Perfect [Paperback]

Harry Kraus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2008

Wendi Stratford's job as an accident reconstructionist is just one more enviable reflection of her ideal life. She's got it all---perfect career, perfect looks, perfect husband, perfect home, perfect faith. There's just one problem: it's all a sham, right down to her bleached-blonde hair. So Wendi hatches an impulsive and exhilarating plan to break free of the lie she's been living---only to watch her hopes die in a terrible accident. But as she sifts through the wreckage, Wendi comes to a shocking conclusion. This was no accident. The quest is on to learn the truth, but the truth could be deadly. And now someone is leaving Wendi clues at accident scenes, clues that could lead her straight into a killer's hands. With her life on the line, Wendi must find strength in a faith that until now had been merely an accessory to her storybook life. With engaging characters swept into a millrace of mystery and suspense, Harry Kraus' new novel is. . .perfect.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In surgeon-cum-novelist Kraus's cloudy medical thriller, protagonist Wendi Stratford is a self-described professional Christian: she has the perfect house, haircut and church (where Daddy is the pastor). Her husband also seems perfect, a man so meticulous that he carries three pens in his white physician's coat and knots his silk ties so that the longer tail hangs exactly two centimeters below the shorter one. Wendi is tired of hiding her real self behind a plastic facade, but when she lays aside her mask, tragedies begin to occur all around her. This raises one of the novel's more provocative questions: does God punish people for their sins? Kraus clearly knows his way around an OR, and intimate medical details give the story's less plausible plot twists some heft. Kraus also presents thoughtful ruminations on sin, guilt and forgiveness with some finesse. However, as suspense, this novel falls far short. The first half is devoted to character development for Wendi and her immediate family, but none of those nuances extend to the characters who become central in the more plot-driven second half, especially the stock villain. (June)
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Review

In surgeon-cum-novelist Kraus's cloudy medical thriller, protagonist Wendi Stratford is a self-described 'professional Christian': she has the perfect house, haircut and church (where Daddy is the pastor). Her husband also seems perfect, a man so meticulous that he carries three pens in his white physician's coat and knots his silk ties so that the longer tail hangs exactly two centimeters below the shorter one. Wendi is tired of hiding her real self behind a plastic facade, but when she lays aside her mask, tragedies begin to occur all around her. This raises one of the novel's more provocative questions: does God punish people for their sins? Kraus clearly knows his way around an OR, and intimate medical details give the story's less plausible plot twists some heft. Kraus also presents thoughtful ruminations on sin, guilt and forgiveness with some finesse. However, as suspense, this novel falls far short. The first half is devoted to character development for Wendi and her immediate family, but none of those nuances extend to the characters who become central in the more plot-driven second half, especially the stock villain. (June) -- Publisher's Weekly

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031027284X
• ISBN-13: 978-0310272847
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #600,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, August 19, 2008

By 

Tami Hunter (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect (Paperback)

I couldn't put this book down! It was suspenseful and emotional and grabbed my attention from the very beginning. I think all of us can relate to feeling "fake" sometimes and the desire to break free from our "perfect little images" and be real. Wendi has to put on a "show" to a level where it makes her feel like it is killing her to be so pefect all the time. Wrapping herself in blame and shame and feeling that God is disappointed with her. She has no concept of grace. Her world begins to unravel as strange events begin to occur around her. But it is in the unravelling of her life that she finally finds the answers she's been looking for. A terrific book that spoke to my heart and my own longings to drop the masks and live with freedom in God's love. So not only was it a good suspense and story, it was a story that packed in a powerful message of grace.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read!, June 14, 2008

By 

J. Smith (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect (Paperback)

I just finished reading Perfect. What a fantastic book...full of suspense, as well as speaking of God's grace. I just want to encourage everyone to read his books....they are all great. I can't wait to read his next book!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not So Perfect, March 8, 2011

By 

Emily - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect (Paperback)

I started this book feeling hopeful, but I ended up not even reading the whole thing. Red flags went up when I read the first sentence. "I smiled at my husband over a box of cereal because today I was running away with another man."

I know we're all human and we all make mistakes. I love the stories that I have read about redemption. But this was a far cry from any of those. As a Christian, I was bothered very much by the adultery in this book, particularly on the part of the pastoral staff. And the pastor's daughters were both pregnant before marriage, one even contracting HIV.

Flipping through the book, redemption was there to a point, but I never saw any condemnation of sin or any true repentance. And in the end? The husband dies so the wife can get the man she wants.

The characters were shallow and didn't grab me. The moral issues were, from what I saw, all handled wrong. In the end, a skim through the book left such a bitter taste in my mouth that I was glad I didn't attempt a complete read-through.