Almost Heaven [Paperback]

Chris Fabry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2010

2011 ECPA Christian Book Award winner for fiction! 2011 Christy Award Winner for contemporary standalone novel.
Billy Allman is a hillbilly genius. People in Dogwood, West Virginia, say he was born with a second helping of brains and a gift for playing the mandolin but was cut short on social skills. Though he’d gladly give you the shirt off his back, they were right. Billy longs to use his life as an ode to God, a lyrical, beautiful bluegrass song played with a finely tuned heart. So with spare parts from a lifetime of collecting, he builds a radio station in his own home. People in town laugh. But Billy carries a brutal secret that keeps him from significance and purpose. Things always seem to go wrong for him.
However small his life seems, from a different perspective Billy’s song reaches far beyond the hills and hollers he calls home. Malachi is an angel sent to observe Billy. Though it is not his dream assignment, Malachi follows the man and begins to see the bigger picture of how each painful step Billy takes is a note added to a beautiful symphony that will forever change the lives of those who hear it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fabry (Dogwood; June Bug), who writes for children and adults, will certainly delight his ever enlarging fan base with this mesmerizing tale about a man whose gifts are clear to anyone interested in seeing past his obvious outer limitations. Billy Allman, gifted intellectually and especially skilled at playing the mandolin, lives his life as an offering to his divine creator. Billy epitomizes humility as he quietly works to build his own radio station with limited resources and against tremendous spiritual opposition. Day by day, year after year, Billy stays the course despite significant losses that follow him through life. Fabry's story will surprise readers in the best possible way; plot twists unfold and unexpected character transformations occur throughout this tender story of a single gentle soul who chooses to live by faith despite hardship, failure, and disappointment.
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From Booklist

Billy Allman has a hard life. His humble home is destroyed and his dog killed by a wall of mud when the poorly constructed dam overlooking their West Virginia valley breaks. His brother dies in Vietnam. His father commits suicide. His mother suffers from Alzheimer’s. His love is unrequited. But Billy goes from Job to Noah when he begins to build a radio station from bits and pieces in his little mining community. Fabry’s inspirational story is narrated in turns by the beleaguered hero and his often-absent guardian angel. With his lyrical style and haunting descriptions, Fabry shows that, with a strong determination and a lot of faith, if you build it, they will listen. --Shelley Mosley

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (September 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414319576
• ISBN-13: 978-1414319575
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (103 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thanks for stopping by my Amazon page. The new book is out, Not in the Heart. It's what I consider my most riveting, suspenseful, and yet relational book yet. A mystery within a mystery within an addiction. I dedicate this to all who have someone in their life who is addicted.

I was born in West Virginia in 1961. I read a lot, but not very fast, and wrote poems, songs, and transcribed Marx Brothers movies and memorized dialogue.

In 1984 I met Jerry Jenkins at Moody Bible Institute. He offered to help me learn to write and I took him up on the offer. In 1998, Jerry and Dr. Tim LaHaye hired me to help write the Left Behind: The Kids series. After that I worked on several other series for children and then published my first adult novel in 2008. It took more than six years to write Dogwood and find a publisher. It received a 2009 Christy Award.

My next novel, June Bug, drew its themes from the classic Victor Hugo tale, Les Miserables. Then, Almost Heaven released and also won a couple of awards.

In addition to my fiction, I have also collaborated on a couple of best-selling football biographies with Ohio State's Jim Tressel and, most recently, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.

I graduated from the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. I have been married to Andrea since 1982. We have nine children. In October of 2008, our family evacuated our house in Colorado, leaving behind all our belongings because of a toxic mold exposure. Since then we have been living near Tucson, AZ in order to get medical help for the mold exposure.

Stop by my website at www.chrisfabry.com to learn more about my writing and radio endeavors, and be sure to sign up for my e-newsletter, the FABRYGRAM. I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, or you can e-mail me at [e-mail].