Chris Fabry

This is the first time that I have read a book by Chris Fabry. Even though it kept my interest through the whole story, I am puzzled by it. Sometimes it seems like there were two many characters and I wanted main character to speak more so that we knew more of what she was thinking or feeling.

One character, Miriam Howard is sort of a guide for us in this book. She is the director of the Desert Gardens is preparing for retirement soon but something is holding her back. She loves the people show more at the residential center and loves helping the people there who have dementia. She is not ready to join her husband who never seems to understand what is important to her.

One of the workers there is a girl, Treha, with a mysterious background. She has no memory of her childhood. She applied for a janitorial type job at Desert Gardens and was doing that until one day, she was drawn to one of the residents who had not spoken for a long time. Maybe she could read that person's emotions locked away in a dementia bound cage, I am not sure. Treha is able to sense what the resident is feeling deep inside. She recognized and reflects back to them what they are hiding inside. By those actions, she sort of makes a break through to those lost in the depths of dementia.

But she does not know why she has no early memories and is locked into her own self with many questions. Why was she the way she was? Why she have no friends or family?

This book is part mystery, part recognition of what people with dementia need, part religious inquiry. The only thing that I would have like more is to have Treha talk or even an insight into what she was thinking. show less

The Song by Chris Fabry is a novelization of the movie by the same name. My experience with such books is usually disappointing. Many times authors follow so closely to the script that the books feel like a movie instead of a book. While I have not seen the film version of The Song, I can say that the book most definitely reads like a book. Those of you who care about such things will understand. Fabry is one of my favorite authors and he did an outstanding job. I found this novel deeply show more moving and personal, often speaking to and convicting my heart. Inspired by the life of King Solomon, this book is one I highly recommend.

Jed is the son of country music great David King. He has a lot to live up to and a lot to live down when it comes to his father. Determined to make his own way and music, Jed seeks wisdom and the heart of God. Unfortunately, fame, riches and and other temptations lure Jed from the family he loves and the God he first sought to serve.

The Song is a story of love, commitment, and marriage in the midst of life’s joys, griefs and temptations. The story of Jedediah King may be inspired by King Solomon, but it is one that everyone can relate to. Who doesn’t want the best for himself and his family? But when the pursuit of earthly things takes the place of God’s will, all becomes vanity. The contemporary setting of the novel really proves that there really isn’t anything new under the sun. And while Jed bears much of the blame for the decline of his family, it is easy to see that little foxes can be let in by both spouses. It is the lack of communication, the hurt feelings, and the separate lives and agendas, that most readers will identify with.

The Biblical allusions were a clever touch. Be on the lookout for those. My favorite was the name of Jed’s musical partner, Shelby Bales. In King Solomon’s life he allowed his many wives and concubines to keep their baals or idols. We may think we can manage the indiscretions of others, but they often lead to sin in our own lives.

Included in the book is an excerpt of a couple’s devotional also based on the movie. Be sure to check out this great resource as well.

Highly Recommended.

Audience: adults (especially couples).

(Thanks to Tyndale for a review copy. The opinions expressed are mine alone.) show less

Chris Fabry can tell a story. His novels reach right to the heart of the matter while weaving a tale that fully immerses a reader into the time, place, and characters’ lives. In The Promise of Jesse Woods, Fabry returns to Dogwood, WV, a town that has seen its fair share of heartbreak and redemption. This time three kids on the verge of adulthood explore the dirt roads and woods around Dogwood. Their summer adventures are impacted by greed, betrayal, and cowardice of adults. A show more coming-of-age novel that will touch your heart, The Promise of Jesse Woods is a highly recommended read.

Dogwood once again comes to life in The Promise of Jesse Woods. There is a dual time line (1972 and 1984) as Matt Plumley recounts his first months in the town his parents have returned to. I loved how Chris incorporated the events and fads of that year as he lays the foundation for the story. Overweight, a bit of a misfit, and with a love for all things baseball, Matt becomes friends with Jesse and Dickie. On the fringe of polite Dogwood society, these two accept Matt and include him in ways he has never been before. The three make unlikely friends, differing in many ways, yet their shared isolation, bonds them. Until tragedy rips their friendships apart. Twelve years later, Matt returns to right the wrongs done to him and Jesse.

Fabry’s writing is beautiful even as it recounts the ugliness in the world. Innocence is destroyed in all three of the main characters’ lives as they deal with death, deception and plain, old-fashioned meanness. The novel is told in Matt’s first person voice which provides insight into what the characters are dealing with. Yet Matt’s knowledge is incomplete. It is not until the end of the novel when all things become clear. The events of the summer of 1972 only make sense in his return to Dogwood in the fall of 1984. That’s when Matt learns the whole truth, and comes to understand himself. The Promise of Jesse Woods is a journey of growth for more than Matt, as all characters are forced to reflect on the choices they made twelve years before.

I listened to the audiobook, which I recommend as well. Fabry is the narrator, so you know that the story is told just the way it should be.

I would characterize The Promise of Jesse Woods as literary fiction. It is writing at its best and a guaranteed great read!

Highly Recommended.

Audience: adults. show less

I thought Chris Fabry’s book Almost Heaven was great and it is, but Not In The Heart is out of the park good! Truman Wiley is a TV journalist that once had it all — the best family, the best career, the best life — but now he is dodging collection agents, repo men and some very dangerous mobsters. All of this is due to his gambling addiction that has cost him nearly everything in his life including his son who lays dying in a hospital bed. He is just one step away from complete despair show more when a lifeline of sorts is thrown to him — the story of the man condemned to die who wants to give his heart to Truman’s son. One thing Truman does well is to dig out a story, to uncover the truth of a situation, so he grabs ahold and follows the trail even when it threatens to end the transplant his son desperately needs.

Fabry has written a character in Truman Wiley that is at once despicable and sympathetic. He is charming and funny and pathetic. There were times while reading this book that I wanted to hit Truman upside his head and other times I wanted to wrap my arms around him. Even in his darkest moments, I liked Truman — a brilliant life that once shined now almost completely wrapped in darkness. Never knowing someone as deep into his addiction as Truman, I could nevertheless identify with him. I have often battled with doing right when I wanted to do wrong or doing wrong when I knew the right thing. Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit that convicts and teaches us along the way. But Truman did not have guidance, only an overwhelming urge to experience that next high, the urge to hit it big just one more time.

Mixed into Truman’s life is his wife and son who have found God, a daughter that wants to connect with him and the man condemned to death for a crime he says he didn’t commit. Terrelle is in prison, but as Truman soon finds out he is freer than Truman could ever hope to be. Also add a fascinating mystery and breath-holding suspense and you’ve got a novel that has it all. Not In The Heart is definitely on my best of the best list for this year.

Highly Recommended.

(I received an ARC of Not In The Heart from Tyndale and B&B Media in return for an honest review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.) show less