Review of Destiny

[Erin Dydek]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Destiny" by Henry Schulte.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Dirk Owens was content to run his antique shop and spend his free time soaking up the California sand and sun until he found himself whisked back in time. The little blue book seemed an ordinary discovery, but it showed him the world from the perspective of the people written about in its pages. Each time he reads about a different historical figure, he learns something new about the book’s capabilities, but what does it all mean? Why was Dirk chosen, and what effect will his travels have on the rest of history? When a catastrophic natural disaster shakes up the rest of his world, Dirk will have to find what it takes to survive, protect his newly formed group of refugees, and save the world from a greater evil than he ever imagined. Will Dirk understand his destiny in time to rescue the ones he loves? Can one man make a difference and save the world?

Find out in Destiny by Henry Schulte. If you enjoy a time travel adventure combined with a natural disaster survival story, you’re in for a real treat with this novel. I loved how each of Dirk’s experiences in the blue book explored a different time period and forced Dirk to try to find his way in the unnatural territory. His attitudes and behavior often gave him away and made it difficult for him to achieve his goals, making him very human and relatable. It was shocking to discover his actions’ effects on history, and I loved how his time traveling tied into the rest of the story.

After the time traveling in the opening portion of the book, it turns into a disaster survival story, which is also engaging and full of challenges for Dirk. This portion was my favorite, as I love stories of overcoming impossible odds and exploring a drastically changed environment. If you enjoyed the movie San Andreas featuring Dwayne Johnson, you’d likely appreciate Dirk’s journey and his efforts to survive through similar elements of natural destruction.

The only thing I didn’t appreciate about the book was the message the author tried to convey. I think I was confused about whether or not it was a spiritual message tied to a specific religion or whether it was purely a broad generalization about the good of man overcoming evil. The theme wasn’t negative, just confusing and somewhat unclear. It left me scratching my head a bit after an otherwise entertaining story. Still, I appreciated the ending and was very happy with how things turned out.

Unfortunately, I also discovered more than ten errors throughout the book. The editing seemed professionally done, so the errors did not detract much from the story. Therefore, I give Destiny four out of five stars. I reduced the rating by one star for the editing and the confusion I experienced but didn’t find another reason to rate it lower.

This book might be a good fit for those who like time travel elements and survival stories. As I mentioned before, some religious/spiritual aspects intertwined with the main plot, but I was still determining the purpose of the message by the end. If you like good-overcoming-evil narratives, you may enjoy this story, but Christian readers may not appreciate the theological errors presented in Dirk’s journey. Otherwise, there was mild swearing and sensual content, with brief descriptions of the female anatomy and sexual scenes.

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Destiny
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[Tokede Kolawole]

Purpose discovery is a very important aspect of human life. Dirk's journey through history seems like something that will equip him to navigate the natural disasters and save his loved ones.

[Amy Luman]

I was all for this story until I got to the very end of the review. I really don’t enjoy sexual scenes of any kind. They make me very uncomfortable and seem unnecessary.

[Marizél Kahl]

I enjoy survival stories, this one seems interesting as it also includes the element of time travel. How ever you mentioned that some Christian readers might not enjoy the theological errors, so I think I'll be giving this one a pass. Thank you for the great review.

[isaac ojiefoh]

I was all for this story until I got to the very end of the review. I really don’t enjoy sexual scenes of any kind. They make me very uncomfortable and seem unnecessary.

[Giovana Arévalo]

I'm intrigued by this story, and while I'm not fan of books featuring religion in general, the natural disaster plot seems interesting. Great review, thank you.