tank. Leah's life of spreading selfless love makes her the target of hate and death threats, which puts her family in danger. Eventually, people die in her pursuit, and the guilt and pain overwhelm her wish to continue. Only after Leah returns to her ordinary life does she learn the depth and truth of the people around her, and not all it is good.

Though I did enjoy the story, I found that some character fleshing needs to occur to create more of a reader's attachment to their role in the novel. Dr. Marcus, from dialogue, I know about what he is and stands for as a general person, but not who he is deep down. What makes him tick? He needs a bit more personal background to pop. This is important because of his connection to Leah.

Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Otherwise, aside from a few typos errors that more proofreading can fix, I'd recommend this book.

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