7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Los Angeles, Truly A City of Angels, May 5, 2010
This review is from: Wonders Never Cease (Paperback)
Forty-five year old actress Olivia Hayden is offered a part in a movie, playing a fifty-year old alcoholic mother. Unfortunately, she thought that she was being offered the role of a twenty-five year microbiologist martial arts expert in the same film. She is not happy, storms out of the meeting, gets in her car and roars away. On the way to her home, filled with rage against the film director and a tailgating pizza delivery man, she rolls her car. It takes the jaws of life fifteen minutes to extract her from the wreckage.
In the traffic jam, six year old Leah Pelton is in a car with her single mom, Natalie. Natalie works the night shift at a local hospital and was late picking up Leah. As they pass the accident, Leah sees a man standing beside over Olivia, dressed in simple clothes, not at all like the emergency personnel surrounding the area. In fact, no one seems to notice him. Leah observes him with his hand over her Olivia's head, palm down. The man sees Leah, looks right at her, and puts a finger to his lips, and makes a shhh gesture.
Leah knows she has seen an angel.
At school, for See and Say (which to another generation was known as "Show and Tell"), Leah relates the story to her classmates. Red flags go up and Natalie is notified. The school counselor recommends a psychiatric exam first, later an MRI, for Leah. However, that won't be the last time Leah sees an angel and tells an adult about it.
Natalie is not happy. For one thing, she is getting no support from her boyfriend, Kemp McAvoy, in the raising of Leah. He is never around when needed. When he is, he is selfish. For another, neither Natalie nor Kemp make much as night nurses at the hospital. An MRI is expensive and they have very little disposable income. Kemp is being even more distant; he has an idea that could make a lot of money, but also has some serious ramifications for Natalie and Leah.
In Wonders Never Cease, author Tim Downs has delivered a thought provoking, suspenseful novel. On one hand, six year old Leah is testing the reader's, and the characters in the novel, tolerance for angels. Could they really exist? Perhaps if you are open minded enough to allow that thought and to believe in God's hand in the lives of man. While angels are a central theme to the novel, Downs adds some nefarious characters, led by Kemp McAvoy and his business partners, which provide an element of suspense to the novel.
A page turner in Christian fiction, a genre that I rarely read, from an author that I really enjoy, Wonders Never Cease starts slowly then hits its stride. Once it does, the novel is difficult to put down. Populated with some interesting, charming, and deceitful characters, the suspense aspect will drive you to a satisfying ending. Sprinkled throughout are excellent pop culture references, which provide some of the more humorous scenes in the novel. It all adds up to a very good novel.
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Obtained from: Publicist
Payment: Free
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Worthy Novel, June 6, 2010
This review is from: Wonders Never Cease (Paperback)
I loved reading Tim Downs' book, Wonders Never Cease. The story line was creative and insightful. The character development kept me coming back for more of "the rest of the story" every time I had a chance to read. In a culture as fast-paced and self-oriented as ours, it was refreshing to taste life from the perspectives and possibilities offered in this unique story...that heroes can emerge from the darkness, that there are far-reaching consequences to choices that include the supernatural, that slowing down to listen and to be present to those with whom we care for has its own reward, that the activity of angels intersects with our world.
When a crisis hits, we learn what we are made of. Tim paints some telling moments as each of his characters respond at critical junctures to what life has handed them. At the same time, the author's clever artistry allows him to weave subtle but timely humor throughout. I laughed for days whenever I remembered some of his lines. His attention to detail gives an authentic feel to the story. I'm sure it was no accident that he mentions Leah reading The Magician's Nephew. Nice touch.
This is a great read with just the right amounts of fun, suspense, believability, drama, and characters that compel me to ask what I would do in the same case scenario.
And, may I say a personal thank you to "Emmet" for advancing the causes of mercy and justice, even from behind his janitorial garb.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonders is Wonderful, June 21, 2010
This review is from: Wonders Never Cease (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
As a big fan of the Bug Man series I've been looking forward to the comedy that Tim was trying to convince his publisher to write, although this book has humor, "Wonders Never Cease" was not it. It is however a wonderful story that kept me glued to every page. The writing style is easy-to-read, the dialogue quick and sharp
(sometimes quite biting), the story is full of many interesting characters and the plot is in no way predictable. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much. Some say the book is dark and the characters unlikable. I say that can't be farther from the truth. Sure almost everyone in the book is really messed-up, (in fact I'd say everyone, even those at a so-called Christian school) but they are just like the people we work with and have as neighbors. They are interesting and fun to watch. Kind of like a train wreck were no one gets hurt. The story is unique and strange but not far-fetched. I loved the satirical stabs at books like "The Secret" and other cult literature that deceives the masses.
The story is full of Situation Ethics, Biblical parables and sound doctrinal truths but unless you're the type of reader that analyzes when reading you'll miss them. "Wonders Never Cease" is never preachy or heavy-handed. This book would be good for a book club or youth group and especially for those that call themselves "seekers". I'd love to be able to discuss it with others but I'll have to wait until I buy some copies and send them to family and friends.
Do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy. Then if you haven't read Tim Downs other books get them too. They are all really good.
Since I have a different star rating then Amazon I give this book four stars. Otherwise it would get an easy five.
1 Star = Pathetic
2 Stars = Fair
3 Stars = Good
4 Stars = Excellent
5 Stars = Life changing
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