Review of Truth and Evil

[Dana Lawrence Lohn]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Truth and Evil" by G. Edward Martin.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Imagine that you commit an unspeakable atrocity as a wartime soldier. You almost immediately die, appear before God, and receive divine coaching. You are then returned to human life to repeat the event with profound new insights. Do you believe you'd do better?

Have I captured your attention? Are you curious about that divine coaching? What did God say? What if this process was repeated several times and you retained the ability to refine your choices and receive God's recursive input, loosely reminiscent of the choose-your-own-adventure books many of us read as American children? Would your story end well?

At a high level, this is the plot of "Truth and Evil" by G. Edward Martin, a novelette that captured my attention and left me spiritually reflective.

We meet our protagonist, a twenty-year-old German soldier fighting during the height of World War 2. He is a former farm boy now on Nazi patrol in the crushed remains of a Soviet village. He is clearing a house on military orders when he finds a terrified teen girl, and he makes an awful decision. On this point, allow this review to serve as a trigger warning for those who are particularly and understandably sensitive to sexual violence.

Our unnamed soldier dies, receives his divinely prescribed second chance, feels shame, and repeats the event with different decisions made. This cycle repeats over a broader period. We watch his character evolve and deepen as he comes to understand his God-given power to shape his morality and soul. We feel this happening within ourselves as readers, too, in part because of the stylistic cleverness of Martin in writing an anonymous protagonist. "He could be me," we are encouraged to think. We then insert ourselves into the soldier's shoes. We grow ourselves through the activity of reading.

This beautifully written novelette contains elements of theology, psychology, and philosophy. Its narrative commands us as human beings to internalize lessons from the last century rather than repeating cycles of unmoored evil. The author attempts to boil down complex questions of morality to produce distilled truths.

Toward these goals, "Truth and Evil" succeeds admirably, and I rate this novelette 5 out of 5 stars for its aggressive subject matter, tightly and compellingly told. I recommend this book for adults who seek to explore knotty topics of philosophy and spirituality as interwoven into a wartime plot. I believe that potential readers with an inclination toward Christianity will emerge most satisfied. Those readers may then be delighted to discover that more content is available, as "Truth and Evil" serves as one section of Martin's longer novel, "The Flower from the Garbage." That work is widely available and has inspired a vibrant online dialogue.

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Truth and Evil
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[RJ Reviews]

The idea of an anonymous protagonist is really innovative. It does encourage us to think that it could be us. The concept of divine teaching is intriguing, too. This novella has certainly piqued my interest. I appreciate your detailed and honest review, complete with a trigger warning. Thank you.

[Ludovica Peruzzi]

This concept is so intriguing! Hopefully I'll see this book in my Select tab soon 'cause it sounds exactly like the kind of story I'd like. Seems like it's not even too long - which is interesting for such an ambitious project, because it means I can expect every word to matter. I'm *craving* a good exploration of human morality and I think this is exactly what I can expect here! Thanks for bringing my attention to this book, and great review as always!

[David Awunor]

I like how detailed the review was. It was the beginning that caught my attention. Keep up the good work. I am also glad you stated that people who are sensitive to sexual content should read.

[Harshitha G B]

Its kind of time machine, which gets back to sometime where you can change the situations. It's good premise and gives perspective about God and other elements. Thank you for the outline of the story.